ReñacaVina del Mar
dangerousexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Rocky sector to the north, 0–10 m, shore; live cam. Coords approx.
Google MapsVina del Mar spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
2.5
🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
visibility1m
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 🌫 Murky all week after the storm — the water isn't settling
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 13:23
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 13:23
Vina del Mar — solo, off the rocks
don't go · wave 2.1 m (occasionally up to ~4.1 m)
wave 2.1 m head-onwind 8 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m
today, best window 12:00–15:00
fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 13.1°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
07:43–18:01 · first quarter
▲ 04:00▼ 11:00▲ 16:00▼ 22:00 · 0.7 m
Hours (06→20)
12
15
18
Day's trends
Tide-0.13 m
Wave1.74 m
Wind3 km/h
Water13 °C
fish activity: moonset 01:54 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:10 · high · moonrise 12:26 · moderate · moon overhead 19:40 · high
Conditions window12:00–15:00
don't go fish
Hs 2.06 mperiod 7.9 s head-onwind 8→19surge 22.4viz 1 m
2.06 mup to ~4.12 · 285° head-on
7.9 sswell moderate
8→19gusts 19 km/h
22.4pounding the rocks
0.25m/s
1 mrecent swell
13.1°Cthicker suit + hood
▲16:00tide rising
Atmosphere31 kmovercast
moderatemoonrise
- wave 2.1 m (occasionally up to ~4.1 m)
- long secondary swell (17 s) straight onshore
- first hours of the flood — fish moving in
confidence highday
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
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.
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
- Chilean sandperch (vieja)⚠️ Limit 1 fish/day, no minimum size. Heavily speared — better to release.
- Chilean sheephead⚠️ Limit 1 fish/day, no minimum size. Heavily speared — better to release.
- Peruvian gruntLimit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
- Chilean sandperch (rollizo)Limit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
- Peruvian morwongLimit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
- Lorna drumLimit 5 fish/day (overall cap ≤10/jornada). No minimum size.
- snoek
- yellowtail amberjack
- corvina drum⚠️ Biological closure 1 Oct–30 Nov. Min 40 cm (TL), limit 3/day.
- palm ruff⚠️ Closed 1–31 Aug. Min 30 cm (Atacama–Coquimbo).
- Chilean jack mackerel
- jerguilla
- apañado
- rock bass
- flounder
- elephant fishMandatory release (catch-and-release). Do not keep.
- humpback smoothhoundMandatory release (catch-and-release). Do not keep.
- Chilean abalone (loco)🚫 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.
Spearfishing in Vina del Mar: spots, seasons and rules
Vina del Mar is a short urban Renaca session. The listed rocks sit in 0-10 m with easy shore access, but swimmers, surfers and beach traffic change the decision. Use cameras to reject swell, then manage people in person. The licence, RAV closures and AMERB benthos limits remain in force.
TL;DR
- Renaca is used because it combines rocks, access and camera visibility.
- Screens can reject the swell, but beach users decide whether the session is polite.
- Keep SERNAPESCA, RAV, closed loco, AMERB and release-only animals in the plan.
Where can you spearfish in Vina del Mar?
Renaca is the useful mark because it has shore access, shallow rocks and live visual checks. Convenience is the reason to use it; crowding is the reason to keep it short.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reñaca | Rocky shore | 0-10 m | Intermediate | Shore entry | Rocky sector to the north, 0-10 m, shore; live cam. Coords approx. Check the exit. |
When does Renaca make sense?
Dawn, light wind and little foam over the northern rocks are the best signs. After storms, sand and backwash can ruin visibility. The SERNAPESCA licence is required, and Chile recognises sport diving, apnea and spearguns for spearfishing. RAV closures for conger and corvina still apply, with closed loco and AMERB benthos left out. A short clean swim is better than stretching the route around people. Vina del Mar is a resort city beside Valparaiso, with lots of sand and moles. The useful rock is toward Renaca and Concon, not across the busiest beach water. Renaca is the listed rocky shore sector in 0-10 m, and live cameras help read the sea. SW exposure still decides whether that urban edge is clean enough. The local rocky sectors carry vieja, rollizo and sargo in cold 13-16 °C water. Use a highly visible float around urban traffic, and keep the exit near the rocky end you chose. The city record points to live Renaca cameras, three in total, and no buoy. That makes the shore read direct: sand and moles are mostly background, while the rocky northern edge is the only practical water when swell allows it.
FAQ
Why Renaca?
It has the listed rocks, shore access and camera context.
What makes it awkward?
Swimmers, surfers and urban beach traffic.
How deep is it?
0-10 m.
Are cameras enough?
No. They only reject bad days.
What stays out of the catch?
AMERB benthos, loco, elephant fish, smoothhounds and protected wildlife.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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