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 20:58
Xàbia — solo, off the rocks
BEST WINDOW
best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
wave 0.5 m head-onwind 10 km/hvisibility ~5 mwindow 06:00–21:00
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
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.
The level is irrelevant. What matters is that you are working on the shoulder of the coast's main cape: the flow bending round Cap de la Nau brushes Ambolo too, and the swell reflected off the wall adds to it, setting up a nasty cross sea right against the rock. Check your drift on the buoy every few dives, especially after three days of Llevant.
shelter
A cove under the cliff on the southwest shoulder of Cap de la Nau, with the islet of Illa del Descobridor alongside. The front faces south and southeast, so the cape's bulk holds off Gregal and Llevant well: in a northeasterly gale it can be almost calm here. Migjorn and Llebeig, though, come in unhindered and hit the undercut rock square on.
conditions
A spot for experienced divers: depth comes at once, the wall runs down, and you work where the swell rebounds off the rock. Come with Gregal and northerlies, and with Ponent it is perfect, 15 to 20 metres of visibility. With southerly and southwesterly do not even approach: the undercut sets up a cross sea and there is no way out. No act banning spearfishing was found here.
hazard
The big danger here is not underwater but over your head: the beach has been officially closed for some twenty years because of rockfall, in 2025 a hundred people were evacuated and the police patrol the access. Do not stand under the wall or leave gear there. Then depth without a safety net, reflected swell, and the standing rule: no scuba while spearfishing, buoy mandatory.
access
There is no way in by land: the path down is officially closed, there are signs, and in summer patrols come through. The only legal option is from the water: kayak or paddleboard from Granadella along the cliff, or a boat out of Xàbia harbour. The Varadero slipway, incidentally, is shut from 1 March to 30 June for protected wildlife; after that private use is free.
Rocky ground below Cap de la Nau; deep bottom, exposed to swell, advanced.
This is the most current-swept point on the whole coast: the along-shore flow running south hits the cape and speeds up around its nose. The Xàbia Red Cross puts Cap de la Nau first on its list of points dangerous for surf and current. The tidal level, meanwhile, is dead: 12 to 14 centimetres. Always work off the buoy and start against the flow.
shelter
The easternmost point of Alicante province: here the coast breaks and by definition there is no shelter, because swell from any sector between northeast and south finds the cape. The rule is simple: with Llevant and Gregal you move south of the cape to Granadella and Moraig; with southerly swell, north to Portitxol and Sardinera. The nose itself only works in flat calm.
conditions
Come only in a flat calm or on settled Ponent: then the gorgonian walls read out to 20 metres and you can see the whole structure. In any wind from the 55-170 sector the cape sets up a cross sea and there is nothing to work with. No act banning spearfishing at the cape was found, and that means "no ban found", not permission: the Sant Antoni reserve lies far to the north.
hazard
The cape gathers everything at once. Traffic: launches and yachts cut the nose close in, and here the buoy saves your life rather than ticking a box. Depth: the walls run a long way down, and this is exactly where a tank starts to tempt you, but scuba is banned for spearfishing, RD 347/2011 art. 3.c. At the foot of the cape the Cova dels Orgues opens up: do not go in.
access
Asphalt runs up from Xàbia to the lighthouse and the viewpoint and there is parking, but there is no beach under the cape at all: you cannot get down the cliff to the water. In practice two options remain: a boat from Xàbia harbour, about fifteen minutes' run, or a long swim along the shore from Ambolo or Granadella, which with this current is not for everyone.
Alicante's easternmost cape; deep drop-offs with gorgonians, dentex and grouper, very exposed to the E wind.
