Atlas / Adventure

Spearfishing

Hold your breath, stalk the reef or the open blue, and take a single clean shot, the oldest hunt on Earth done on lungs alone.

Gold credential: CMAS Spearfishing grades / national federation licence + freediving certification · CMAS (spearfishing commission) / national federations

Ranked by community strength — not by who pays

Where the community gathers

Strong living community

Kona, Big Island, United States

●●●●○ Thriving living community · Season: Apr-Oct · Beginner -> Advanced

Deep blue water and a steep drop-off minutes from shore make Kona one of the world's classrooms for bluewater pelagic hunting.

Living sceneMecca
★ Best place to go
Birthplace of the discipline

Côte d'Azur (Cassis to Antibes), France

●●●○○ Strong living community · Season: May-Oct · Beginner -> Competition

Modern sport spearfishing was invented on this French-Italian Mediterranean coast in the 1920s, and the mask, fins and snorkel were all born here from the hunt.

BirthplaceHeritage
Strong living community

Cabo San Lucas / Sea of Cortez, Mexico

●●●○○ Strong living community · Season: May-Nov · Intermediate -> Advanced

The 'Marlin Capital of the World' opens onto wahoo, tuna and dorado in warm blue water, a proving ground for serious bluewater hunters.

Living scene

Spearfishing pulls you? Leave an email — we'll introduce you to the right place and the right people as the map grows.

Prices are a verified starting point — no checkout, no hard sell. We introduce; you decide.

Why you can trust this map

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

Before you trust any school — mine or anyone else's — ask these five things
  1. Who actually teaches it? Can you find them by name, with a track record you can check yourself?
  2. Is the craft alive in that place, or is the school the only thing there? A real scene has more than one good option.
  3. What exactly do you walk away with — a recognised qualification, or a certificate they printed themselves? Ask which.
  4. Can you speak to someone who did the course? A real person, not a testimonial on their own page.
  5. What happens on a bad day — weather, an injury, a teacher who doesn't show? A serious place has an honest answer.

If a place dodges these, that's your answer. It costs you nothing to ask, and it tells you everything.

This is the short version. The full method is here — the six questions, in order, for any craft anywhere.