Spearfishing Course 2 Days

£400.00

If you are looking for a more in-depth training session, this 2-day course will cover everything you need to hunt and dive effectively whilst also staying safe.
Our most popular and longest established course is now better than ever, we have teamed up with AIDA Master Freediving instructor Oli Cacioppo to give you expert freediving training.

This course is designed to go into more depth than a 1-day course, giving you freediving training in order to dive deeper and cover a variety of hunting styles to advance your spearfishing to the next level.

Some of the things we cover: spearfishing safety, speargun handling, freediving, hunting techniques and more!

All courses include full gear hire for no extra cost and a 10% voucher to use on gear, in store or online.

Category:

If you are simply looking to get an intro into spearfishing and have a go at trying to find some fish then please see our experience days or the 1 day course – this course is about setting you up to be a proficient hunter and able to put food on the table safely. It is NOT about being handed a speargun and shooting anything that moves.

All courses include full gear hire for no extra cost and a 10% voucher to use on gear, in store or online.

The 2 day course is more in depth and focused on detailed hunting techniques and utilizing expert freediving coaching to enhance your spearfishing and take it to the next level. This course is suitable for complete beginners and spearos with some experience wanting to take the next step.

We are very excited to have partnered with Aida Master Instructor Oli Cacioppo from Delphy Pool Dive Center to give our courses expert freediving tuition in a safe and relaxed environment before progressing into the open sea.

Day one template and structure

  • Completion of course book before attending the day
  • Equipment introduction/familiarization
  • Freediving technique
  • Equalization
  • Weighting/Buoyancy
  • Speargun handling and target practice
  • Shallow hunting
  • Depth 0-5m (more proficient divers to 10m if the instructor allows)
  • Species identification and fish sizing

When you arrive to the course the instructor will do a quick recap/test on the booklet to make sure everyone is up to speed and has time to ask any questions. We’re more concerned about your knowledge on the safety side of the course here and this is what the test will be mostly be about.

The 1st day is split into 2 parts.

Part 1:

Part 1 is held at Delphy Pool dive center in order to utilize their dive quarry and classrooms to familiarize with equipment, practice equalization, freediving and breathing techniques and rescue.

After getting familiar with the equalization, correct breathing techniques, risks of hyperventilation and how to avoid this you then move onto static breath holding dry and in the quarry. The calm controlled water of Delphy Pool allows the students to practice these techniques in a safe environment with easy access to facilities such as warm showers and changing rooms.

Once you’re in the water we will test your weighting and buoyancy to make sure everyone is comfortable, aiming to gain proficiency in diving down to a depth of around 5-10m so the students get an idea of how your buoyancy changes and how to perform a dive.

Now the fun part – we set up a fish target underwater and you have to perform the dive and shoot the target.

Part 2:

For the afternoon we will then move to the sea to cover some shallow water stalking and practice using the terrain to approach and hunt.

The instructor will then do a recap on the core safety and species ID so it’s fresh in your mind for entering the water.

We will then move onto surface hunting and stalking as there is plenty of fish to be found right at the surface and in the first 5m such as Bass, Mullet, Garfish and Mackerel. This is the most common and easiest hunting style for most spearos but to stalk fish effectively without spooking them isn’t as easy as it sounds, you will have to stay calm and move slowly and take the shot before the fish senses you.

The main focus will be on remaining quiet and a stealthy approach to shoot the target.

We will then split into dive buddies and go for a quick hunt to practice all the techniques learnt to hunt some fish

Day 2

Day 2 we will be diving deeper, we’ll redo the safety and rescue, but this time, we’ll try and dive down to a maximum of 10m and do these techniques at this depth. Once again, when we’re all comfortable, we’ll head out spearfishing. We’ll get you trying out the more ambush style of the hunting for the day, sitting in the kelp, waiting for the fish to come to you. This day, you would need to be totally comfortable in the water to maximize your breath holds in a comfortable and safe manner. If you’re panicky or nervous, not only will your breath holds dramatically reduce, the fish will also sense your mentality and act panicky and nervous.

What’s covered on day 2:

  • Safety recap of day 1
  • Equipment recap of day 1
  • Advanced freediving safety and rescue
  • Depth to 5-10m (10-15m for more advanced students if the instructor allows)
  • Target practice at 5-10m
  • Spearfishing techniques: Ambush, stalking at depth
  • Introduction to Lobster and Crab hunting if time permits.

The 2nd day is focused on using the freediving technique to hunt at the bottom,

Practicing first with the duck dive and breath hold and then adding a target and speargun.

After practicing static shots on the bottom we will then practice stalking through the kelp on the bottom.

Students will then break off into pairs to buddy each other and use their skills acquired over the 2 days to try and effectively hunt fish.

 

PRIOR TO THE COURSE

Before the course you will be sent a booklet to study in order to bring every diver up to speed to the same level. This will include the core safety aspects of freediving, equalization, species ID and safe practice of using a speargun.

This means when everyone arrives to the course you will have a short recap and be ready to enter the water.

The courses consist of 1 instructor and 4 students as this keeps the course safer and more concise for the students. We have found more than 4 students isn’t the best value for money as it does not give enough time to help each student and answer questions that arise during the day

What you need to bring/what is supplied:

All the equipment is provided for the course – however if you have any gear already that you would like to use, such as a mask, snorkel or fins then please bring it with you.

Please bring food, a towel and money for parking. There are facilities nearby such as a Café and toilets.

Disclaimer*

You will need to sign a health declaration form and safety waiver which we will send out before the course in case there are any medical issues that require a doctor’s sign off before the course.

Catching fish on the day is not guaranteed so please do not turn up expecting to come away with fish or crustaceans – the primary function of this course is to enable you to hunt and dive safely and progress your skills to a level you are comfortable with so you can go away and hunt effectively.

Catching fish is more likely on Day 2 than Day 1 as we will have more time to hunt.

If there is only one person booked for the session we may cancel the session or rearrange to another day.

The cancellation time for booking a course is 21 days before, if you chose to cancel within 21 days from the start of the course we cannot refund you. If you wish to change the date this time frame also applies, as we cannot run a course with less than 2 people it is unfair on other students to have their course cancelled by someone else changing their preferred date so please bear this in mind when booking a course. If a change in date is requested within 21 days from the start date we will try our best to reschedule bookings if possible depending on how full the course is this may not always be possible.

Exceptions to this can be made for medical reasons

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