The tide is irrelevant here, the range is under twenty centimetres. Inside the cove there is no current at all: the walls lock it in. It starts outside the mouth, on the En Caló-Granadella line, and the Xàbia Red Cross specifically advises against swimming that route without a motor. The moment you clear the cove's points, check your drift against the buoy.
shelter
A narrow slot between two tall rock walls, its mouth turned east-southeast. The cove already lies south of Cap de la Nau and the cape's bulk cuts Gregal (NE): on a northeasterly day this is where people cross over from the other side. Xaloc (SE) and long southerly swell run straight into the mouth and bounce off the walls.
conditions
The best day is Ponent or Llebeig, wind off the land: over rock and boulders you see 15 to 20 metres, and in settled calm after a few offshore days it stretches to 25. Gregal works, because the cape holds it off. With Xaloc and long southerly swell the cove stirs to the bottom, leaving 4 or 5 metres and a murky layer along the shore.
hazard
On the law, honestly: we found no zonal act banning spearfishing at Granadella, and that means "no ban found", not "permitted". The Cap de Sant Antoni reserve ends far to the north, on the Punta de San Nicolás meridian. Then the physical: boats and kayaks in the mouth, snorkellers, 100 metres from swimmers, buoy mandatory, scuba forbidden.
access
Parking on C/ Pic Tort: 130 spaces, 9:00 to 19:00, 9 € a day, no booking possible; daily from 2 June to 6 September, then weekends only on 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27 September. There is a shuttle, the tourist train from Urb. La Guardia Park, 10:00 to 19:00 hourly, 6 € adult and 4 € reduced. You get in over coarse cobbles and rock starts at once.
Rocky cove between cliffs; drop-offs and boulders, sea bream, gilthead and dentex, exposed to the easterly (E).
Do not bother with the level: twenty centimetres change nothing. Do bother with the Freu, the 190-metre channel between shore and island, which squeezes the flow and speeds it up; the Xàbia Red Cross separately warns about currents on the island's east face. Enter the channel only with a buoy, and always start against the drift so you come back with it.
shelter
A cobble cove facing Illa del Portitxol: the island, 8.7 hectares and 72 metres high, sits 190 metres offshore and works as a natural breakwater, killing part of the easterly swell, so in its lee the water is calmer than outside. The shore faces east and northeast, so Llevant and Gregal come straight in, while Ponent and Llebeig bring the calm.
conditions
This is the north face of Cap de la Nau, and that is the whole point: when southerly swell runs or Xaloc blows, people move over here from Granadella. The good day is Ponent, Llebeig or light southerly, with 12 to 18 metres over rock and boulders. With Llevant and Gregal the cobbles churn along the shore, leaving 3 to 5 metres, plus a cross chop in the Freu.
hazard
Much is said about a micro-reserve in the channel, but it is only proposed by IROX and not approved: there is no fishing ban here. The real risks are different: boats crossing the Freu almost against the shore, snorkellers around the island, and a gun stowed with breathing gear on board, which under Ley 5/2017 art. 14.5 counts straight away as illegal fishing.
access
The C/ Barraca car park has only 59 spaces, 9:00 to 19:00, 9 € a day, no booking, on the same dates as Granadella. That is half the room, so you arrive in the dark. The walk down to the water is short and you get in over coarse cobbles, round ones that roll under your foot. The island is 190 metres off, but cross the channel only with a clear head and a buoy.
Rocky ground facing Portitxol island; rich rock bottom, exposed to the E.
The tide is an empty box here. The current is not: the Xàbia Red Cross names Cap Prim among the points where it warns of surf and flow, and advises against swimming the return leg between Cap Negre and La Barraca without a motor. Off the nose the flow turns, and at 15 to 20 metres it pulls noticeably towards Cala Blanca.
shelter
A long thin headland, shown on maps as Cap de Martí; Cala Sardinera opens on its southwest side and looks southeast. The logic is simple: in Gregal (NE) you tuck into Sardinera behind the body of the point, while the nose of Cap Prim has no shelter from any quarter. In Xaloc the cove takes it head-on and only the north face is left to work.
conditions
This is the clearest water on the coast: the rock drops away steeply, the bottom is clean, and on a quiet day after Ponent you see 15 to 20 metres, sometimes 25. Work it in westerlies and light northerlies. There is one legal limit and it matters: the Cap de Sant Antoni reserve starts about three kilometres north of here, and past that cape you cannot shoot.
