Today — right on the edge.
Sources & confidence
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.
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
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Two Harbors, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
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: 3016 spots across 406 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 mapBurlington Bay Beach: lake shore, 1.4 km from Two Harbors. Mapped by OpenStreetMap as a beach. From here you swim out into Lake Superior. Marker position: 47.025° N, 91.661° W. State fishing rules set species and seasons for spearing; check them first.
Google MapsFlood Bay: lake shore, 3.3 km from Two Harbors. Mapped by OpenStreetMap as a beach. Water body: Lake Superior. Fresh water: carry less lead than in the sea. Which fish may be speared, and when, is set by the state; read the rules.
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».
Shore access to the lake at Kelsey Beach, 4.9 km out of Two Harbors. Access type in the OpenStreetMap data: waterfront park. The shore here faces Lake Superior. Coordinates of the entry: 47.049 N, 91.628 W. Check the state's current spearing rules before you dive.
Google MapsLakeview Park: you walk into the lake from the shore, 1.0 km from Two Harbors. The shore here faces Lake Superior. Marker position: 47.021° N, 91.659° W. Fresh water: carry less lead than in the sea. Check the state's current spearing rules before you dive.
Google MapsSchooner barge driven onto Gold Rock Point below Split Rock Light in the 1905 storm; the hull is broken down the rock face from shallow water to about 30 m. Shore entry over boulders, exposed to north-east swell, best in late summer. Dive only under Minnesota law.
Google MapsWooden bulk steamer wrecked in 1905, well preserved in 9-15 m about halfway along the west breakwall of Silver Bay harbour. Sheltered, easy navigation, good visibility after the August plankton drop. Spearfishing is not authorised on Minnesota's Lake Superior.
Google MapsSchooner of 1869 sunk in 1896 alongside the Agate Bay breakwater and now the calmest wreck dive on the North Shore, upright inside the wall. Shore or short boat entry, low current, June-October. Minnesota permits no spear on Lake Superior - dive 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.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
There is no lawful spearfishing at Two Harbors. Minnesota's Lake Superior rule is a closed list — Minn. R. 6262.0300 subp. 1 permits only what the part names, and it names angling and smelt gear — while the state's underwater harpoon rule, 6262.0600 subp. 1a A, applies to inland waters only. What Two Harbors does have is the best shallow wreck access in the state: the Samuel P. Ely inside the Agate Bay breakwall in 8-12 m, the Hesper at Silver Bay, and the Madeira spilling down Gold Rock Point below Split Rock Light. Plan a drysuit dive between late May and October.
Every site below is a dive, not a hunt: Minnesota authorises no spearing method on Lake Superior. Depths run from a snorkel line along the ore-dock breakwall to the Madeira's wall at about 30 m, and the Ely is the one wreck here you can reach without a boat.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel P. Ely | Wreck | 8-12 m | Beginner to intermediate · dive only | Shore or short boat, inside the breakwater | The 1869 schooner sunk in 1896 alongside the Agate Bay breakwater, upright inside the wall and the calmest wreck dive on the North Shore. Low current, June to October. |
| Agate Bay Breakwater | Jetty | 3-10 m | Snorkel and shallow scuba · dive only | Shore, Agate Bay side | The ore-dock breakwall, armour stone dropping into 3-10 m, and the shelter that makes the Ely divable. Watch for ore carriers working the dock. |
| SS Hesper | Wreck | 9-15 m | Intermediate, sheltered · dive only | Boat, Silver Bay west breakwall | Wooden bulk steamer wrecked in 1905 and well preserved in 9-15 m halfway along the Silver Bay breakwall. Easy navigation and good visibility after the August plankton drop. |
| Madeira | Wreck | 6-30 m | Advanced, exposed · dive only | Shore entry over boulders at Gold Rock Point | The schooner barge driven onto Gold Rock Point below Split Rock Light in the 1905 storm; the hull is broken down the rock face from shallow water to about 30 m. Exposed to north-east swell. |
No. Minn. R. 6262.0300 subp. 1 says fish may not be taken in Lake Superior except as provided by that part or under permit. The part authorises angling with up to two lines and smelt by dip net and minnow seine; it authorises no spear, speargun or harpoon, and the Agate Bay and Silver Bay water is Lake Superior. The DNR's own plain-language answer to "where can I spear, harpoon or dip net?" is "all inland waters" — the lake is not named. There is one honest interpretive tail in subpart 6, which lets other species be taken as allowed by inland regulations; read broadly that might import inland methods. We publish the narrow reading and carry the closure as advisory rather than a hard mapped zone, because a negative inference should not red an entire Great Lake.
