Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding.
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
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.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Wellington, 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.
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 mapThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appA 45-minute walk north from Makara Beach; kingfish, blue cod and moki on an exposed Cook Strait reef.
Google MapsRocky Breaker Bay at the harbour mouth, EAST of Taputeranga; butterfish, moki and cray — dive slack.
Google MapsIsland Bay/Taputeranga Marine Reserve — no-take, spearfishing banned (spear:no).
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appRed Rocks/Pariwhero WEST of Taputeranga toward Sinclair Head; butterfish, moki and cray, seal haul-out.
Google MapsWest of Red Rocks and outside the Taputeranga reserve; butterfish and moki in the kelp, fur seals hauled out on the rock.
Google MapsThe full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.
Open in the appSOLO 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.
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».
Rules as of now — 25.10.2026 17:37 (Pacific/Auckland)
Spearfishing in Wellington suits divers who can read current before they read depth. The useful coast is outside the harbour, from Breaker Bay past Moa Point to Red Rocks, with cool Cook Strait water and south-facing rock. Dive slack, avoid strong southerlies, and keep clear of Taputeranga Marine Reserve at Island Bay, where all fishing and taking are banned. The MPI Central area combined finfish limit is 20 per fisher, with regional size and species rules still applying.
These entries stay outside the protected Island Bay reserve. All three are shore dives with exposed water, so they suit a settled forecast, a visible exit and a conservative buddy plan rather than casual solo drops.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaker Bay | Rocky harbour-mouth coast | Shallow reef and ledges | Intermediate | Shore entry on the open south coast | East of Taputeranga, Breaker Bay gives rock, kelp and harbour-mouth movement. It is a butterfish, moki and crayfish spot, best held for slack water and modest swell. |
| Moa Point | Urban rock reef | Nearshore rock and weedline | Intermediate | Shore entry east of the airport | Moa Point is close to town but still faces Cook Strait. Expect cool water, changing current and crayfish country; leave room for a clean exit if the wind shifts. |
| Red Rocks (Pariwhero) | Open coast boulder and reef | Shallow to moderate rock | Intermediate |
Rules change and are regional. Before heading out, check with MPI (regional fishing rules / the NZ Fishing Rules app), DOC (marine reserves) and local notices (rāhui/mātaitai).
| Shore approach west of Taputeranga |
| Red Rocks works as a western option toward Sinclair Head, with butterfish, moki, crayfish habitat and seal haul-out awareness. Give wildlife space and dive only when the swell is genuinely down. |
The best days are not defined by sunshine. They come when the south coast has had time to settle, wind is light enough to keep exits readable, and the tide is close to slack. Cook Strait tidal streams can run to about 3 knots here, so a pretty surface can still hide hard work. If Lyall Bay looks churned or a southerly is pressing into the coast, move the session rather than forcing it.
Island Bay sits in Taputeranga Marine Reserve. DOC states that fishing and removing or disturbing marine resources are prohibited there, so treat it as a hard no-take zone. Use Island Bay as a boundary marker, not as a harvest plan. Breaker Bay lies east of that reserve, while Red Rocks lies west, but the exact line must still be checked before entering.
Local targets are butterfish, blue moki and crayfish rather than warm-water snapper hunting. MPI Central area rules include a combined daily finfish limit of 20, and species tables set individual limits and sizes. Blue moki and butterfish have minimum sizes in the Central area, and crayfish rules use tail-width measurements. Pāua may be taken only while free-diving, not on scuba; crayfish are taken by hand or a hand-held loop; neither is shot.
Start with the exit, then choose the fish plan. Pick a place where you can stand, wait and watch sets before committing. Carry a float and flag, keep the catch simple, and avoid working alone around seals, surge or current lines. The Lyall Bay and Wellington Harbour webcams help read the surface before driving to the south coast.
No sea-fishing licence is required in New Zealand, but Wellington still follows MPI Central area rules, closed areas and local notices.
No. Island Bay and Taputeranga Marine Reserve are no-take. Fishing, taking and disturbing marine life there are prohibited.
MPI lists a combined daily limit of 20 finfish per fisher in the Central area, excluding specified baitfish and freshwater eels.
No. Crayfish are handled under rock lobster rules, with no spears or puncturing devices — by hand or a hand-held loop only.
Cook Strait current and exposed southerly swell. Dive slack, keep exits visible and skip days when the south coast is moving.
