Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources:MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 04:43
Sources & confidence
Sources
MeteoAlarm · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2
Method
spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness
Re-read every hour, per coast
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
How we score the water
Our own model
Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.
01
Swell & wave memory
Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
02
Wind & gusts
Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
03
Tide phase
Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
04
Water temperature
Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
05
Currents & outflow
Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
06
Rain runoff & air clarity
Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
07
Coast shape & exposure
How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.
Safety gates
Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.
It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.
A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.
Where to get in, where to hunt
Entry points with coordinates
Seabed relief — promising ground
This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.
point your camera
0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 04:43
Exposed coast — Sithonia south tip — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind-wave — choppy surface
wave 0.3 m head-onwind 9 km/hvisibility ~5 mwindow 06:00–21:00
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.
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−10 m
The water column
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
What it is
A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.
spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.
Now live: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
Here everything comes down to what time you are in the water. By nine the beach is packed and the two-hundred-metre rule shuts the near reef for you until evening. The season is June to October, but the real days start in September, when the beach empties out. All of May is closed in Greece. Night is banned, sunset to sunrise.
tide
Nobody counts level here, and there is effectively no current in the bay — that is why the water stands so clear. The flip side: whatever you stir off the bottom goes nowhere and hangs in the same spot for the next half hour. By evening after a hot day the top metre is churned by swimmers and boats, and from below it reads as a milky ceiling.
shelter
A bay with two low arms and a rocky islet in front of the beach — the arms and the islet kill the chop and inside it is nearly always quiet. North and north-east cross the ridge of the finger and reach the water spent. This bay has exactly one hole: it faces west, and everything arriving from west and south-west walks straight in.
conditions
With N or NE you can come even when it blows hard: visibility holds between ten and thirty metres, the best water on the west coast. West and south-west kill the place at once — the shallow saddle between the beach and the islet is only four to five metres, the surge lifts sand off the bottom and you swim out to the far side of the reef blind.
hazard
Problem number one here is people. It is an organised flagged beach with sunbeds, in July and August the shoreline is a solid crowd and shooting by the near rock is simply not on. Add paddleboards, inflatables and runabouts cutting straight across the bay. Fly the buoy high and stay inside fifty metres of it — here that is not a formality.
access
A dirt track turns off the Nikiti–Neos Marmaras road and brings you almost to the water, but in summer there is no parking to be had after eight in the morning. You kit up on the sand, enter from the beach towards the islet, cross the shallow saddle underwater and then work round its outer side, where the rock runs down to twenty-eight metres.
Reef/rock shore→28 m (35–40 max) — a famous N-Greece site, abundant Aegean species; easy W-side entry, meltemi-sheltered. Shore.
Dawn here is not a preference but the only window: by ten or eleven the northerly fills in and you are done for the day. The season is June to October, with September and October giving the longest quiet mornings. All of May is closed in Greece. Night is banned, sunset to sunrise, and the tunnel in the dark is doubly out of the question.
tide
Level does nothing here, but the open gulf breathes. After several days of meltemi cold clear water rises along the reef and then a flow runs south along the shore — you feel it in your fins on the way back. At the tunnel at twenty-five to thirty metres the water is noticeably colder and clearer than up top, and the boundary between the layers is visible.
shelter
There is nothing to shelter the east side of the finger: a shallow bay with low headlands looking straight into the open Singitic gulf, with Athos across the water. Waves from north and north-east roll the whole length of that gulf and arrive here undiminished. The only lee is the northern headland, a narrow strip along the rocks and only in a light blow.
conditions
Your wind here is south and south-west: it comes off the land, lays the water down and the visibility turns into the best on the whole finger. North, and especially around thirty degrees, shuts the place completely: the swell rolls right onto the reef, the shallows boil, and getting out over wet rock with fish on a day like that ends in cuts.
hazard
The tunnel at twenty-five to thirty metres is both the draw and the trouble: do not go into it on a breath-hold with a loaded gun, no fish is worth a ceiling over your head. The outer points run down to forty-two metres, which is deeper than anyone should work alone. There is a campsite on the beach and crowds in summer — two hundred metres off swimmers.
access
Tarmac from Vourvourou and Sarti brings you to the campsite and you park right by the shore. You get in over sand and shingle at the northern end and then across rock — boots are not optional. The reef is a few minutes' swim out; the outer points are easier from a boat or after a long haul. The nearest dive centres are in Nikiti and Sarti.
