Snells Beach · New Zealand

5.4

wave 0.2 m

visibility5m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: MetService · Open-Meteo · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 16:58

Sources & confidence

Sources: MetService · 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.

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.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
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.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

MetService no dataThis information is made freely available by MetService. Despite this, MetService is not associated with, and does not endorse, spearo.app or have involvement in how this information is presentedupdated 16:58

Snells Beach — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind 16 km/h, gusts to 35 — caution

wave 0.2 mwind 16, gusts 35 km/hvisibility ~5 mwindow 15:00–21:00

today, best window 15:00–18:00

fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 17.7°C

confidence medium · verdict for the selected day

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Sunday · today2026-10-25

06:25–19:45 · full moon

▼ 00:00▲ 07:00▼ 13:00▲ 19:00 · 2.0 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.43 m

Wave0.24 m

Wind4 km/h

Water18 °C

fish activity: moon overhead 00:00 · high · moonset 05:22 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:00 · high · moonrise 18:47 · moderate

Conditions window15:00–18:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.20 m · calmperiod 11.2 swind 16→35surge 0.2viz 5 m

0.20 mcalm · up to ~0.40 · 85° at an angle

11.2 sswell building

16→35gusts 35 km/h

0.2weak surge

0.06m/s

5 mrecent swell

17.7°C5 mm + hood

▲19:00tide rising

Atmosphere53 kmovercast

lowoff the lunar peaks

wind 16 km/h, gusts to 35 — caution
flood — water rising

confidence mediumday

Open the seafloor map with entry points

More spots

Spots in New Zealand

🇳🇿New Zealand

New Zealand map →

Nearby towns

Auckland & Hauraki Gulf

Feedback

Help us make it better

What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

Algies Bay South RocksSnells Beach

borderline

Legal notice: Ōmaha Bay, Kawau Bay and Whangaparāoa Peninsula temporary closure: no seaweed and no invertebrates except kina, spiny rock lobster and scallops may be taken from the rock pools out to 200 m offshore. About 740 m south-east lies Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Area 3 (Kawau Island): fishing and anchoring from a vessel are prohibited there; the rule does not restrict shore-based spearfishing. · 2026-03-12 – 2028-03-11 (Pacific/Auckland) · Scope: all seaweed and all invertebrates except kina, spiny rock lobster and scallop (pāua, packhorse rock lobster, crabs, octopus, mussels…) · Fisheries (Ōmaha Bay, Kawau Bay, and Whangaparāoa Peninsula Temporary Closure) Notice 2026 (Notice No. MPI 1973), s 186A Fisheries Act 1996 (as of 2026-09-26)

840 m from the boundary of Kawau Bay High Protection Area (no-take zone)

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Rocky south end of Algies Bay. The Kawau Bay High Protection Area, Mullet Point included, starts 800 m east-south-east: no spearfishing. A cable zone 700 m south-east bans fishing and anchoring from vessels. Seaweed and most invertebrates are closed to March 2028; fish are not.

Google Maps

Wanns BaySnells Beach

borderline

Legal notice: Ōmaha Bay, Kawau Bay and Whangaparāoa Peninsula temporary closure: no seaweed and no invertebrates except kina, spiny rock lobster and scallops may be taken from the rock pools out to 200 m offshore. · 2026-03-12 – 2028-03-11 (Pacific/Auckland) · Scope: all seaweed and all invertebrates except kina, spiny rock lobster and scallop (pāua, packhorse rock lobster, crabs, octopus, mussels…) · Fisheries (Ōmaha Bay, Kawau Bay, and Whangaparāoa Peninsula Temporary Closure) Notice 2026 (Notice No. MPI 1973), s 186A Fisheries Act 1996 (as of 2026-09-26)

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Wanns Bay — bay by Snells Beach. Entry from the shore. Published sources: 1. Plan the session on the Snells Beach swell and tide forecast. Object type: bay, official place name. Check the seabed and conditions on site before entering the water.

Google Maps

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.

What's in season,
what the law says.

Rules as of now — 25.10.2026 17:27 (Pacific/Auckland)

In season now

snapper (tāmure)
Chrysophrys auratus · 3–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 30 cm · bag 7 a day · inside the combined limit 20 · East coast (SNA 1): 7 a day, min 30 cm. Auckland west coast (Kaipara/Manukau): 10 a day, min 27 cm. Inside the combined 20-finfish limit.
trevally (araara)
Pseudocaranx georgianus · 3–30 m · legal
min 25 cm · inside the combined limit 20
kahawai
Arripis trutta · 0–20 m · legal
no minimum size · inside the combined limit 20
John Dory (kuparu)
Zeus faber · 5–40 m · legal
no minimum size · inside the combined limit 20
porae
Nemadactylus douglasii · 10–50 m · legal
no minimum size · inside the combined limit 20
red moki (nanua)
Cheilodactylus spectabilis · 3–25 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
min 40 cm · inside the combined limit 20
kina (sea urchin)
Evechinus chloroticus · 1–15 m · legal
no minimum size · bag 150 a day · ⚠️ Before taking any shellfish check the NZ Food Safety biotoxin warnings — they change constantly and are separate from the fishing rules.
parore (luderick)
Girella tricuspidata · 0–15 m · legal
no minimum size · inside the combined limit 20
packhorse rock lobster (kōura papatea)
Sagmariasus verreauxi · 5–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
tail width ≥ 84 mm (♀ 90 mm) · bag 3 a day · 🚫 no spear · 🚫 possessing a speared one is an offence · ✋ by hand or hand-operated loop (spring-loaded loops banned) · Tail width: male 84 mm, female 90 mm. Packhorse stays open where spiny lobster is closed, but it is a DIFFERENT species and a much larger legal size. · Measure tail WIDTH: male 54 mm, female 60 mm; berried, soft-shell and unmeasurable ones go straight back. (Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013, reg. 29(2), reg. 46; MPI 7281.)
leatherjacket (kōkiri)
Meuschenia scaber · 3–30 m · legal
no minimum size · inside the combined limit 20
butterfish / greenbone (marari)
Odax pullus · 2–20 m · legal
min 35 cm · inside the combined limit 20
garfish / piper
Hyporhamphus ihi · 0–3 m · legal
no minimum size · bag 50 a day

