Spearfishing in Tangier — best season, currents and where to get in

Tangier is the only city in Morocco where you can get into two different seas on the same day. Twenty minutes by car separates Atlantic water, open to the ocean, from relatively sheltered Mediterranean water. That is not a geographical footnote. It is the first thing to understand before you take a gun out here.

Two coasts, one city

The Atlantic side, west of the city towards Cape Spartel and Achakar, takes the swell with nothing to stop it. The water is colder and more restless, and the rock is superb on the days the sea lies down. Further south the coast runs down to Asilah in a long stretch of sand.

The Mediterranean side, east towards Cape Malabata and Ksar Sghir, is far better protected from Atlantic swell. The water is usually clearer, and it is the side that rescues a day which would otherwise end without a dive.

The working rule is one sentence. When the swell is from the west, go east. When the easterly blows hard, the Atlantic side can be the calmer one. The sea conditions page for Tangier gives both, and Ksar Sghir fills in the picture to the east.

The strait — one permanent current and one that turns

This is what makes Tangier unlike anywhere else on the Moroccan coast.

The Mediterranean evaporates more than its rivers put back, and Atlantic water comes in through the strait to make up the difference. That permanent current runs at the surface from west to east, and it does not stop at any hour of the year.

On top of it works the tidal current, which reverses with the flood and the ebb. Sometimes it reinforces the permanent current and the water becomes a river. Sometimes it opposes it and everything settles.

What this means for you. There are hours when nobody should be getting in, and hours when the sea turns friendly. The current is strongest around the new and full moon and weakest at the quarters. Cape Spartel in particular is known for hard tidal currents.

The day's tide times are on the spot page. Read them before you read the swell.

One of the busiest shipping lanes in the world

The strait is crossed day and night by cargo ships, by the fast ferries between Tangier and the far shore, and by inshore fishing boats. That means one thing. A flagged float is not optional here. The float and the dive flag are what make you visible, and staying near the rock is far safer than crossing open water.

The best season

Summer and autumn are the season. Warmer water, better visibility, Atlantic swell at its lowest. Autumn in particular is generous with passing fish.

In winter the Atlantic side effectively closes for weeks at a time, while the Mediterranean side stays workable on the calm days. Spring is changeable, one day clear and the next murky.

The strong easterly that Tangier knows well reshuffles everything. It raises a short chop and dirties the eastern side, and can clean the western side at the same time. Do not be surprised by haze or a yellow, dusty sky, because the chergui brings that up from the south.

The wetsuit

Tangier water is not southern water. Reckon on a 5 mm for most of the year and a 3 mm at the height of summer if you can take it. Water temperature is on the spot page. Look at it before you pack the car, not after you arrive. And in Tangier the wetsuit is a question of current too, because moving water takes your heat faster than still water.

The fish

The rock holds white seabream, two-banded seabream, common dentex and red porgy, brown meagre in the dark cracks and common octopus in the stone.

What sets the strait apart is what passes through it. Atlantic bonito, bluefish, leerfish, greater amberjack and barracuda all move through in season, because the strait is their only road between the two seas. And European seabass likes the churned water at the edge of the rock.

Each species page gives the legal size, the identification and the approach. The minimum sizes table is read before the shot, not after it.

Where you do not hunt

• The port, the channels and the ferry terminal. Forbidden, and not a conversation to have on the spot.
• Supervised beaches in season. A speargun among swimmers is an accident and an offence at once.
• The Jbel Moussa area, east towards Sebta. It is reported to us as closed or strictly controlled for spearfishing. Ask the competent authority before going.
• Military areas and the surroundings of installations. Do not go near them.

The full list is on the regulations page, and the protected species in their own section.

The permit

The spearfishing permit is issued by the maritime fisheries delegation for the district where you hunt, and Tangier has its own. The file and the procedure are in the permit guide. Do it before the season, not at the start of it.

Before you get in

Open the sea conditions page for Tangier. Swell, wind, visibility, water temperature, tide times and a seven-day forecast. Then pick your side, Atlantic or Mediterranean, on what you read there and not on habit.

In short

Tangier gives a great deal to anyone who reads the clock before reading the sea. Pick the right side, get in at slack water, stay visible, and never dive alone. The strait is generous, but it does not forgive being ignored.