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 Zihuatanejo, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
Every covered town has its own live forecast, cameras and entry points. Choose where you're diving.
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: 1391 spots across 205 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 mapBajo Seco is one of the fourteen reefs the Zihuatanejo Dimaren lists along the coast from Ixtapa to Petatlán, 10–25 m, by boat. WARNING: no public source gives its exact position — the pin keeps the longitude on record and has come off the headland it stood on into the water offshore. Confirm the site with your skipper before you drop. Coords approximate.
Google MapsSmall, calm cove of rock, reef and sand down to about 18 m, with turtles and eagle rays; used for night dives and for beginners. ⚠️ The real site is 1.5 km from the pier, by the lighthouse at the bay mouth — the pin sits 6 km northwest, off the hotels.
Google Maps⚠️ Three sites under one name. The pin now sits in the water southwest of Isla Ixtapa (Isla Grande); Zacatoso is a separate ~12 m reef facing the hotel strip and Las Gatas is a beach inside Zihuatanejo bay, 13 km southeast — neither of them is this point. 3–18 m.
Google MapsThree big white granite rocks breaking the surface, with cliffs, caves, vertical walls, channels and tunnels; from the top down to 40 m, and visibility that reaches 40 m too. Strong current, experienced only; 2–3 h round trip by boat from the pier. Best October to January.
Google MapsA site the operators register as 'El Chato', 40 min from the Zihuatanejo pier: a broad spread of rocky reef with coral patches, 7–21 m, holding turtles, schooling fish and nudibranchs. It is a separate structure from Caleta de Chon, despite the similar name.
Google MapsBajo Sacramento as the Mexican Navy's sailing directions give it: 3 to 20 m over a patch 0.5 by 0.3 nautical miles about 1.6 km offshore, picked out by the surf breaking on rocks that stand above the water. Boat only and only on a settled sea — the same break that identifies it is what makes the exit awkward. Coordinates from the sailing directions.
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».
Spearfishing in Zihuatanejo is not one single bay spot. Isla Ixtapa offers island reef but has protected sectors that must stay out of the hunt. Morro del Chato and Sacramento are rocky boat options. Los Morros de Potosí are granite pinnacles with strong current and real depth. The Mexico baseline applies everywhere: CONAPESCA/SADER permit, apnea-only spearfishing, one speargun, no tank, and no spearing of roosterfish or mahi-mahi.
The working spots split into sheltered island reef and more serious offshore rock. Treat each pin as approximate. For visitors, the first question is not target fish; it is whether the site is outside protected sectors and whether the current is manageable.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isla Ixtapa (Zacatoso/Las Gatas) | Island reef | 3 to 18 m | Intermediate | Short boat run from Ixtapa | Only outside protected sectors. Useful for checking water before committing to stronger sites. |
| Los Morros de Potosí | Granite pinnacles | 9 to 37 m | Advanced | Boat south of Zihuatanejo | Strong current and deeper drops. Go only with a local boat that knows the pickup angles. |
| Morro del Chato (Zihuatanejo) | Rocky reef | 6 to 22 m | Intermediate | Boat, outside reserves | Rock for cabrilla, pez fuerte, barracuda and grouper. Coordinates are approximate. |
| Sacramento A/B (arrecifes) | Current-swept reef | 8 to 25 m | Intermediate to advanced |
SpainRules change. Before heading out, check with CONAPESCA/SADER (E5CINCO permit), CONANP (no-take marine ANPs) and NOM-059; apnea only.
| Boat |
| Worth considering only when the south pulse is down and the current is readable. |
The coast is south-facing, and the bad swell window runs broadly from south to west. That can shut down Los Morros and the open reefs before the bay looks ugly from town. Ixtapa beach cameras are useful for surface colour and set timing, but they do not tell you whether a pinnacle is running. Start with the cameras, then ask the boatman about current and pickup.
There is no local buoy connected for Zihuatanejo. Visibility is a practical read from south swell, recent wind and water movement across the reef. If Ixtapa is milky, do not expect Los Morros to improve by force of optimism. When the water clears but the current pulls hard, stay shallow or change the plan.
The Pacific Mexico list includes dog snapper, leopard grouper, yellowtail, Pacific sierra, white seabass, California sheephead and yellow snapper. Snapper work rocky points and pinnacles on moving water. Cabrilla sit in rock by day. Yellowtail and sierra lean cooler. Roosterfish and mahi-mahi are not speargun targets under the conservative Mexico rule, and the same goes for marlin, sailfish, swordfish and tarpon.
Do not spear inside the protected sectors. Isla Ixtapa needs a zoning check before it becomes a hunting plan. A local operator should be able to point out the closed cores and keep the boat outside them. If that boundary is unclear, choose a different site. Los Morros carry a different warning: strong current and experience required.
The CONAPESCA/SADER recreational-sport permit is personal and handled through E5CINCO. Use the portal for the current fee and duration options. Spearfishing is breath-hold only: one band or pneumatic speargun, no hooks or tridents, no tank, and a five-fish daily limit. Keep clear of swimmers and commercial gear. Lobster, conch and octopus are not sport spearing targets.
Isla Ixtapa outside protected sectors, Morro del Chato, Sacramento and Los Morros de Potosí. Los Morros are advanced because of current.
It depends on south swell, wind and current. Use the Ixtapa cameras as a first read, then confirm from the boat.
Dog snapper, leopard grouper, yellowtail, Pacific sierra, white seabass, California sheephead and yellow snapper. Do not spear roosterfish or mahi-mahi.
No. Hunt only outside the protected cores and verify the boundary before entering.
Warm months favour snapper; cooler months favour yellowtail and sierra. Daily south swell and current are the real filter.
Yes. Carry the individual CONAPESCA/SADER recreational-sport fishing permit.
Get it through E5CINCO and use the portal for the current fee. Do not plan from copied numbers.
No. Mexico spearfishing is apnea-only; do not combine a tank and speargun.
Portugal
