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.
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
no dataupdated 03:32
Vigo — solo, off the rocks
DON'T GO
don't go · wave 2.0 m (occasionally up to ~4.0 m)
wave 2 mwind 10, gusts 44 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m
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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.
Galicia is the only region that closes weekdays: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays all year, and the full week only from Maundy Thursday to Easter and from May to the end of September. Here the sea is also usually better first thing: the thermal northwesterly fills in at noon and by the afternoon the cape is breaking.
tide
Around 3.4 m on springs. What matters is not the height but what it moves: a lot of water goes through the channel between Cabo Home and the Cíes and the current is genuinely felt on spring tides. Plan the dive around slack and do not let yourself drift seaward, because swimming back costs dearly.
shelter
Cabo Home is the westernmost corner of the Morrazo and has nothing in front of it: from southwest to northwest everything comes in straight, and at 285° the cape is simply unworkable. Only in a clean northerly can you tuck into the corners on the south side, under the point itself, and even then refracted swell wraps in.
conditions
This is the cleanest water in the whole Ría de Vigo because you are already in open sea: after several days of northeasterlies you see eight or ten metres over the granite drop-offs. One metre of northwest ground swell is enough to shut the cape down; then there is neither visibility nor a safe place to get in.
hazard
The water west of the cape is already Illas Atlánticas National Park: the Cíes are only 1.8 km off, spearfishing is banned in there and the boundary cannot be seen from the water. Add strong current and the constant boat traffic to the islands: the buoy is not paperwork here, it is what saves you.
access
Park at the end of the Donón track, next to the lighthouses, and drop through pine and gorse for about fifteen minutes to the rocks; the way back costs double. The good entry is in the coves under the shelter of the cape, over limpet-covered granite. If the point is breaking, do not attempt to exit there under any circumstances.
Costa da Vela (Cangas) facing the Cíes; rocky drop-offs to the west, grouper and sea bream, very exposed to the NW.
The day comes first: Galician rules forbid working days except in Holy Week (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) and from 1 May to 30 September; the rest of the year it is Saturday, Sunday or an official public holiday (state or Galician) only. Pick the two hours before high water and, if you can, a sunny day: without light this bottom shows nothing.
tide
The 3.4 m of springs act here as an engine for clean water: the flood pushes it in towards the head of the ría and the ebb drags all the murk out. The good window is high-water slack. At spring low water stones and mud lie exposed and you have to look for a way in without sinking in.
shelter
You are well inside the Ría de Vigo, with shores on both sides: the northwest ground swell arrives broken up after passing the Cíes and is practically not felt. The only thing that rules here is the wind funnelled up or down the ría, which builds short chop but never a ground sea.
conditions
This is the poorest water around: two to four metres and green almost always, with the city's input and the rivers that empty at the head. It improves in the last hour of the flood on a spring tide, when outside water comes in. After a day of rain it is not even worth taking the suit out of the car.
hazard
A serious warning: Annex VI of Orden 17.09.2009 closes inner lines of the rías and they are not drawn on our map, so the inside of the Ría de Vigo may well be closed; verify it before you get wet. Add mussel rafts, moorings, ferries and the duty to leave 300 m to professional boats at work.
access
You get in from the shoreline accesses, parking on the verge and dropping a few steps; the edge is low rock with weed and stretches of mud, awkward but not dangerous. It is a short swim to the rocky patches. Keep well away from beaches with bathers and from harbour entrances, where fishing is not allowed.
Low rocky ground inside the ría; well sheltered, rock-and-sand bottom.
Remember there is no hunting on weekdays: the Galician rule leaves working days out except in the Easter stretch and the season from 1 May to 30 September. Go early: the walk in is long, the beach fills up in summer and the northwesterly usually gets up from midday onwards.
tide
With 3.4 m of range on springs the beach uncovers a wide strip and the slabs at the end appear, completely covered at high water. Along the cape the ebb stream pulls west, towards the channel; if you dive near the point, factor it in when you plan the way back.
shelter
Melide's sandy bay opens to the west-northwest, on the strip of coast that links the Costa da Vela to Cabo Home, and there the 220–305° sector comes in with nothing to slow it. The stone corners towards the Punta Robaleira lighthouse hold workable water when the wind is northerly and the sea comes short.
conditions
A mix of sand and granite boulders: with a glassy sea it gives six to eight metres, better than you would expect on a beach, because ocean water already circulates here. With ground swell the sand lifts and leaves a milky layer glued to the bottom that does not clear for a day or two.
hazard
To the west lie the Cíes, Illas Atlánticas National Park, where spearfishing is banned; the edge is close all along this stretch and cannot be seen from the water, so check it before you get in. There is boat traffic out to the islands, the buoy is compulsory and night diving is banned throughout Spain.
access
From the Cabo Home car park you go down a sandy track through pines, fifteen or twenty minutes with all the kit on your back. You walk in off the beach and swim out to the stones at the end. If it is breaking, always come out on the sand: against the boulders you will take a hit for sure.