Reef with an underwater tunnel 25–30 m, three spots to 42 m, E (Singitic) coast — lobster, moray, grouper, octopus, amberjack; clearer but meltemi/N-swell exposed, dawn best. Shore.
Bahia Beach ReefCoast — Sithonia west & east
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
First light, while the beach is empty and the water is not churned up: from June to October those are the only two quiet hours you get. October is the month — amberjack come onto the second wall and the swimmers are gone. All of May is closed in Greece. Night is banned sunset to sunrise, and there is no reason to be on a deep drop in the dark anyway.
tide
Nobody counts the level here. You count the gap between the two walls: a weak along-shore flow runs down that channel, drifts the small stuff and holds it against the second drop — that is where the predators sit. After rain off the Sithonia hills a brown layer lies on top for a day and you work under it, starting straight at eighteen metres.
shelter
The west side of the finger by Kalogria: the Sithonia ridge stands like a wall between you and the meltemi, the wind spills over the top and reaches the water already spent. That is why you work here on the days the east coast is shut solid. What this shore is open to is the other way — west and south-west, across the whole Toroneos gulf.
conditions
Come on N or NE, even a fresh one — the water over the first wall at six to eighteen metres stays quiet. With west or south-west do not bother: the surge works the shallow ridge, sand off the beach lifts and the first wall turns to milk, while on the second at twenty-two to forty-five you can still see, but getting back out is already dangerous.
hazard
The trap here is the second drop: it starts at twenty-two and slides to forty-five without you noticing, and the amberjack pull you down exactly there. Do not chase them along the edge and do not work alone. In summer small outboards run along this shore between the beaches, and you owe the organised beach two hundred metres.
access
Tarmac runs south from Nikiti along the west coast, the turn-off to the water is dirt and you park right by the beach. You get in over sand and slabs, boots help. The first wall starts a couple of minutes' swim off the shore; the second is a noticeably longer haul — plenty of people take a boat or bring gear down from Nikiti and Neos Marmaras.
Double wall reef 3–45 m (1st 6–18 m, 2nd 22–45 m) on the W coast near Kalogria — lobster, moray, grouper & amberjack; one of the best shore dives on the finger. Shore.
Kelyfos (Turtle island)Coast — Sithonia west & east
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
Leave Neos Marmaras in the dark: by ten the day breeze is up, and by midday the dive-centre boats arrive and the water over the wall goes hazy with bubbles and props. The working season is June to October, with the best water in September. All of May is closed in Greece, and night is banned, sunset to sunrise.
tide
Level means nothing here. What you count is the flow round the rock: past an isolated islet in open gulf water speeds up at the tips, pulls weakly but steadily, and on the way up it carries you off the boat without you noticing. After days of meltemi water piles into the gulf and a return flow runs along the shore. No river nearby, so the water stays blue.
shelter
The islet has no shelter of its own — you pick the side. A bare turtle-backed rock sticking up in the middle of the Toroneos gulf: in a meltemi the south and west faces sit in its lee while the north-east one takes a short nasty chop. The gulf itself is screened from Aegean swell by the Sithonia and Kassandra fingers, so only wind chop reaches here.
conditions
Your best day is N or NE: the finger holds the sea back, the water on the lee face stands like glass and you see twenty metres and more. South and south-west drive fetch the whole length of the gulf — there is no lee on any side then, you cannot hold a boat off the rock, and a buoy in chop disappears within a couple of strokes.
hazard
There is sixty metres straight under the wall and more below, no shore to reach and nowhere to surface but the boat — work with a partner and fly the buoy high, craft pass here constantly. And learn one line: if you run west from here past cape Kassandra to the Stomio lighthouse you enter the Thermaic gulf, where spearfishing is closed all year (Π.Δ. 68/2009).
access
Boat only: a bare rock five kilometres SSE of Neos Marmaras, no quay, no beach, no shade. Fifteen to twenty minutes from Porto Carras marina or from Marmaras itself. You anchor on the shallow two-to-five-metre shelf on the lee side and drop straight down the slope from there. The dive centres in Marmaras and Nikiti run here daily — use them as your marker.
Steep reef/wall 2–60/65 m, an islet ~5 km SSE of N.Marmaras — Toroneos (W) meltemi-sheltered; coral, moray, octopus, grouper on the wall. Boat.