hazard
First the boundary: it is about three kilometres from here to the Cap de Sant Antoni reserve, and nothing marks it on the water; if you push north, count the distance yourself. Second, depth: the walls run a long way down and the temptation is real, but scuba is banned for spearfishing across Spain and a shallow-water blackout arrives in silence. Never dive alone.
access
The headland has no car park of its own: you leave the car in the paid areas at Portitxol or Granadella and walk on along the coastal path through pine and agave. The drop to Sardinera is steep, over rock and roots, and awkward with a weight belt on. You get in over slabs and depth builds fast, so there is barely any swim to the structure.
Rocky point at Cap Prim; deep drop-offs, very exposed to the E-SE.
The tide here is as dead as everywhere on this coast. Two things need calculating: the flow running along the vertical wall, which after a settled southerly moves steadily and noticeably, and the surge in the mouth, where cobbles roll and cloud the water right at the entrance while thirty metres out you see twenty. Watch the buoy: the wall makes it easy to lose your reference.
shelter
This is already Benitatxell, twelve kilometres southwest of Cap de la Nau, and the shore here faces south and southeast. Everything blowing from north and northeast is killed by the plateau above the cliff: in a hard Gregal you can work here when Xàbia is shut. Migjorn and Llebeig, by contrast, run straight into the cobble horseshoe and raise the surf.
conditions
The clearest water on this whole coast: locals advertise visibility of more than twenty metres and on a quiet day after Ponent that holds up. The bottom is rock and Posidonia, there is no river for tens of kilometres, so after an autumn gota fría this place clears faster than its neighbours. With a southerly wind visibility drops to 5 or 6 metres.
hazard
Under the southern flank of the cove the Cova dels Arcs opens, the entrance to a developed flooded cave system. It is a cave-diving objective, not a breath-hold site: do not go in a single metre, even if you can see light. Cova de les Morretes lies alongside it. Then there is the unstable cliff over your head and the coarse cobbles rolling in the surf.
access
From Benitatxell a surfaced hairpin road drops to the cove, with parking above and along the road; there is no paid control here, unlike Granadella and Portitxol. The walk down is short, you get in over coarse rounded cobbles and put your fins on in the water. It is a couple of minutes' swim along the south flank to the wall and the cave mouth.
Pebble cove under cliffs at Benitatxell with a flooded cave; clear deep water over rock.
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».
Sin prohibición estatal de captura (NO está en el Catálogo Español, RD 139/2011).
common octopus
Octopus vulgaris · Mediterranean · 1 kg
Talla por PESO: mín. 1 kg (RD 560/1995, todos los anexos). No coger hembras con huevos.
Law
✓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 · Xàbia
Spearfishing in Xàbia: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
Spearfishing in Xàbia is shaped by rocky coves and Alicante's easternmost cape. Granadella has cliffs, boulders, sea bream, gilthead and dentex. Portitxol faces its island, while Cap Prim, Ambolo and Cabo de la Nao are more exposed to E and E-SE conditions. Cap de Sant Antoni Marine Reserve is closed. You need the Valencia regional spearfishing license, plus national rules: freediving only, no scuba, daylight only, buoy and Mediterranean sizes.
TL;DR
Xàbia is a Mediterranean cape-and-cove area: Granadella, Portitxol, Cap Prim, Ambolo and Cabo de la Nao are rock-led spots with easterly exposure.
The fact sheet gives no numeric depths, safety ratings or detailed access notes, so the table stays qualitative.
Cap de Sant Antoni Marine Reserve is closed to spearfishing.
Where can you spearfish in Jávea?
The source gives spot names and seabed descriptions, not safety scores or metre depths. Level is only shown where the spot text states it.
Spot
Type
Depth
Level
Access
Notes
Cala de la Granadella
Rocky cove between cliffs
Shallow ground to drop-offs and boulders
-
-
Sea bream, gilthead and dentex; exposed to the easterly.
