Taltal spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

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◈Taltal · Chile
2.5
🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
visibility~1m

Nottoday

Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 00:16

Sources & confidence

Sources
Open-Meteo · Copernicus
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.

Entry pointsNo-take zones

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
updated 00:16
Taltal — solo, off the rocks
DON'T GO
don't go · wave 1.7 m (occasionally up to ~3.5 m)
wave 1.7 m head-onwind 5 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 19.4°C
confidence low · 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
06:58–19:53 · full moon
▼ 03:00▲ 09:00▼ 15:00▲ 22:00mid-range tides · 1.2 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.63 m
Wave1.54 m
Wind8 km/h
Water21 °C
fish activity: moon overhead 00:30 · high · moonset 06:16 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:50 · high · moonrise 19:38 · moderate
Conditions window06:00–09:00
don't go fish
Hs 1.74 m · roughperiod 6.2 s head-onwind 5→7surge 14.3viz 1 m
1.74 mrough · up to ~3.48 · 225° head-on
6.2 sswell moderate
5→7gusts 7 km/h
14.3pounding the rocks
0.22m/s
1 mrecent swell
19.4°C5 mm + hood
▲09:00tide turn near
Atmosphere19 kmovercast
moderatemoonset
  • wave 1.7 m (occasionally up to ~3.5 m)
  • long secondary swell (13 s) straight onshore
  • flood toward high water
confidence lowtwilight
Open the seafloor map with entry points →
Coming soon

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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Taltal · a planner, not a safety guaranteePrivacy
Today
Notify me
Map
Best window · next 3 days

Next 3 days — not divable: wave up to 1.7 m

🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling

transparency nearby ~5 m · satellite, 2 days agosatellite estimate · may differ right at the shore

↓ low tide 03:14 · slack water ~02:29–03:59 bite times: 11:50–13:50 · 19:08–20:08

Tell me when it's on

Just your email — nothing else needed.

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.

See all spots →
−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

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

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.

Entry points

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 →
Punta TaltalTaltal
dangerous
exposed head-on to the swell today
window
—

Reef by the town, 0–16 m, shore; shelter to the north. Coords approx.

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.

One morning glance — and you know.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
Google Play — QR code
point your camera
≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference
Open the seafloor map →
Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now
  • Chilean sandperch (vieja)
    Graus nigra · 3–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    ⚠️ Limit 1 fish/day, no minimum size. Heavily speared — better to release.
  • Chilean sheephead
    Semicossyphus darwini · 3–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    ⚠️ Limit 1 fish/day, no minimum size. Heavily speared — better to release.
  • Peruvian grunt
    Anisotremus scapularis · 1–20 m · legal
    Limit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
  • Chilean sandperch (rollizo)
    Pinguipes chilensis · 2–30 m · legal
    Limit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
  • Peruvian morwong
    Cheilodactylus variegatus · 1–25 m · legal
    Limit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
  • Lorna drum
    Sciaena deliciosa · 2–25 m · legal
    Limit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
  • snoek
    Thyrsites atun · 0–30 m · legal
  • yellowtail amberjack
    Seriola lalandi · 3–40 m · legal
  • corvina drum
    Cilus gilberti · 2–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    ⚠️ Biological closure 1 Oct–30 Nov. Min 40 cm (TL), limit 3/day.
  • palm ruff
    Seriolella violacea · 3–40 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
    ⚠️ Closed 1–31 Aug. Min 30 cm (Atacama–Coquimbo).
  • Chilean jack mackerel
    Trachurus murphyi · 0–40 m · legal
  • jerguilla
    Aplodactylus punctatus · 1–20 m · legal
  • apañado
    Hemilutjanus macrophthalmos · 5–40 m · legal
  • rock bass
    Paralabrax humeralis · 3–30 m · legal
  • flounder
    Paralichthys sp. · 2–30 m · legal
  • elephant fish
    Callorhinchus callorhynchus · 5–40 m · ⚠️ release
    Mandatory release (catch-and-release). Do not keep.
  • humpback smoothhound
    Mustelus whitneyi · 5–40 m · ⚠️ release
    Mandatory release (catch-and-release). Do not keep.
  • Chilean abalone (loco)
    Concholepas concholepas · 1–20 m · 🚫 no-take
    🚫 Permanent extraction ban to 31 Dec 2028 (Arica→Aysén). Benthos — by hand by the AMERB org, not speargun; no recreational take.
Law
  • ✓A SERNAPESCA recreational-fishing licence is required — it explicitly covers spearfishing (defined as capture by sport diving, apnea and spearguns). Online at pescarecreativa.sernapesca.cl. Free for 65+/under-12/disabled. Sale prohibited.
  • ✓Unlike continental Argentina, scuba is not banned: the legal definition includes 'sport diving', so both apnea and scuba are legal. Respect RAV closed seasons (conger, corvina) and regional sizes.
  • ⛔ 🚫 Loco (Concholepas) — permanent ban to 31 Dec 2028 (Arica→Aysén). Only by hand by the AMERB org; outsiders/recreational barred.
  • ⛔ Elephant fish (Callorhinchus) and smoothhounds (Mustelus) — mandatory release. Don't shoot.
  • ⛔ AMERB areas (hundreds of polygons): benthos (loco/lapa/erizo) — exclusive to fisher orgs, don't take; fish by speargun — grey zone, check locally.
  • ⛔ Marine mammals, sea turtles, penguins — protected; do not touch.

Rules change. Before heading out, get the recreational licence (SERNAPESCA, pescarecreativa.sernapesca.cl) and respect the RAV closed seasons and regional sizes.

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 Taltal

Where can I spearfish in Taltal?

Taltal has rock entry points such as Punta Taltal. Mining-fishing town on a remote, clean rocky coast with little hunting pressure. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

When is the best season in Taltal?

Fishable year-round in the Atacama desert climate; summer (Dec–Mar) is calmest, cold Humboldt water stays clear.

How cold is the water in Taltal?

Cold Humboldt water, ~15–19 °C — 5–7 mm suit. Clear, plankton-rich; the desert coast holds big fish.

Is Taltal good for a beginner?

Advanced: cold, swell-exposed Pacific with big fish — for experienced spearos in a proper wetsuit.

Do I need a licence in Taltal?

Yes — in Taltal a Sernapesca recreational licence is mandatory (foreign tourist 1.5 UF/yr; resident 0.7 UF), carry it with your passport. Breath-hold only (rubber or pneumatic speargun — no scuba/compressor). Loco is under a permanent ban and vieja/pejeperro have a 1/day limit. Mind the AMERB areas (don't take benthos). See the guide.

Full guide: spearfishing in Chile →
Concon
  • Vina del Mar
  • Valparaiso
  • Laguna Verde
  • Quintay
  • Tunquen
  • Algarrobo
  • El Quisco
  • Isla Negra
  • San Antonio
  • Maule · Biobío

    • Pichilemu
    • Bucalemu
    • Constitucion
    • Curanipe
    • Cobquecura
    • Dichato
    • Tome
    • Talcahuano
    • Lebu

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