Kalamitsi / Nemesis WallExposed coast — Sithonia south tip
borderline
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
In the cove work at first light, before the campsite wakes; for Nemesis go out on the first calm of the day, before the breeze. September and October are the best of the June-to-October season: warm water, empty shore. All of May is closed in Greece. Night is banned — the local centre runs night dives, but that is scuba, not you with a gun.
tide
Nobody counts level here. At the cape a light steady current runs along the wall: it carries you down the face for free and you have to work back against it, which you plan for. Inside the cove there is no current at all, but after a busy day the sand around the islet keeps the water milky until morning.
shelter
Kalamitsi is a half-circle cove with a narrow mouth and a rocky islet right off the beach, forty or fifty metres from the sand. The arms of the cove hold almost anything from north through east, which makes it the calmest corner of the east coast. Let the wind swing south or south-east and it walks straight into the mouth.
conditions
North and even a fresh meltemi leave the cove workable — that is the whole point of it, on days when Armenistis and Sarti are already out. The Nemesis wall, though, lies outside the cape and wants honest calm: in any sea, holding a boat over it and dropping onto the drop is unpleasant. South and south-east close both at once.
hazard
Nemesis starts at seven or eight metres and that is a lie: the wall runs to seventy, and the limit here is yours to set, not the ground's. Kalamitsi is a family beach with kids, so two hundred metres off swimmers is not negotiable. And keep the geography in mind: six kilometres round the cape lies the Porto Koufo archaeological area, where the gun is banned.
access
Tarmac from Sykia and Sarti brings you to the village on the southern tip of the finger and you park by the beach. You enter off soft sand, swim out to the islet forty or fifty metres off and work round its outer side, where the reef runs to thirty. Nemesis is boat only — about fifteen minutes from Kalamitsi, the same from Porto Koufo.
Double-bay reef 10–30 m; the adjacent Nemesis wall drops 15→80 m (39.9456, 23.9874) — SE tip, clear blue. Shore (Kalamitsi)/boat (Nemesis).
Porto Koufo WallExposed coast — Sithonia south tip
borderline
⛔ Banned here
⚠️ This point is inside the restricted zone “Πόρτο Κουφό Σιθωνίας — ενάλιος αρχαιολογικός χώρος (ΥΑ ΦΕΚ 1710/Β/2003 · ΚΥΑ ΦΕΚ 336/Β/2004)”: fishing there is regulated (season, gear, permit), not banned outright. Read the zone's rules before you go.
exposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
window
The season on this finger runs June to October; all of May is closed in Greece and night is banned, sunset to sunrise. In that timetable Porto Koufo is not a hunting slot but a berth: you come in the evening, sleep at the quay and leave at first light for the capes of Sithonia where you may shoot, before the day breeze gets up.
tide
The level moves ten or twenty centimetres and settles nothing. What you count is the throat: the water breathes in and out through the narrow gap, and after several days of meltemi the bay pushes murky water out past the capes. The inner basin is deep and still, with a cold layer sitting near the bottom even in August.
shelter
Greece's most enclosed harbour: a long bay bitten into the land, with a narrow throat between high rock walls. The meltemi runs over the top and barely touches the water, so inside it stays a mirror whatever the direction. Only the outer capes past the throat are open, where the rock breaks away below twenty metres.
conditions
There is no wind that makes this a place to come to with a gun: the bay and the water around it are a declared underwater archaeological zone and spearfishing is banned. You come for something else — to sit the weather out. With N and NE, when the east coast is all whitecaps, inside it is dead flat and you can lie here for days.
hazard
The law is the hazard here. Porto Koufo is a declared underwater archaeological area (ΦΕΚ 1710/Β/2003 together with ΦΕΚ 336/Β/2004) and spearfishing is named in the text and forbidden. No coordinate boundary is published, so the harbour and the water around the capes both count as closed. A gun in the water here is a criminal case, not an argument about a fine.
access
Tarmac from Toroni and Sykia takes you straight into the village: a quay, tavernas, fuel, room for a boat and deep water right against the wall. It is a good base to work out of — fifteen to twenty minutes round the cape to Kalamitsi and the Nemesis wall, noticeably longer up the west coast to Kelyfos.
SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.
One morning glance — and you know.
point your camera
≈
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Cameras · live
Look at the water right now.
Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».
connecting to the stream…
Sithonia — Neos Marmaras / Porto Carras, Toroneos Gulf (meteocam.gr)meteocam.gr (Cybex) live — Neos Marmaras / Porto Carras, Toroneos Gulf. Embedded via our proxy (the stream sends no CORS). Read the water and surf before you go.camera: meteocam ↗
National minimum sizes + a 150 g floor (in the table below); grouper 1/day. Spearfishing is closed all May (ΠΔ 373/1985).