Sand and rock on Costa da Vela; entry over the rocks, with sheltered corners.
The Xunta's calendar cuts out weekdays: weekends and public holidays always, and every day only from Maundy Thursday to Easter and from 1 May to 30 September. With ground this shallow, midday sun is when you see best; at dusk the green of the water swallows everything.
tide
With 3.4 m on springs much of the rocky ground uncovers and the waterline moves, but the current here is mild compared with the mouth of the ría: that is what makes this point comfortable for a first go. Get in at half tide on the flood and you will have rock with enough water without a long walk.
shelter
This Cangas rocky ground looks into the Ría de Vigo, to the south, with the ridge of the Morrazo behind it blocking north and northwest: swell arrives already tired. What ruins it is a southwesterly running up the ría, which in a couple of hours raises a short, dirty chop.
conditions
Ría water, greener than on the open coast: three to five metres is normal and a bit more at the end of the flood, when clean water comes in through the mouth. With rain or a hard southwesterly it drops to two metres and is only good for practising breath-hold over the shallow rock.
hazard
The Cíes, Illas Atlánticas National Park, are about 4.2 km to the west and spearfishing is banned there. Traffic is the serious issue at this point: ferries to Cangas, to Moaña and to the islands pass constantly and the skipper cannot see you without a buoy. There are mussel rafts nearby; they are someone else's gear and you must not hang around them.
access
You park by the coast road out of Cangas and reach the shore in a minute; no scrambling needed. Entry is over low rock with weed, slippery at low water, and twenty metres out you already have bottom. Exit is easy anywhere, which is exactly what you want on a first outing in Galicia.
Rocky ground facing into the ría; sheltered from swell, good for beginners.
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.
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≈
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».
✓Spearfishing licence mandatory; the AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY issues it (not the State) and it is valid in the exterior waters of the whole coast. Free-diving only — scuba is banned (, art. 3).
✓Spearfishing catch may not be sold or traded — it is non-commercial fishing ().
✓Night prohibited: spearfishing only in daylight (sunset to sunrise not allowed) — , art. 16.d.
✓Marker buoy MANDATORY: mark your position with a clearly visible buoy and stay within 25 m of it — , art. 15.
✓Never keep the speargun loaded out of the water — , art. 16.a.
✓Keep at least 300 m from professional fishing vessels that are working — , art. 12.b.
✓The state act (, art. 16) bans, for spearfishing: a loaded gun out of the water; explosive/electric points and lamps (hand torches excepted); underwater scooters; night — from sunset to sunrise. Plus art. 12 b), d), e): 300 m from professional fishing vessels, light as an attractant, poisons/explosives. A ban in a PARTICULAR reserve, port or beach comes from that place's OWN instrument (the reserve's order, the autonomous community's rules, the port authority) — see the no-take zones on the map and your community's rules.
✓Min. sizes by ( + + EU 2019/1241): sea bass 42 cm (rec.) / 36 cm / 25 cm Mediterranean / 22 cm Canaries; gilthead bream 20 cm and white seabream 23 cm in the Mediterranean (EU 2019/1241); grouper 45 cm. See your zone's species card.
✓Only species in Annex I of may be taken; keeping, landing or transporting undersized specimens is prohibited.
✓The licence needs a medical fitness certificate for free-diving and civil-liability insurance (or a federative licence, which includes it). Mandatory in the Basque Country/Murcia/Asturias/Galicia; the federative licence covers it in Galicia/Balearics/Cantabria; the Canaries and Andalusia do NOT require it for the individual licence (a responsible health declaration). Minimum age generally 16 (14 in Andalusia).
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.
Local guide · Vigo
Spearfishing in Vigo: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing in Vigo is controlled by the Ría de Vigo and Atlantic Islands National Park. Cabo Home / Costa da Vela faces the Cíes, has western rocky drop-offs and is very exposed to NW, but the fact sheet marks a hard park closure: spearfishing is banned throughout the marine reserve and legal only outside its boundaries. Praia de Melide, Punta Balea and the inner ría coast are the other rock-and-shelter references. In Galicia you need Clase C PE405A.
TL;DR
Vigo splits between Costa da Vela facing the Cíes, very exposed to NW, and inner-ría rock that is more sheltered.
Atlantic Islands National Park, including the Cíes, is a hard closure for spearfishing. Cabo Home / Costa da Vela is legal only outside park boundaries.
Galicia requires the Clase C license, PE405A procedure, minimum age 16 and a medical certificate.
Where can you spearfish in Vigo?
The source gives seabed and exposure, not metre depths or safety scores. Cabo Home / Costa da Vela carries a hard park-boundary warning.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Cabo Home / Costa da Vela
Rocky coast facing the Cíes
Western rocky drop-offs
-
-
Very exposed to NW. Spearfishing is banned inside the park marine reserve; legal only outside.