Only common carp and native rough fish, and only in inland waters. Minn. Stat. 97C.371 subd. 1 sets the ceiling — common carp, native rough fish, catfish, lake whitefish, cisco and northern pike — and subd. 2 confines the last four to dark houses, an ice fishery. Minn. R. 6262.0600 subp. 1a A then sets the method: harpooning with a rubber-powered, spring or compressed-air gun, 1 May through the Sunday before the third Monday in February, sunrise to sunset, in all inland waters. The equipment may not be used within 1,000 feet of an established swimming beach; it may be discharged only when both gun and operator are entirely beneath the surface; and it may not be carried cocked out of the water. Daily limits are shared with bowfishing: 50 suckers, 50 redhorse, 100 bullheads, 10 gar, and carp, buffalo, drum and bowfin unlimited.
The ore-dock breakwall is the reason Two Harbors dives well. Its armour stone drops into 3-10 m and it shelters the inside of Agate Bay, which is why the Samuel P. Ely — a schooner of 1869 sunk in 1896 — sits upright in 8-12 m in almost no current and can be reached by a shore swim or a two-minute boat run. It is the calmest wreck dive on the North Shore and a genuine beginner site by Superior standards. Up the coast the SS Hesper lies in 9-15 m halfway along the Silver Bay west breakwall, sheltered and easy to navigate, and the Madeira is broken down the rock face at Gold Rock Point from shallow water to about 30 m, with a boulder shore entry and full exposure to north-east swell. Ore carriers work the Two Harbors dock — fly a flag and keep clear of the approach.
Harbours and bays ice over from January to March. The season runs from late May to October and peaks in August and September, after the plankton has settled out. The surface rarely passes 13-15 °C and below 15 m the water sits at 4-7 °C all year, so thermal protection is planned for the deep number rather than the surface one. There is no tide to work: the astronomical range on the Great Lakes is a few centimetres and NOAA publishes no tide predictions for these stations, so water level moves with wind and pressure. The nearest CO-OPS gauge is Duluth, 9099064, about 42 km down the coast, which means local water level is an approximation here rather than a measurement.
A Minnesota angling licence costs $25 resident and $51 non-resident annually, with 24-hour, 72-hour and 7-day options at $14, $36 and $43, plus the $10 trout/salmon stamp that Lake Superior angling requires. The separate spearing licence — $6 resident, $17 non-resident — is for dark-house work only and buys nothing on the lake. For gear, this is drysuit country: hood, gloves, redundant light and a dive flag. The specific hazards here are cold-water shock on entry, the boulder shore at Gold Rock Point in any north-east swell, and commercial ore traffic in and out of Agate Bay. The North Shore streams are closed to spear and harpoon outright under Minn. R. 6262.0700 as designated trout waters.
No. Minn. R. 6262.0300 subp. 1 authorises no spear, speargun or harpoon in Minnesota's Lake Superior, and the state's harpoon rule is inland-only.
8-12 m, upright inside the Agate Bay breakwater, reachable from shore or by a short boat run.
The Ely. Sheltered by the ore-dock breakwall, almost no current, and the shallowest of the North Shore wrecks at this standard.
The hull is broken down the rock face at Gold Rock Point from shallow water to about 30 m. Shore entry over boulders, exposed to north-east swell.
Common carp and native rough fish, by harpoon gun, 1 May to the Sunday before the third Monday in February, sunrise to sunset, at least 1,000 feet from an established swimming beach.
No. The Great Lakes astronomical tide is a few centimetres and NOAA publishes no predictions for these stations; level changes come from wind and pressure.
August and September, after the plankton drop. The season runs late May to October and harbours ice over January to March.
Not for diving. The $6/$17 spearing licence covers dark-house spearing; lawful inland harpooning runs on the ordinary angling licence.