In season now
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m · EU 1967/2006
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · 0–15 m · EU 1967/2006
flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus · 0–8 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · 0–15 m · weight ≥750 g
Minimum by weight: ≥750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Don't take egg-bearing females.
dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus · 8–35 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
common dentex
Dentex dentex · 12–40 m · min 150 g
Premier reef target. No EU size — the 150 g minimum only. Ethical ≥40 cm (not law).
red porgy
Pagrus pagrus · 15–40 m · EU 1967/2006
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–12 m · EU 1967/2006
saddled seabream
Oblada melanura · 3–15 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili · 5–30 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
leerfish / garrick
Lichia amia · 2–20 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
Mediterranean barracuda
Sphyraena viridensis · 3–25 m · min 150 g
No EU size — the 150 g minimum only. Histamine: bleed and chill at once.
striped seabream
Lithognathus mormyrus · 2–15 m · EU 1967/2006
brown meagre / corb
Sciaena umbra · 5–30 m · EU 1967/2006
striped red mullet
Mullus surmuletus · 3–30 m · EU 1967/2006
wreckfish / stone bass
Polyprion americanus · 30–60 m · EU 1967/2006
Deep wreck species. Does NOT count toward the grouper limit (different genus). 45 cm — to verify.
Law
✓⚠️ MAY — a TOTAL spearfishing ban for the whole month, every year (ΠΔ 373/1985, art. 3§1α). This is law in force, not a draft.
✓No licence required: the was abolished in 2014 (Ν. 4256/2014) — every standing prohibition stays in force all the same.
•Recreational-fisher registry (ΟΣΠΑ / Μητρώο Ερασιτεχνών Αλιέων): Reg. (EU) 2023/2842 obliges member states to register recreational fishing, and the Greek registry is described as being prepared. We found neither an act in force nor a working registry as of 08.2026 — not confirmed. Check gov.gr before you travel.
✓Age: 16+ (under-16 spearfishing is forbidden; ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1γ).
✓Daytime only: sunrise to sunset. Night is forbidden (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1β).
✓Freediving only: scuba/any air-supply apparatus is banned — it may not even be carried aboard (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2γ).
✓Distances: ≥200 m from bathers, harbours, moored vessels and marked nets; no hunting in fairways or harbour entrances/exits (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§1δ/ε).
✓Buoy MANDATORY: a yellow float + a yellow flag with a red diagonal stripe and the letters «Υ.Δ.», visible from ≥300 m; stay within 50 m of the buoy (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§3).
✓Limit: 5 kg/day (or one trophy heavier than the limit). Grouper (Epinephelus) — max 1/day, not banned (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2).
✓Sale/trade of the recreational catch is prohibited (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 1§7).
✓Load the speargun only in the water — never keep it loaded out of the water (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2β). Underwater light while hunting is forbidden (art. 3§2ζ).
✓Sea urchins — 20/day per person and 30/day per boat (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 2§2). Nets at any stage of the hunt are banned, and you may not take the catch out of somebody else's gear or nets (art. 3§2). Sponges and corals are off limits to the recreational fisher (art. 1§6).
✓Pneumatic and band guns are ALLOWED (a myth in English guides). Only spears with an explosive/chemical charge — — are banned (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2δ).
Min. sizes: seabass 25 cm · gilthead 20 cm · white seabream 23 cm · grouper 45 cm · octopus 750 g (ΠΔ 62/2024). Any fish — not under 150 g (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 3§2στ). No-size species (dentex, amberjack, barracuda, parrotfish) — the 150 g minimum only. See the species card.
Safety protocol
Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.
Local guide · Sithonia
Spearfishing in Sithonia: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing in Sithonia starts with choosing the side of the peninsula. The west coast on Toroneos, with Kelyfos and Porto Koufo, is the meltemi-sheltered side; the east coast around Sarti, Kalamitsi and Armenistis faces open Singitic water and Athos, so it is clearer but more exposed to N/NE wind and Aegean swell. Porto Koufo is the enclosed refuge. Greek national law then sets the boundary: May is unavailable, the licence system has issued no new spearfishing permits since 2014, the method is freediving, and the daily bag is 5 kg.