Praia de Melide (Punta Robaleira)
Sand and rock on Costa da Vela
Rock with sheltered corners
-
Entry over the rocks
The source names sheltered corners, not a separate closure.
Punta Balea (Cangas)
Rocky ground facing into the ría
Sheltered rock bottom
Beginner
-
Sheltered from swell and good for beginners.
Costa interior da ria de Vigo
Low rocky ground inside the ría
Rock-and-sand bottom
-
-
Well sheltered inside the ría.
spearfishing conditions Vigo today
The fact sheet marks Vigo as Atlantic and upwelling coast, with W-NW as the bad sector. Cabo Home / Costa da Vela is very exposed to NW; Punta Balea and the inner ría coast are more sheltered. Check actual sea, wind and AEMET ES-PO before entering. The Ría de Vigo camera can show surface state, but it is not an underwater visibility reading.
✓There is no fixed national catch cap (, art. 5 delegates it to the communities); the standard is 5 kg/person/day, with 1 specimen allowed not to count (Canaries — Decreto 182/2004, art. 38.3; Murcia; Galicia; Basque Country). Protected species have per-piece quotas.
✓Only a harpoon is allowed — hand-held or mechanically propelled, with one or several points (, art. 14.1). Carrying spearfishing gear and underwater breathing equipment aboard AT THE SAME TIME is prohibited (art. 14.2) — an offence in itself, even if you dived on a breath hold.
✓Spain is not one jurisdiction. The licence is issued by a coastal autonomous community, and you must comply with the rules of the administration on whose littoral you are in the water: «debiendo cumplir la normativa establecida por la administración en cuyo litoral se realice la actividad» (, art. 13). Interior waters — inside the straight baselines: bays, coves, rías, the whole coastal strip — are the community's competence; exterior waters are the State's. So the age, the days of the week, the distances and the are found in your community's act, not in the state one.
✓Galicia: «Clase C» licence (submarina), procedure PE405A on the Xunta portal; minimum age 16, medical certificate required. Galicia recognises spearfishing licences from other communities and the EU. sede.xunta.gal (PE405A).
✓No-take zone: Atlantic Islands National Park (Cíes, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada) — spearfishing banned (see zones on the map).
✓Galicia is the only community that closes weekdays: spearfishing is allowed only on Saturdays, Sundays and state or regional holidays, and from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday and from 1 May to 30 September, every day (Orden 17.09.2009, art. 13.2). Daylight only, orto to ocaso (art. 13.3). The cap is 5 kg per licence per day, and 2 octopus per fisher per day (art. 12.3). The zones closed to spearfishing are listed in (art. 11.2). The licence needs an official medical fitness certificate, insurance and an arms licence or a federation card (art. 3.b).
⛔ Seahorses (Hippocampus) — protected (RPE).
Rules change and are REGIONAL. Before heading out, check with the competent autonomous community (licence) and the min-size table in force.
spearfishing Cabo Home Costa da Vela Vigo
Cabo Home / Costa da Vela faces the Cíes, with western rocky drop-offs, grouper and sea bream in the source text, and very high NW exposure. The zone record is hard: spearfishing is banned throughout the Atlantic Islands National Park marine reserve and legal only outside its boundaries. If the boundary is unclear, do not enter with a speargun.
can you spearfish in the Cíes Islands national park
No. The Cíes are part of Atlantic Islands National Park, along with Ons, Sálvora and Cortegada. The Galicia legal block marks the park as closed to spearfishing, and the Vigo zone record adds a hard marine-reserve hit near Cabo Home / Costa da Vela. Outside park limits, Galicia licensing and Spanish national rules still apply.
how to get a spearfishing license in Galicia
Galicia uses the Clase C spearfishing license through PE405A on the Xunta portal. The fact sheet gives minimum age 16, medical certificate required, and recognition of licenses from other autonomous communities and the EU. National rules require freediving only, ban scuba and night spearfishing, and require a visible buoy within 25 m.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Vigo?
The fact sheet lists Cabo Home / Costa da Vela, Praia de Melide, Punta Balea and Costa interior da ria de Vigo. Check park boundaries: Cabo Home / Costa da Vela is legal only outside the National Park marine reserve.
Can you spearfish in the Cíes Islands?
No. The Cíes are inside Atlantic Islands National Park. The fact sheet marks spearfishing in that park as banned.
What fish can you spearfish in the Ría de Vigo?
The spot text names grouper and sea bream at Costa da Vela. The Cantabrian-NW list also includes European seabass, gilthead, black seabream, grey mullet, red porgy, octopus and conger.
Do I need a license to spearfish in Galicia?
Yes. Galicia uses the Clase C spearfishing license, procedure PE405A on the Xunta portal. The source gives minimum age 16 and a required medical certificate.
Is scuba spearfishing allowed in Spain?
No. Spanish national rules allow spearfishing only while freediving. Scuba and night spearfishing are prohibited.
Spain