Cala del Portitxol / La Barraca
Rocky ground facing an island
Rich rock bottom
-
-
Rock bottom facing Portitxol island, exposed to the E.
Cap Prim (Cala Sardinera)
Rocky point
Deep drop-offs
-
-
Very exposed to the E-SE; no access detail in the source.
Ambolo (Cap de la Nau)
Rocky ground below the cape
Deep rocky bottom
Advanced
-
Exposed to swell and explicitly marked advanced.
Cabo de la Nao
Rocky cape
Deep drop-offs with gorgonians
-
-
Dentex and grouper are named; very exposed to E wind.
✓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.
•Valencian Community: three separate licences (inland, maritime, spearfishing); applied for at the Generalitat Valenciana with Cl@ve; Law 5/2017. Confirm the exact procedure page at gva.es.
✓No-take zone: Cap de Sant Antoni marine reserve (Xàbia–Dénia) — spearfishing banned (see zones).
✓Valencian Community: spearfishing from age 16 and with proven physical fitness (Ley 5/2017, art. 12.1); only a mechanically propelled harpoon is allowed (art. 14.2); autonomous or semi-autonomous diving equipment is prohibited, and having spearguns and that equipment aboard at the same time is PRESUMED to be the illegal practice (art. 14.5). The catch may never be authorised for sale (art. 11.2). There is no «300 m around an artificial reef» radius in this law — that ban lives in each reef's own authorisation.
⛔ 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.
The fact sheet has no live sea state or buoy. It does show exposure: Granadella faces the easterly, Portitxol the E, Cap Prim the E-SE and Cabo de la Nao the E wind. Check actual sea, wind and the AEMET ES-A warning area before entering. If easterly swell is running, the cape spots are the wrong side to test.
spearfishing Cabo de San Antonio marine reserve rules
Cap de Sant Antoni Marine Reserve, between Xàbia and Dénia, is a no-take area for spearfishing. The regional legal block marks the ban as verified, and the reserve source treats spearfishing inside the reserve as prohibited. Stay outside its boundaries and check the official map if you are near the edge.
do you need a license to spearfish in Valencia region
Yes. Spain requires a spearfishing license issued by the autonomous community. For Valencia region, the source says there are separate inland, maritime and spearfishing licenses, processed through Generalitat Valenciana with Cl@ve under Law 5/2017. Because the exact procedure page is not verified, confirm it at gva.es. National rules also require freediving only, ban scuba and night spearfishing, and require a visible buoy within 25 m.
spearfishing dentex seabream Jávea
The Xàbia spot text names sea bream, gilthead and dentex at Granadella, plus dentex and grouper at Cabo de la Nao. Xàbia uses the Mediterranean caladero: European seabass 25 cm, gilthead 20 cm, white seabream 23 cm and grouper 45 cm. Species months are year-round in the source, so day choice depends on sea state, visibility and reserve limits.
FAQ
Where can you spearfish in Jávea?
The fact sheet lists Granadella, Portitxol, Cap Prim, Ambolo, Cabo de la Nao and Cova del Moraig. They are rocky coves, points and drop-offs. It gives no safety ratings or numeric depths.
Can you spearfish in the Cabo de San Antonio marine reserve?
No. Cap de Sant Antoni Marine Reserve is closed to spearfishing. Stay outside its boundaries and check the official reserve map near Xàbia or Dénia.
What fish can you spearfish in Jávea?
The spot descriptions name sea bream, gilthead, dentex and grouper. The Mediterranean species list also includes European seabass, salema, bogue, striped seabream, red porgy and striped red mullet.
Do I need a license to spearfish in Spain?
Yes. A spearfishing license is mandatory and issued by the autonomous community. In Valencia region, confirm the spearfishing procedure through Generalitat Valenciana at gva.es.
Is scuba spearfishing allowed in Spain?
No. Spanish national rules allow spearfishing only while freediving. Scuba and night spearfishing are prohibited.
Spain