TL;DR
Sithonia splits west and east: Toroneos and Porto Koufo are the meltemi lee, while the Singitic side is clearer but exposed.
Listed spots include Porto Koufo Wall, Kelyfos, Bahia Beach Reef, Akti Kalogrias, Armenistis and Kalamitsi / Nemesis Wall.
Sithonia's June to October season starts after the Greek May stop, a full-month closure under ΠΔ 373/1985.
No new spearfishing licence is issued after the 2014 change; hunt on breath-hold only, stay within 5 kg/day, and keep Epinephelus grouper to 1/day.
Where can you spearfish in Sithonia?
The Sithonia registry entries describe terrain and exposure, not safety ratings. North wind points you west toward Toroneos and Porto Koufo. The eastern coast is often clearer, but it takes N/NE meltemi and Aegean swell, with dawn and lee windows in the local notes.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Porto Koufo Wall
Natural harbour with outer capes and caves
Shallow inside, steep wall outside
-
Boat or shore
Listed as Greece's deepest natural harbour and a fully enclosed lee. The description mentions big snappers and grouper outside.
Kelyfos (Turtle island)
Islet with steep reef and wall
Steep change from shallow to deep water
-
Boat
A Toroneos islet sheltered in the west-side meltemi pattern. The source lists coral, moray, octopus and grouper.
Greece's deepest natural harbour + outer capes/caves; wall 20→50–120 m on the seaward side, shallow inside — big snappers & grouper below 20 m; the all-weather bolt-hole (fully enclosed). Boat/shore.
✓Full ban on taking: Pinna nobilis (πίννα), corals and sponges (ΠΔ 373/85, art. 1§6 + Habitats Directive 92/43).
✓Invasives: taking the lionfish (λεοντόψαρο) is encouraged — ⚠️ venomous spines. The silver-cheeked toadfish (λαγοκέφαλος) ☠️ DO NOT EAT — deadly toxin (TTX), sale banned (Reg. 853/2004, Annex III Sect. VIII Ch. V(E)), it bites. The rabbitfish (γερμανός) is edible — venomous spines.
✓In ANY declared underwater archaeological site, and in the submerged historic sites, spearfishing is BANNED — the act names ψαροντούφεκο in so many words (ΚΥΑ ΥΠΠΟ/ΓΔΑΠΚ/ΑΡΧ/Α1/Φ41/11228/1865, ΦΕΚ 336/Β/2004, part Α §2 δ + part Β). It reaches the sites our map does not draw, too. Do not touch antiquities (Ν. 3028/2002). Map of the zones — the ENALIA geoportal (thalchor-2.ypen.gov.gr/layers/geonode:ENALIA).
•The national marine parks of Alonissos/N. Sporades and Zakynthos (Laganas): spearfishing is BANNED in the park. But Alonissos zone Β4 is not solid — ΦΕΚ 1741/Β/2011 reopened four stretches inside it (the N shore Αγ. Δημήτριος–Άκρο Απύθμενο, Μηλιά–Σπαρτίνες, όρμος Κλήμα on Περιστέρα, the Μεγάλος Αδελφός shore), while the same act creates the ΕΕΑΧ Περιστέρας, where fishing IS banned. Our layer paints the park whole, i.e. stricter than the act. Check the limits with the park authority.
•The Southern Kynouria/Arcadia diving park: Ν. 4688/2020 establishes underwater parks, but we have not read a spearfishing prohibition inside it in the act — we treat that as NOT PROVEN rather than as confirmed. The park's boundary is not on our map either (the act publishes no coordinates). Ask the Leonidio/Tyros λιμεναρχείο before you go.
•Local bans: on top of the national rules, every port authority issues its own (ΓΚΛ/ΕΚΛ and λιμενάρχης decisions). In the ΛΣ-ΕΛ.ΑΚΤ registry we counted ~163 of them that reach a speargun, across 48 ports — our map does NOT draw them. Check your own port: alieia.hcg.gr/prohibitions/local/local17.php.
•Locally STRICTER than the national rule: Corfu (Kerkyra) — from 01.04 to 31.10 spearfishing is banned within 200 m of the shore, even where nobody is swimming (απόφαση Λ/Χ Κέρκυρας 2141.1/2939/2024, ΦΕΚ Β΄3269/2024). In practice that closes shore entry on Corfu for the season. We read the act in the registry, not in the ΦΕΚ — confirm with the λιμεναρχείο.
