Scoglio Ercole / La RossaTropea
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Reef west of town; grouper, sea bream, rock-sand with sharp drops close to shore.
Google MapsTropea spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
5.3
wave 0.6 m head-on
visibility4m
Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 16:00
Sources & confidence
- Sources
- IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
- Method
- Model consensus, read per window
- Freshness
- Re-read every hour, per coast
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
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 — forced red; the window is closed after dark.
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
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 16:00
Tropea — solo, off the rocks
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · strong wind 14 km/h, gusts 30 — caution
wave 0.6 m head-onwind 14, gusts 30 km/hvisibility ~5 mwindow 15:00–21:00
today, best window 18:00–21:00
fish · Visibility 5 m · Water 29.4°C
confidence high · 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.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
05:49–20:16 · first quarter
▲ 04:00▼ 10:00▲ 17:00▼ 22:00 · 0.2 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.48 m
Wave0.58 m
Wind9 km/h
Water29 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:01 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:10 · high · moonrise 14:34 · moderate · moon overhead 19:30 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish
Hs 0.56 mperiod 3.3 s head-onwind 18→40surge 0.6viz 4 m
0.56 mup to ~1.12 · 269° head-on
3.3 sswell moderate
18→40gusts 40 km/h
0.6weak surge
0.28m/s
4 mrecent swell
29.4°C5 mm + hood
▲17:00tide turn near
Atmosphere22 kmlandmarks visible
moderatemoonrise
- strong wind 18 km/h, gusts 40 — caution
- northerly wind picks up after midday
- visibility ~4 m
confidence mediumday
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: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsThe 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
Scoglio di Santa Maria dell'IsolaTropea
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky stack by the beach; sea bream, sea bass, clear water, open to the W.
Google MapsVadaro / Galea (Parghelia)Tropea
borderlineexposed head-on to the swell today (city-level)
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Spurs off Parghelia; grouper, dentex, conger in calm.
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.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Cameras · live
Look at the water
right now.
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».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- European seabassmin. 25 cm · legal target
- Gilthead seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- White seabreammin. 23 cm · legal target
- Two-banded seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Sharpsnout seabreammin. 18 cm · legal target
- Annular seabreammin. 12 cm · legal target
- Common dentexmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 30 cm · legal target
- Red porgymin. 18 cm · legal target
- Common pandoramin. 18 cm · Sardinia 20 cm · legal target
- Axillary seabreammin. 15 cm · Sardinia 18 cm · legal target
- Blackspot seabreammin. 33 cm · legal target
- Striped seabreammin. 20 cm · legal target
- Black seabreammin. 15 cm · legal target
- Boguemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Salemamin. 15 cm · legal target
- Dusky groupermin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Wreckfishmin. 45 cm · RESTRICTED · max 1 grouper/day; BANNED in Sardegna & MPAs
- Brown meagremin. 20 cm · RESTRICTED · protected in several MPAs · (verify against the norm in force)
- Greater amberjackmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target · (verify against the norm in force)
- Leerfishmin. 15 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- Grey mulletmin. 20 cm · Sardinia 25 cm · legal target
- Red scorpionfishmin. 15 cm · legal target
- Moray eelmin. 25 cm · Sardinia 60 cm · legal target
- European congermin. 25 cm · Sardinia 50 cm · legal target
- Wrassemin. 15 cm · legal target
- Red mulletmin. 11 cm · legal target
- Atlantic bonitomin. 25 cm · legal target
- Common octopusmin. 450 g · legal target
- Cuttlefishlegal target · (verify against the norm in force)
Law
- ✓NO paid licence, but a free MASAF REGISTRATION is mandatory (recreational sea-fishing declaration, online via SIAN/SPID, annual) — it is not a «licence».
- ✓Free-diving only (16+): scuba/rebreather/hookah BANNED (art. 128-bis DPR 1639/68). A speargun may not be handed to under-16s.
- ✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only from dawn to sunset (art. 129e DPR 1639/68).
- ✓Distances (art. 129 DPR 1639/68): ≥500 m from beaches with bathers; ≥100 m from fixed gear/set nets and from vessels anchored outside ports.
- ✓Buoy MANDATORY (art. 130 DPR 1639/68): float with a red flag bearing a white diagonal stripe, visible ≥300 m; the diver stays within 50 m of the buoy/support boat.
- ✓The speargun may not be kept armed out of the water (art. 131 DPR 1639/68) — load only when submerged.
- ✓Hand-collecting crustaceans/molluscs is BANNED for the spearfisher (art. 128-bis): only cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish). No crab lane for Italy.
- ✓Sale of recreational catch is PROHIBITED (EU control regime, Reg. CE 1224/2009).
- •Daily cap ~5 kg/person (or a single heavier fish) — set by a D.M. implementing Reg. CE 1224/2009, not by the DPR; max 1 grouper/day. Verify the current D.M. number.
- ⛔ Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) — TOTAL BAN: fishing, possession, transport, sale (D.M. 16/10/1998; EU-protected). Never touch.
- ⛔ Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio / naccarii) — capture BANNED (D.M. 3/5/89, D.M. 11/6/07).
