Today — right on the edge — 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 Yamba, 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 mapBasalt point 5.4 km south of Yamba, past Pippi and Barri beaches. Far enough up-coast from the river mouth that it clears first after rain.
Google MapsA sandstone headland with its own rock platform, one of those that frame the Pippi, Barri and Green Point beaches. Mulloway are taken off these rocks. Around 0.5 to 5 m by bathymetry.
Google MapsA 30 m head south of Pippi, where bedrock outcrops in the surf as reef in front of a boulder beach. With Spooky Beach next door it is a secluded place for fishing the shallow reefs, and a short reef break called Spookies works here. Around 1.5 to 6.5 m by bathymetry.
Google MapsThe headland between Main Beach and Convent Beach, taken 85 m off the rock. Its seaward normal averages 96° across the 3 and 5 km windows — as consistent as this coast gets — and the ground is boulder and ledge round the tip. The Clarence plume reaches it: after heavy rain the corner sits at arm's-length visibility for days.
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.
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 15:24 (Australia/Sydney)
Spearfishing at Yamba is a river-and-swell call. The Clarence decides the visibility: after rain the plume runs brown past the breakwalls for days, and Angourie Point, 5.4 km south, clears first. The coast faces 96°, so a swell in the 36–166° sector closes the shore. On a clean, small day the free marks are the Yamba Point headland, Angourie Point and the Pippi headlands at Barri Point and Green Point. Bull sharks use the estuary and white sharks range outside it. Pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee before you dive.
Depth ranges come from bathymetry and are unverified in the water. Two headlands have no depth on record, so verify them locally.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamba Point | Headland, boulder and ledge | Verify locally | Calm, clear days only | Off the rock between Main Beach and Convent Beach | The Clarence plume reaches it: after heavy rain the corner sits at arm's-length visibility for days. |
| Angourie Point | Basalt point | Verify locally | Calm days | 5.4 km south of Yamba, past Pippi and Barri beaches | Far enough up-coast from the river mouth that it clears first after rain. |
| Barri Point (Pippi south) | Sandstone headland with rock platform | 0.5–5 m (unverified) | Shallow, small swell only | From the rock platform | Mulloway are taken off these rocks. |
| Green Point | Bedrock reef in front of a boulder beach | 1.5–6.5 m (unverified) | Shallow reef, small swell only | South of Pippi, next to Spooky Beach |
All 461 spots → · Region: NSW North Coast · spearo.app — All countries
Rules change and vary BY STATE. Before heading out, check with your state's fisheries (NSW DPI, Fisheries QLD, VFA, DPIRD WA, PIRSA, NRE Tas, NT Fisheries) and the marine-park zoning map.
| A secluded place for fishing the shallow reefs; a short reef break called Spookies works here. |
Yamba is decided by the river first and the swell second. The Clarence is the biggest river on the NSW coast, and after rain the plume runs brown past the walls for days. The visibility baseline we hold is about 6 m, a provisional satellite estimate rather than a reading from the water. Everything faces 96°, so a swell in the 36–166° sector closes the shore, worst from 116°. Use the forecast on this page, and give the water dry days after rain.
Treat it as one. Bull sharks use the estuary and white sharks range outside it, and our shark-risk level for Yamba is high. Dirty water after rain off a river mouth is the worst combination, so keep to clear days, dive with a buddy and do not hang onto a bleeding fish.
You must pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee for spearfishing and carry the receipt: 7 AUD for 3 days, 14 AUD for a month, 35 AUD for a year or 85 AUD for 3 years. Eastern blue groper is no-take, as are black rockcod and greynurse shark. Snapper have a 30 cm minimum and a bag of 10, yellowtail kingfish a 65 cm minimum and a bag of 5, and mulloway a 70 cm minimum and a bag of 1. The nearest mapped no-take zones are the Solitary Islands sanctuary zones. Sanctuary and reserve zones are no-take, all fishing, spearfishing included.
The nearest towns with free marks on our map are Evans Head, Ballina / Lennox Head, Woolgoolga and Byron Bay. Each has its own page with its own wind sector and forecast.
Yes. NSW requires the Recreational Fishing Fee for spearfishing, from 7 AUD for 3 days to 35 AUD for a year.
No. Eastern blue groper is no-take in NSW.
The Clarence River. After rain the plume runs brown past the walls for days; Angourie Point clears first.
A swell in the 36–166° sector. Everything here faces 96°.
Snapper have a 30 cm minimum and a bag of 10 in NSW.
