A first day on a speargun, run slowly and in shallow water. We teach breath hold, buddy protocol and gun handling before anyone hunts anything. Most people are surprised that freediving has less to do with lung size than with relaxing. You do not need experience. You do need to be comfortable swimming in open water.
We spend the first part of the day in shallow, protected water with your feet able to find the bottom. You learn to breathe up, to duck dive without thrashing, to equalise on the way down, and to come back up calmly. Then we practise the buddy routine on the surface until it is boring. Only after that do we go and look for fish, and only in water that suits how you are actually doing rather than how you hoped you would do. Trip length and departure time are still being confirmed.
We are based in El Pescadero, near Todos Santos on the Pacific side, and we run trips off both coasts, so where we meet depends on which boat the day runs on. Which boat runs a beginner day is still being confirmed. The 24 foot Punta Lobos panga launches off the beach at Punta Lobos in Todos Santos, the 28 foot catamaran La Morita leaves from San Jose del Cabo and the 35 foot El Wahoo King from Cabo San Lucas Marina. Departure points for the 27 foot super panga La Ruca and the 33 foot Don Pancho are still being confirmed. We almost never run split charters, so you are not spending your first day on a gun alongside strangers who dive better than you. Group sizes are small anyway, from three on the Punta Lobos panga up to six on El Wahoo King, and on a beginner day fewer is better, because everybody in the water needs somebody watching them.
Freediving is mostly a relaxation skill. Panic burns oxygen faster than swimming does. We will show you how to breathe up without hyperventilating, because hyperventilating feels good and is dangerous. The real risk in this sport is shallow water blackout. A diver runs low on oxygen, and on the way up, usually in the last few metres, they lose consciousness. It happens quietly and it happens to fit people. That is why we never let anyone dive alone, why one of us is on the surface every time you go down, and why we watch you for a while after you surface. You will find that rule slightly excessive. Good. Keep it that way for the rest of your diving life.
Most beginners hit nothing on the first several attempts and that is normal. Fish are closer than they look through a mask, they move faster than you expect, and the gun is heavier in the water than on the dock. We start you on something achievable rather than putting you in front of a fish you cannot land. You will learn to load and unload safely, to keep the muzzle pointed away from people and the boat, and to take only the shot you can finish. Wounding a fish and losing it is the worst outcome and we would rather you did not shoot at all than take that shot.
Do not book it if you are not comfortable in open water. This is not the day to learn to swim or to get over a fear of the sea. Do not book it if you have a heart or lung condition, a current ear or sinus problem, or if you are pregnant. Do not book it for the day you fly home, and do not freedive after scuba diving. If you dislike the idea of killing a fish, say so and we will run the day as a freediving and in water session instead, which is a perfectly good day. And if you are already an experienced diver, this trip will bore you. Take the guided trip.
Whether this day carries any recognised freediving certification is still being confirmed. Assume for now that it does not. It is an introduction run by people who dive here regularly, not a course with a card at the end. If a certification matters to you, ask us before you book and we will tell you straight what we can and cannot issue.
Guests normally bring their own gear. If you own a mask, snorkel and fins that fit you, bring them, because kit that fits works better than kit that nearly does, and a mask that leaks will ruin your morning faster than cold water will. If you own none of it, we carry some rental gear, so tell us what you need when you book rather than when you arrive. What we always provide is the lead and the floats. Nobody should have to pack a weight belt in a suitcase or fly a float across a border to go diving for a morning, and on a first day it is one less thing for you to think about.
Spearfishing in Mexico is legal on breath hold only. Scuba tanks and any compressed air are prohibited for spearfishing. Everyone aboard needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, including beginners, and the speargun counts as fishing gear. Licences are not included in the price. Everyone buys their own, beginners included, and we will help you get it. What a licence costs is still being confirmed. Protected species and closed areas exist and we respect them. Cabo Pulmo, up the East Cape, is a national marine park where all fishing and spearfishing are prohibited, so nobody hunts there.
Peak months in lagoon. Billfish are released; most of the rest goes in the box.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
