Tarrafal (Santiago) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

spearo.app / Cabo Verde / Tarrafal (Santiago)
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◈Tarrafal (Santiago) · Cabo Verde
5.4
wave 1 m
visibility~5m

Marginal

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and surge pounding.

Sources: Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 14:25

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.

Download on theApp StoreGET IT ONGoogle Play
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0 m

Surface

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

spearo.app
updated 14:25
Tarrafal (Santiago) — solo, off the rocks
BORDERLINE
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · current 0.31 m/s
wave 1 mwind 10 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~5 m
today, best window 06:00–09:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 28.1°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.

Tuesday · today2026-10-13
06:26–18:15 · waxing crescent
▼ 02:00▲ 09:00▼ 15:00▲ 21:00 · 0.9 m
Hours (06→20)
06
09
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.14 m
Wave0.98 m
Wind14 km/h
Water28 °C
fish activity: moon underfoot 02:10 · high · moonrise 08:48 · moderate · moon overhead 14:30 · high · moonset 20:14 · moderate
Conditions window06:00–09:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 1.04 m · roughperiod 6.4 swind 10→22surge 2.5viz 5 m
1.04 mrough · up to ~2.08 · 318° at an angle
6.4 sswell moderate
10→22gusts 22 km/h
2.5pounding the rocks
0.31m/s
5 mrecent swell
28.1°C5 mm + hood
▲09:00tide turn near
Atmosphere3 kmovercast
moderatemoonrise
  • current 0.31 m/s
  • flood toward high water
confidence lowtwilight
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spearo.app · a private marine instrument · Tarrafal (Santiago) · a planner, not a safety guaranteePrivacy
Today
Notify me
Map
Best window · next 3 days
borderlineThursday · 06:00–09:00
you can see ~5 m ahead fish

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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point your camera
−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 →
Farol da Ponta Preta (Tarrafal)Tarrafal (Santiago)
no data
DL 54/2005: spearfishing on breath-hold only (scuba banned, art. 5), with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva (art. 20), sunrise to sunset only (art. 13(2)); max 3 demersal fish a day (art. 14), no selling (art. 18).
window
—

Boulders off the lighthouse point, depth ≤25 m, entry not stated. Deeper than the shallow shore range; drops into the blue. Some current can run at the point. Busy dive site — watch for divers. Cabo Verde: breath-hold only, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, sunrise to sunset; 3 demersal fish a day, no selling (DL 54/2005). Coords approx.

Google Maps
Grande Muralha (Tarrafal)Tarrafal (Santiago)
no data
DL 54/2005: spearfishing on breath-hold only (scuba banned, art. 5), with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva (art. 20), sunrise to sunset only (art. 13(2)); max 3 demersal fish a day (art. 14), no selling (art. 18).
window
—

Rock wall, depth ≤18 m, entry not stated. Busy dive site — watch for divers. Cabo Verde: breath-hold only, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, sunrise to sunset; 3 demersal fish a day, no selling (DL 54/2005). Coords approx.

Google Maps
King Fisher reefTarrafal (Santiago)
no data
DL 54/2005: spearfishing on breath-hold only (scuba banned, art. 5), with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva (art. 20), sunrise to sunset only (art. 13(2)); max 3 demersal fish a day (art. 14), no selling (art. 18).
window
—

Rocky reef, depth not stated, shore entry. Busy dive site — watch for divers. Cabo Verde: breath-hold only, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, sunrise to sunset; 3 demersal fish a day, no selling (DL 54/2005). Coords approx.

Google Maps
Ponta de AtumTarrafal (Santiago)
no data
DL 54/2005: spearfishing on breath-hold only (scuba banned, art. 5), with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva (art. 20), sunrise to sunset only (art. 13(2)); max 3 demersal fish a day (art. 14), no selling (art. 18).
window
—

Reef off a rocky point, depth ≤35 m, entry not stated. Deeper than the shallow shore range; drops into the blue. Some current can run at the point. Busy dive site — watch for divers. Cabo Verde: breath-hold only, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, sunrise to sunset; 3 demersal fish a day, no selling (DL 54/2005). 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
  • no targets this month
Law

    Spearfishing in Cabo Verde is allowed only on breath-hold, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, from sunrise to sunset, at least 200 m from bathing beaches and outside ports; max 3 demersal fish a day, no selling. Scuba spearfishing is banned. Marine reserves (Santa Luzia, Baía da Murdeira, the Boa Vista and Rombo islets) are closed. Source: Decreto-Lei 54/2005. Check locally.

    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 Tarrafal (Santiago)

    Where can I spearfish in Tarrafal (Santiago)?

    Tarrafal (Santiago) has rock entry points such as King Fisher reef, Ponta de Atum and Grande Muralha (Tarrafal). Tarrafal sits in a sheltered bay on the north-west coast of Santiago, with a local dive centre and several named sites: the King Fisher reef from the shore, Ponta de Atum, the Grande Muralha wall and the boulders off the Ponta Preta lighthouse, down to 18–35 m. Below you'll find each spot (access, shelter and hazards) and today's forecast.

    When is the best season in Tarrafal (Santiago)?

    NE trades October–June; the south and north-west lee coasts of Santiago (Praia, Cidade Velha, Tarrafal) stay workable most of the year; the short rainy season (August–October) brings run-off near the ribeiras.

    How cold is the water in Tarrafal (Santiago)?

    About 22–23 °C in February–April, up to 28 °C in October.

    Is Tarrafal (Santiago) good for a beginner?

    Intermediate: sheltered bays with shore entries at Tarrafal and Cidade Velha, deeper sites (18–35 m) at the points with some current.

    Do I need a licence in Tarrafal (Santiago)?

    Tarrafal (Santiago): Spearfishing in Cabo Verde is allowed only on breath-hold, with a Licença de Pesca Recreativa e Desportiva, from sunrise to sunset, at least 200 m from bathing beaches and outside ports; max 3 demersal fish a day, no selling. Scuba spearfishing is banned. Marine reserves (Santa Luzia, Baía da Murdeira, the Boa Vista and Rombo islets) are closed. Source: Decreto-Lei 54/2005. Check locally.

    Data partners
    dive centres that send us real visibility readings
    Águas VivasMilfontes · Sagres