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.
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0 m
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
MeteoAlarm no dataupdated 13:55
Skopelos — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.2 m head-onwind 11 km/hvisibility ~6 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: 1391 spots across 205 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
The level here moves ten to thirty centimetres and changes nothing for hunting. Count something else: the wall drops almost sheer from five metres, and after a few days of meltemi a flow runs along it, bending round the cape. Down at thirty on the edge it is noticeably colder — the layer boundary sits about there.
shelter
Cape Amarantos closes the southern approach to Agnontas bay, and the island's whole ridge stands above the spot — the north meltemi runs over the top and barely touches the water. The wall keeps calm water while it blows from north and north-east. Turn it south or south-west and the swell walks straight in.
conditions
This is the place for days when meltemi shuts the rest of the island: on north and north-east you get flat water and see the whole drop. A light westerly still works. On south and south-west don't come — the wave enters the bay unhindered, drags sand off the ground between the boulders, and visibility at the wall's edge halves.
hazard
Ferries are the trap here: on a northerly they tie up at Agnontas and the three hundred metres off the quay and moored vessels start to count. A hundred and fifty metres further on begins the declared underwater site of Panormos (ΦΕΚ 228/ΑΑΠ/2018), where the gun is banned under ΚΥΑ ΦΕΚ 336/Β/2004. The digitised limit is invisible at sea — ask at the port authority.
access
A stony dirt track runs south out of Agnontas — by car only very slowly, on foot twenty to thirty minutes. The landmark is easy: pines growing straight out of white rock above the water. You get in between big boulders, so wear boots. If walking is not your thing, it's five minutes by boat from the bay itself.
Wall/reef 5–35 m on the S coast — sheltered lee; the wall drops vertically from ~5 m, dentex/grouper on the deep edge. Boat/shore.
What decides here is the vertical, not a level counted in centimetres: water behaves differently over the hull and near the bottom, it is markedly colder and darker at depth, and the surface can be setting one way while down below it goes another. That is why you go down and up on the line, never free.
shelter
The wreck has no cover of any kind: it lies in open water on sand with nothing but sky above it. The only thing working for you is the island's general shadow — in northerly winds the water over the hull is noticeably calmer than further out. Turn it south and a wave runs above, and holding the spot becomes a job in itself.
conditions
The site needs a flat sea — otherwise you cannot set on the shot line or ride it down properly. People go in calm or on a light northerly. Any noticeable swell cancels the trip: dropping to that depth blind down a snatching line stops being fishing and becomes an accident waiting to happen.
hazard
You do not bring a gun here at all. Wrecks in Greece get declared underwater monuments, and with that status hunting by the hull is a straight offence, while lifting anything off the wreck is a criminal matter. Then the depth: exact figures were never published, but the centres run it as an advanced dive. Keep three hundred metres off quays and moored vessels.
access
The only way is by sea and only with people who have the mark and the permit: the wreck lies not far off the shore and the run from the base in the bay takes a handful of minutes. Looking for it on your own is pointless — there are no marks on the water, and nobody drops to it without a line and someone up top.
A 'very well preserved' wreck off Skopelos (depth not published — confirm locally). Boat.
Forget the tide here — a couple of tens of centimetres and that is it. Something else is alive: water is drawn along the channel between the islets, and inside the canyon the flow squeezes and speeds up noticeably. Below twenty metres on the rock it gets distinctly colder, and after a windy week that cold water rises higher than usual.
shelter
There is nothing to hide behind at the islet — it is bare rock in the channel between Skopelos and Skiathos. Only its own body works for you: the south-west side sits in shadow while the meltemi presses from the north. West and south-west winds build across the channel unimpeded and hit the working side head-on.
conditions
You come here in calm or on a moderate northerly, when a smooth patch of water sits behind the rock. Anything from the west cancels the trip: the fetch across the channel is long, the wave arrives long with it, and at the canyon mouth it surges hard enough that going into the narrow part is simply dangerous.
hazard
The canyon and the cave are overhead environment, and you do not take a loaded gun in there at all: turning round in the narrow part ends with a tangled line and a shaft going nowhere. There is no shore nearby and nowhere to climb out, so the boat must stay close with someone aboard. Buoy mandatory; boats come right up to the rock.
access
Boat only: you cannot swim here from shore, the islet stands on its own out in the channel. Boats usually leave from Panormos or from the town, a run of a bit over a quarter of an hour. There is no mooring — you anchor in five to ten metres by the rock and work off the boat. Someone must stay aboard.
Islet reef/canyon/cave 10–40 m on the SW side — clear blue, grouper on the deep rock. Boat.
The tidal swing here is a couple of tens of centimetres and does not affect planning. What does affect it: after settled meltemi a clear eastward drift runs along the north coast, and it speeds up at the cape. The gravel bottom holds suspended silt for a long time after a swell, and below twenty metres the water turns sharply colder.
shelter
Glysteri is a narrow, almost fjord-like slot in the north coast, squeezed between white rock. Those sides cut wind from east and west, but the meltemi comes from the north and walks into the slot without resistance. Cape Trachili sticks out beyond and takes even more — there is always chop out there when the bay only ripples.
conditions
The only sensible setup is south or south-west, when the wind blows off the hills and the bay lies like glass. Then you see everything down the sides of the slot right to the bottom. On north and north-east there is no point coming: the gravel bottom lifts instantly and out towards the cape the wave breaks on rock.
hazard
Keep the boundary in your head here: east along the coast the National Marine Park of the Northern Sporades begins, where a speargun is outright illegal. The drift along the north shore runs exactly eastward — do not let it take you there, and check the current limits with the Skopelos port authority before you go. Plus 200 m off swimmers.
access
From the town it is four and a half to five kilometres of tarmac through olive groves, about fifteen minutes' drive, and there is plenty of parking. The descent goes straight to a pebble strip with sandy patches, and entry is easy. Then you swim along the right-hand rock side: ten to fifteen minutes to the cape, or take a boat.
