Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and surge pounding.
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 mapReef inside and off Long Bay headlands; snapper and kingfish. Magic Point grey-nurse habitat nearby — no spearing greynurse.
Google MapsRock platform and reef north of Maroubra; ledges 2–8 m, drummer, bream, snapper. Exposed — go on small swell.
Google MapsSheltered reef gutter — Bronte–Coogee Aquatic Reserve, NO-TAKE. Blue gropers, easy entry; look only.
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 and vary BY STATE. Before heading out, check with your state's fisheries (NSW DPI, Fisheries QLD, VFA, DPIRD WA, PIRSA, NRE Tas, NT Fisheries) and the marine-park zoning map.
Spearfishing in eastern Sydney is a NSW compliance problem before it is a fish problem. You need to pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, then cut out the closed water. Clovelly / Gordons Bay is a no-take Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve mark, not a hunting spot, and North Harbour Aquatic Reserve is prohibited for spearfishing. That leaves the exposed ocean side: Maroubra / Mahon Pool reef and Malabar / Long Bay, both shallow to mid-depth rock and reef choices that need small swell. Eastern blue groper is protected from spearing, grey nurse shark and black cod are protected, and Magic Point grey-nurse habitat sits near the Malabar area. If the south-east swell is running, wait rather than forcing a Sydney rock entry.
This is a mixed table because one famous easy-water name is deliberately not a hunting spot. Clovelly / Gordons Bay is included because people ask about it, but it is hard no-take. Maroubra and Malabar are the practical eastern-Sydney entries here. No formal safety rating is published for the marks; the real controls are reserve boundaries, small swell, rock entry and protected species ID.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clovelly / Gordons Bay | Sheltered reef gutter | Shallow reef | Hard no-take, look only | Easy shore entry inside Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve | Blue gropers and easy water are exactly why this is a look-only reserve mark. Do not spear here. |
| Maroubra / Mahon Pool reef | Rock platform and reef | 2-8 m | Exposed, small swell only | North of Maroubra near Mahon Pool | Drummer, bream and snapper are listed. The shore is exposed, so this is not a big-swell fallback. |
| Malabar / Long Bay | Bay and headland reef | Shallow to mid-depth reef | Open coast with protected shark habitat nearby | Long Bay headlands | Snapper and kingfish are listed. Magic Point grey-nurse habitat is nearby, and grey nurse sharks are not targets. |
Yes. NSW and Victoria are the two states named in the Australia rules as requiring a recreational fishing licence or fee, and eastern Sydney is NSW. Treat that as the first gate. The second gate is place: the fee does not open aquatic reserves, no-take sanctuary water or inland waters. It also does not change species protection for eastern blue groper, grey nurse shark, black cod, great white shark, whale shark, seahorses or seadragons.
Clovelly / Gordons Bay is the local example that catches people. It is a sheltered, easy entry, but it sits inside Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve and is hard no-take for spearing. North Harbour Aquatic Reserve is also a prohibited spearfishing area, so do not treat Sydney Harbour reserve water as a backup when the ocean side is rough. Marine National Park and Sanctuary zones are full no-take. If a boundary is uncertain, do not enter with a loaded gun.
Legal planning starts with Maroubra / Mahon Pool reef and Malabar / Long Bay, after checking boundaries and current NSW rules. Maroubra gives rock platform and ledges in 2-8 m with drummer, bream and snapper. Malabar / Long Bay has reef inside and off the headlands, with snapper and kingfish. Neither place is a beginner-proof checkbox. The coast faces east-south-east, and the problem swell sector runs from north-east through south.
Yes. Eastern blue groper is the NSW state fish and has been protected from spearing since 1969. That matters most at Clovelly / Gordons Bay because blue gropers and easy entries are part of the attraction there. Do not downgrade it to a bycatch question. Potato cod, Queensland giant groper, humphead Maori wrasse and barramundi cod are no-take, while grey nurse shark, black cod, great white shark, whale shark, seahorses and seadragons are fully protected.
The city has North Bondi live-cam angles, useful for reading surf lines and water colour before committing to Maroubra or Malabar. There is no local buoy feed, so the camera read and swell direction carry weight. The local exposure flags a worst direction around 130 degrees, which lines up with the south-east swell that makes Sydney rock entries ugly. Moderate shark risk is flagged for the city; dirty water and fish on a float deserve conservative decisions.
Yes. Eastern Sydney is in NSW, where the recreational fishing fee applies.
Clovelly / Gordons Bay is no-take inside Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve, and North Harbour Aquatic Reserve is prohibited for spearfishing.
Start with Maroubra / Mahon Pool reef and Malabar / Long Bay, after checking reserve boundaries, swell and current NSW rules.
Yes. Eastern blue groper has been protected from spearing in NSW since 1969.
Use the North Bondi live cams and swell direction as a first read; no local buoy feed is supplied for this city.
NSW requires the Recreational Fishing Fee for recreational fishing, including spearfishing planning here.
No NSW-specific scuba rule is supplied here. Treat the local plan as breath-hold spearfishing and confirm equipment rules with NSW DPI before diving.
Some are full no-take for spearfishing. Clovelly / Gordons Bay is hard no-take, and North Harbour Aquatic Reserve is prohibited for spearfishing.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Sydney — East (Maroubra), we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
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transparency ~15 m · satellite, yesterdaysatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore
