Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and noticeable surge.
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
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.
Safety gates
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
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
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.
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
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: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.
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 mapDrop-off wall, 5–15 m — legal (outside reserves). Mutton snapper, mahi, grouper, snapper. Family-Island rule: stay >200 yd from any shore.
Google MapsDrop-off wall, 6–27 m — legal (outside reserves). Mutton snapper, wahoo, grouper, snapper. Family-Island rule: stay >200 yd from any shore.
Google MapsNo-take park boundary — north of Conch Cut is closed to all take (since 1986). Info point.
Google MapsLegal ground SOUTH of the ECLSP boundary, 8–20 m — grouper, snapper, hogfish. Cuts run 3–5 kn, slack only. Coords approximate.
Google MapsBarrier reef, 3–9 m — legal (outside reserves). Hogfish, grouper, snapper. Family-Island rule: stay >200 yd from any shore.
Google MapsSOLO 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.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
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».
Rules change. Before heading out, check with the Bahamas Department of Marine Resources and the Fisheries Resources Act; spearguns are banned — sling/pole spear only.
Spearguns are banned everywhere in The Bahamas, and Staniel Cay makes that rule impossible to ignore: legal fishing here means Hawaiian sling or pole spear only, on breath-hold, outside the park and away from shore. The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park begins immediately north at Conch Cut and has been no-take since 1986, so the practical Staniel plan is south of Conch Cut. The reefs south of the boundary hold the core 8-20 m ground with grouper, snapper, and hogfish. Farther south, Black Point ocean reef and Cave Cay / Musha Cay cut dropoff add dropoff options, while the park boundary itself is only a navigation and dive-info reference. Cuts can run 3-5 knots, so use slack water only. There is a live water-view camera near Sampson Cay / North Bay for a surface read, but it does not replace a current and pickup plan.
At Staniel Cay, one boundary controls the whole day. North of Conch Cut is Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park no-take water. South of the cut, outside reserves and beyond 200 yards from shore, the reef and dropoff marks below are the practical sling and pole-spear options. The cuts are not casual swim-throughs; 3-5 knot current means slack only.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reefs south of Conch Cut (Staniel) | Legal reef ground south of the ECLSP boundary | 8-20 m | No published safety rating | Access details not published; coordinates approximate | Grouper, snapper, and hogfish are listed. Hunt only south of the no-take boundary, at slack around cuts. |
| Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park (Conch Cut) | No-take park boundary | Not a hunting mark | No-take | Dive or boundary reference only | North of Conch Cut is closed to all take. Do not hunt in the park. |
| Black Point ocean reef (Exuma Sound) | Dropoff wall | 5-15 m | No published safety rating | Access details not published; coordinates approximate | Mutton snapper, mahi, grouper, and snapper are part of the target mix outside reserves and past 200 yards. |
| Cave Cay / Musha Cay cut dropoff | Cut dropoff wall | 6-27 m | No published safety rating | Access details not published; coordinates approximate | Mutton snapper, wahoo, grouper, and snapper are listed. Treat cut current as a slack-only condition. |
Staniel Cay has a Bahamas-banks tidal regime and is listed as sheltered, but the cuts are the controlling hazard. A 3-5 knot tidal stream can erase the value of clear 20-30 m water. The bad sector runs 40-150 degrees, with the worst direction near 90 degrees. A live water-view camera near Sampson Cay / North Bay can help with surface color and chop, but there is no local buoy station. Build the dive around slack, pickup, and the park line.
Staniel's middle-chain location is famous for Thunderball Grotto and the swimming pigs, but hunting starts with a legal map, not a postcard. The park begins immediately north of Conch Cut. South of that line, the reef edge and dropoffs can be used if the diver stays outside reserves and beyond the 200-yard Out-Island shore limit. North of the cut, treat the water as no-take unless a legal boundary check says otherwise for an area outside the park.
Only a Hawaiian sling or pole spear is legal, and it must be used on breath-hold. Scuba and compressors are banned. No spearfishing within 1 mile of New Providence, 1 mile of Freeport's south coast, or 200 yards of any Out-Island shore. Foreign visitors need a sport-fishing permit, or must fish from a licensed charter. Catch is for personal use only, selling is banned, spear use needs a written permit endorsement, and competitions are banned.
Staniel-area reefs bring grouper, snapper, hogfish, mutton snapper, mahi, and wahoo. Nassau grouper is closed from 1 Dec to 28 Feb, with a 3 lb minimum outside the closure and head, tail, and skin intact on landing. Black grouper is also a 3 lb minimum fish. Lionfish culling is encouraged year-round. Crawfish in season, 1 Aug to 31 Mar, and queen conch are hand or hook only. Turtles, sharks, and corals are no-take.
No. Spearguns are banned throughout The Bahamas. Use only a Hawaiian sling or pole spear while freediving.
South of Conch Cut, outside Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park and any other reserve, and beyond 200 yards from shore.
No. North of Conch Cut is no-take park water. It is a boundary reference, not hunting water.
The cuts can run 3-5 knots of tidal current. Dive them only at slack.
Foreign visitors need a sport-fishing permit or must fish from a licensed charter. Catch is for personal use only.
No spearfishing within 1 mile of New Providence, 1 mile of Freeport's south coast, or 200 yards of any Out-Island shore.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Staniel Cay, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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transparency ~21 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
Sargassum: in seasonshore washups possibleAFAI satellite, 2026-07-21 · NOAA/USF