Reef/rock 5–25 m N of the town — N-exposed to the meltemi; gravel + rock, sargos/octopus. Shore/boat.
The level decides nothing here at all — vertical movement stays inside ten to thirty centimetres. What decides is the flow round the rock: water bends past the round islet and pinches noticeably at the north-west and southern tips. Along the sheer western wall cold water is drawn up from below; you feel the layer on your skin.
shelter
Strogilo is a round rock in open water, and that matters directly for Margaritis: the reef sits on the north-west side, exactly facing the direction the longest wave comes from. The sheer western wall, on the other hand, ends up in the quiet when it blows from east and south-east.
conditions
Two and a half miles of open water: you come here on a forecast, not on a whim. Flat calm or a light easterly, and the reef reads from anchor depth down to thirty metres. A north-westerly cancels everything at once — the wave breaks on the reef tops and the anchored boat starts snatching.
hazard
Out here you are far from everything: if the wind backs, there is nowhere to hide and a long paddle to shore. The wall drops away sharply and depth builds without you noticing — in clear water it is easy to slide deeper than you meant to. Keep the buoy with you and agree signals with the helm: dive boats come right onto the reef.
access
No shore option — boat only, and it is not a short hop: about two and a half miles from Panormos, twenty to twenty-five minutes in settled weather. You drop the anchor right beside the island in five to ten metres and slide off onto the north-west reef. Carry spare water and fuel; the way back is the same run.
Islet reef/wall 10–35 m SW — Margaritis reef on the NW side, a sheer wall on the W. Boat.
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.
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≈
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…
Skopelos — Skopelos central harbour (meteocam.gr)meteocam.gr (Cybex) live — Skopelos central harbour. 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
white seabream
Diplodus sargus · 0–12 m · EU 1967/2006
gilthead seabream
Sparus aurata · 2–20 m · EU 1967/2006
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax · 0–15 m · EU 1967/2006
greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili · 5–30 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).
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.
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
saddled seabream
Oblada melanura · 3–15 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.
flathead grey mullet
Mugil cephalus · 0–8 m · min 150 g
No EU size — only the 150 g minimum applies.
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
white grouper
Epinephelus aeneus · 15–45 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
goldblotch grouper
Epinephelus costae · 10–35 m · EU 1967/2006
Grouper: max 1/day (shared genus-Epinephelus limit).
devil firefish (lionfish)
Pterois miles · 5–40 m · invasive
⚠️ Invasive — removal encouraged, excellent flesh. Venomous spines: never grab bare-handed, cut the spines, treat a sting with hot water (>45 °C).
silver-cheeked toadfish
Lagocephalus sceleratus · 5–40 m · invasive
☠️ Invasive — kill, but DO NOT EAT: deadly toxin (TTX). Sale banned (Reg. 853/2004, Annex III Sect. VIII Ch. V(E)). Powerful beak bites — never string it live on a stringer.
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 · Skopelos
Spearfishing in Skopelos: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Skopelos spearfishing is about using the south when N/NE meltemi hits the north. The island is steep and forested, with local visibility listed at 20-30 m in good conditions. Agnondas, Stafylos and Panormos are the lee logic, while Glysteri and Trachili need calm. May is a total Greek spearfishing ban, no spearfishing licence has been issued since 2014, and legal hunting is freediving-only with a 5 kg per person daily limit.
TL;DR
Skopelos is steep, forested and clearer than nearby Skiathos, with deep rock for grouper and dentex.
In N/NE meltemi, the north around Glysteri and Trachili is exposed; use the southern bays instead.
Several local entries have Natura advisory context, so boundary checks matter before diving.
Where can you spearfish in Skopelos?
Choose southern lee first. Natura advisory areas around several islets and entries are not automatically described as bans here, but they require boundary checks.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Agnondas / Amarantos Wall
South-coast wall and reef
5-35 m
Moderate with deep edge
Boat or shore
Sheltered south wall with dentex and grouper on the deeper edge.
Dasia Island
Islet reef, canyon and cave
10-40 m
Boat and depth
Boat
Clear SW blue water and grouper rock; check Natura advisory boundaries.
Glysteri / Trachili Cape
North rock and reef
5-25 m
Calm north only
Shore or boat
Sargos and octopus ground, but exposed to N/NE meltemi.
Christoforos Shipwreck
Wreck off Skopelos
Not published locally
Local confirmation needed
Boat
A preserved wreck entry, not a place to plan without confirming depth, boundaries and rules.
Conditions and season essentials
The useful windows are June and September to October, with dawn starts in July and August. May is fully closed to spearfishing throughout Greece. In meltemi, move to Agnondas, Stafylos or Panormos and leave the north for true calm. Greek rules require freediving only, no scuba or compressed air, and a 5 kg per person daily catch limit. Check gov.gr for registry status because no spearfishing licence has been issued since 2014.
✓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).
FAQ
Which side works in meltemi?
Use the southern bays, especially Agnondas, Stafylos and Panormos. The north is exposed.
Are Natura areas automatic bans?
Not always in the local data, but they require local boundary and rule checks before diving.
Is May closed?
Yes. May is a total spearfishing ban across Greece (ΠΔ 373/1985), including Skopelos.
Do you need a licence?
No spearfishing licence has been issued since 2014. Check gov.gr for current registry requirements.
What fish are typical?
The local profile includes sargos, grouper, dentex, amberjack, octopus, seabream and seabass.
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