off season: red / spiny rock lobster (kōura) () · pāua (blackfoot abalone) () · scallop (tipa) () · spotted black grouper () · green-lipped mussel (kūtai) ()

Law

✓There is no in New Zealand: MPI states plainly that you do not need one to fish in the sea — only fresh water needs a licence. The rules are REGIONAL, though: MPI divides the country into seven fishing areas with their own sizes and limits, and the Kaikōura Marine Area has rules of its own on top. Buying, selling or swapping recreationally caught seafood is an offence under the Fisheries Act 1996.
✓Three species may not be taken with a SPEAR anywhere in the country: rock lobster, salmon and trout. For rock lobster it is an express rule — using a spear to take one, and possessing a speared lobster, are both prohibited, with a fine up to NZ$10,000 (Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013, reg. 29(2)). Salmon and trout are freshwater sports fish managed by Fish & Game.
✓AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION to a common belief: no nationwide scuba ban for spearfishing was found in the MPI rules. The only breathing-apparatus prohibition is for PĀUA: it may be neither taken nor possessed while you have apparatus, even if the tank is merely in the car or on the boat (Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013, reg. 48). A snorkel is not apparatus, and what forbids rock lobster is the SPEAR, not the tank. An absence of prohibition is not a permission: ask MPI before you go.
✓: MPI describes spearfishing as catching fish with rubber-powered spearguns and slings or compressed-gas pneumatic spearguns, and its rules say neither yes nor no about or explosive tips. Treat the question as UNRESOLVED and do not carry a as permitted gear. No time-of-day restriction was found in the MPI rules or in the Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013.
✓How to measure and where to check: a finfish is measured from the tip of the nose to the end of the middle ray of the tail fin — the 'V' of the tail, not its tips (Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013). Rock lobster is measured by tail WIDTH; pāua along the flat face of the shell in a straight line, not over the curve. Rules change often: MPI asks you to check them each time before you go fishing, for example in the NZ Fishing Rules app. Poaching: 0800 4 POACHER.
✓Auckland & Kermadec: combined finfish daily limit 20. Snapper 7 at 30 cm on the east coast (SNA 1) and 10 at 27 cm on the west (Kaipara/Manukau). Kingfish 3 at 75 cm, trevally min 25 cm, red moki min 40 cm. Kina 150 in

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.

FAQ — spearfishing in Snells Beach

Where can I spearfish in Snells Beach?

Snells Beach has rock entry points such as Algies Bay South Rocks and Wanns Bay. Snells Beach looks out over Kawau Bay. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

When is the best season in Snells Beach?

Summer (Dec–Apr) — clearer at the Hauraki islands; murky near the city.

How cold is the water in Snells Beach?

Summer 18–22 °C — 3–5 mm suit; winter 15 °C — 5 mm. Hauraki Gulf.

Is Snells Beach good for a beginner?

Moderate: murky near the city, boat to the clear islands.

Do I need a licence in Snells Beach?

No — New Zealand has no recreational sea-fishing licence, so anyone may spearfish at Snells Beach; MPI's size, bag and gear rules still apply and they are set per MPI fishing area: Snells Beach is in the Auckland and Kermadec area, where the combined finfish daily limit is 20. Pāua is free-dive only — having underwater breathing apparatus while taking pāua is banned nationwide — crayfish (rock lobster) may be taken only by hand or a hand-held loop, never speared — MPI's rules set no scuba ban for crayfish; spearfishing is banned inside every marine reserve, and mātaitai, taiāpure and rāhui must be respected. See the guide.

Full guide: spearfishing in New Zealand →

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in New Zealand

🇳🇿New Zealand

Nearby towns

Auckland & Hauraki Gulf

Help us make it better

The water column

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The seabed

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

What's in season,
what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Snells Beach

Northland

Coromandel

Taranaki & Western NI

Snells Beach spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Snells Beach by email

Spots in New Zealand

🇳🇿New Zealand

Nearby towns

Auckland & Hauraki Gulf

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

What's in season, what the law says.

FAQ — spearfishing in Snells Beach

Northland

Coromandel

Taranaki & Western NI

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

What's in season,
what the law says.