- ⛔ Dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) — 45 cm, max 1 grouper/day (art.142 D.P.R.1639/68, amended by L.154/2016); fully BANNED in Sardegna & ALL .
- ⛔ Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) — MASAF RecFishing authorization only: season 16 Jun–14 Oct, 1 fish/outing, min 30 kg / 115 cm.
- ⛔ Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) — min 100 cm; seasonal closures, RecFishing declaration required.
Rules change. Before heading out, check with MASAF (registration) and the Guardia Costiera / Capitaneria di Porto; Sicily and Sardegna add regional tightening.
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.
Spearfishing in Tropea: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing in Tropea should stay with the three named marks. Santa Maria dell'Isola is the town rock by the beach, with clear water, sea bream and seabass, but it is west-open and close to bathers. Scoglio Ercole/La Rossa is a reef west of town with grouper and sea bream over rock-sand drops. Vadaro/Galea off Parghelia lists grouper, dentex and conger in calm water. Capo Vaticano is not one of the listed spots. The SIAN declaration is required, but it is not a licence.
TL;DR
- Tropea has three listed marks, not a broad Capo Vaticano catalogue: Santa Maria dell'Isola, Scoglio Ercole/La Rossa and Vadaro/Galea.
- The coast is west-facing, so swell and summer beach pressure can matter more than the short swim to the rock.
- Italy has no paid spearfishing licence, but the free MASAF SIAN/SPID declaration is mandatory and is not a licence.
- Use apnea only, daylight only, age 16+, mandatory buoy, 500 m from beaches with bathers, about 5 kg per day and max 1 grouper nationally.
Where can you spearfish in Tropea?
The city list is short: three rock marks, no formal safety grade and no maximum spot depth. Check west swell, exit, beach users and legal distance before thinking about fish. The wider Costa degli Dei does not turn every rock into a confirmed spearfishing mark.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoglio di Santa Maria dell'Isola | Rocky stack by the beach | Nearshore rock, no maximum stated | Town mark, west-open | Tropea beach area | Sea bream, seabass and clear water are listed. The beach setting makes the 500 m bather rule the first check. |
| Scoglio Ercole / La Rossa | Reef west of town | Rock-sand with sharp nearshore drops | Needs settled west-facing sea | West of Tropea town | Grouper and sea bream are listed. Grouper remains limited by Italian national rules: max 1 per day. |
| Vadaro / Galea (Parghelia) | Spurs off Parghelia | Spurs, no maximum stated | Calm-water mark | Parghelia side | Grouper, dentex and conger are named in calm conditions. No easy-entry or beginner rating is given. |
Can you spearfish at Capo Vaticano?
Capo Vaticano is not listed as a Tropea spot. The listed marks are Santa Maria dell'Isola, La Rossa and Vadaro/Galea. If you move toward Capo Vaticano, treat it as a separate local check for access, bathing zones and any harbour or municipal restrictions. Do not stretch the Tropea notes to cover a different headland.
What fish can you spearfish in Tropea?
The local notes name sea bream, seabass, grouper, dentex and conger. National Italian reference sizes include seabass 25 cm, white seabream 23 cm, common dentex 15 cm, conger 25 cm and dusky grouper 45 cm. Grouper is capped at 1 per day nationally. Recreational catch may not be sold, and the daily cap is about 5 kg per person or one heavier fish.
When is the best season to spearfish the Costa degli Dei?
No fixed best season is supplied for Tropea. The front is open to west, and the bad sector spans south-west through north-west. Vadaro/Galea is specifically a calm-water mark. In summer, Tropea's beach marks can be blocked by bathers and the 500 m rule.
Do you need a license to spearfish in Italy?
No paid licence is required. Italy requires the free MASAF declaration for sport and recreational sea fishing through SIAN/SPID; it is a declaration, not a licence. Operating rules: apnea only, 16+, dawn to sunset, no scuba, no hookah, no loaded speargun out of the water, buoy visible at distance, and the diver within 50 m of it.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Tropea?
At Santa Maria dell'Isola, Scoglio Ercole/La Rossa and Vadaro/Galea near Parghelia, subject to sea state and bathers.
Can you spearfish at Capo Vaticano?
Capo Vaticano is not one of the listed Tropea marks here. Check it separately instead of extending the Tropea spot notes.
What fish can you spearfish in Tropea?
Sea bream, seabass, grouper, dentex and conger are listed. Grouper is nationally capped at 1 per day.
When is the best season to spearfish the Costa degli Dei?
No month is specified. West-facing swell, calm water at Vadaro/Galea and summer bathers are the key filters.
Do you need a license to spearfish in Italy?
No paid licence is required, but the free MASAF SIAN/SPID declaration is mandatory and is not a licence.
Is the free SIAN declaration required to spearfish in Italy?
Yes. Complete the MASAF recreational sea-fishing declaration online through SIAN/SPID and keep proof with you.
Is scuba spearfishing allowed in Italy?
No. Recreational spearfishing is free-diving only and allowed only from dawn to sunset.
How many grouper can you take per day in Italy?
Nationally, no more than 1 grouper per day, with dusky grouper at 45 cm minimum unless a stricter local ban applies.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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