•Locally STRICTER: Lefkada — 300 m instead of 200, and not only the speargun: ψαροντούφεκο, nets and longlines are banned within 300 m of those sea areas, beaches and shores of the port district THAT ARE USED BY BATHERS (απόφαση Λ/Χ Λευκάδας 2131.13/1477/2022, in its own words «όπου χρησιμοποιούνται από λουόμενους»). The act ran to 30.09.2022 and we found no extension; an expired act is not proof that the ban is gone. Ask the Lefkada λιμεναρχείο.
•Locally STRICTER: Symi — from 15.06 to 15.09 fishing BY ANY MEANS is banned within 200 m of beach areas and in inhabited coastal areas WHERE BATHERS ARE PRESENT OR GATHER (απόφαση Λ/Χ Σύμης 2131.13/882/2016). Separately, year-round: fishing by any means is banned inside the port and its sea zone, except line/rod fishing from land (ΓΚΛ Σύμης, art. 151, ΦΕΚ 362/Β/2004). The acts were copied from the registry, not checked against the ΦΕΚ.
•Locally: inside the ports of Lavrio and Kea spearfishing is banned across the WHOLE port water, not merely under the 200 m rule; separately, in front of the hotel beaches (ΓΚΛ Λαυρίου, art. 240, ΦΕΚ 460/Β/1978). The act was copied from the registry, not checked against the ΦΕΚ.
•Coming: two new national marine parks are being created (Ionian + South Cyclades, ~27,500 km²). NOT yet in force (ΠΔ under review, mid-2026). Once live — a trawl ban + a seasonal coastal closure 15.04–31.05; in the strict zones spearfishing will be banned. Check before the season.
⛔ Pinna nobilis (πίννα, fan mussel) — full ban on taking/killing (Habitats Dir. 92/43 Annex IV; critically endangered).
Rules change, and the local Λιμεναρχείο (port authority) may impose local restrictions. Before heading out, check the current rules and the declared archaeological zones (ENALIA).
Shore
Clearer but exposed to meltemi and north swell. The local notes says dawn is better.
How is the water visibility in Sithonia today?
The Sithonia facts do not include a live visibility feed. They place the clearest water on the east side toward Singitic Gulf and Athos, while the west coast is the meltemi shelter. The Neos Marmaras camera helps with surface water only.
What fish can you spearfish in Sithonia, Halkidiki?
The Sithonia profile names grouper, dentex, amberjack and lobster; spot descriptions also mention octopus, moray and snappers. Legal sizes include gilthead 20 cm, seabass 25 cm, white seabream 23 cm, grouper 45 cm and octopus 750 g. Dentex and amberjack use the general 150 g minimum. Grouper is capped at 1/day.
When is the best time to spearfish in Halkidiki?
For Sithonia, the local notes gives June to October. The practical choice is wind side: north pushes you west toward Toroneos, while a calm dawn can make the east coast clearer. May sits before that window and is legally closed for spearfishing throughout Greece.
Do you need a license to spearfish in Greece?
For Sithonia, do the paperwork check at national level. The old licence is not required, and after 2014 Greece stopped issuing new spearfishing licences. The free ΟΣΠΑ recreational-fisher registry is being rolled out until 31.12.2026, so check gov.gr. In the water, the rule is breath-hold only; scuba or any air-supply apparatus is banned even aboard. Daily catch is limited to 5 kg, or one heavier trophy, and grouper in the Epinephelus group is limited to 1/day.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Sithonia?
West-side names include Porto Koufo Wall, Kelyfos, Bahia Beach Reef and Akti Kalogrias. East-side names include Armenistis and Kalamitsi / Nemesis Wall, but that side is more exposed to meltemi and north swell.
Do you need a license to spearfish in Greece?
No old licence is required for Sithonia. Greece stopped issuing new spearfishing licences after 2014, but gov.gr should still be checked for the ΟΣΠΑ recreational-fisher registry.
Is spearfishing banned in May in Greece?
Yes. The Halkidiki season cannot use May, because ΠΔ 373/1985 closes spearfishing in Greece for that entire month every year.
What is the daily catch limit for spearfishing in Greece?
Count 5 kg/day as the Greek limit. One larger trophy can be retained instead, and Epinephelus grouper has a separate ceiling of 1 fish per day.
Is scuba spearfishing allowed in Greece?
No. Sithonia spearfishing must be done on breath-hold; scuba or other air supply is not allowed for the hunt or as gear kept aboard.
