“I fished here and there until I was 14, usually with my grandpa, and then took up fly fishing when I was about 20 years old.

It was during my first solo vacation in Rhodes that I started spearfishing. As usual, I never traveled without my spinning rod, so I spent most of my time rod and reel fishing and spending a bunch of euros at the local tackle store.

One time, I noticed the spearguns hanging on the wall and asked the guy if you could just buy them. He said yes and equipped me with fins, a snorkel, a mask, and a 50cm Xifias Speargun (see picture below).

I jumped on my scooter and went to the most remote beaches I could find. After a rather adventurous trail and meeting a Greek local who sang for me in a small chapel and gifted me some herbs, I jumped into the water.

I shot my first fish (Symphodus tinca, Linnaeus) after a few hours and returned to shore, where I was greeted by two Moroccan dudes. I shared my mask with them, and they offered me some pineapple.

After this experience, I was hooked and determined to never travel without my speargun again.”

“When I first started out, I was afraid of the weights, so I skipped buying them. On my first few spearfishing dives, I quickly noticed that it was hard to get down. So, I started diving while deflating my body (breathing out all my air), which gave me only a few seconds underwater.

After I took my first freediving courses, I realized how dangerous this was.

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Additionally, I shot fish that I couldn’t identify at the time.

I still feel ashamed of this, but I guess you make these mistakes when you have nobody to guide you. This is quite a taboo topic in the spearo community, but I think sustainability is a skill you have to practice and learn—preferably from someone more experienced than you.

In this case, self-reflection is a crucial skill. I had such a bad conscience that I became really interested in the sustainability of catching different species afterward.

I feel that, especially in Europe, in some places, spearos still need to develop a conscience for sustainability. I’ve seen some young spearos who would just clean up the whole beach section on a shore dive, shooting many juveniles.

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Also, to this day, I mostly spear alone. Not because I don’t like spearfishing with other people, but because it’s hard to find a buddy while traveling.”

“On my solo trip to Thessaloniki, I spent the first few days acquainting myself with the local waters, shaking off the dust from my lungs and fins through some freediving practice.

My goal was clear: to indulge in spearfishing.

I casually mentioned my spearfishing plans to my Airbnb host.

On the third day, a voice outside my room caught my attention: 'Do you know any good spearfishing spots around here?'

In an instant, I was out of bed and at the door. Stepping outside, I saw two guys with their spearguns casually propped against the balcony.

My curiosity led me to ask, 'Are you guys going spearfishing?' I couldn’t believe my luck.

That question opened the door to three incredible days of spearfishing adventures together.

Arijan was the seasoned spearo, while Joeri, like me, was just starting out.

Arijan, with his wealth of experience, became a mentor, showing me the art of silently approaching groupers and the intricacies of maintaining the speargun.

During those days, I managed to spear a few parrotfish and some delicious sea bream.

On our last day, Arijan skillfully caught a golden grouper.

Funny enough, the grouper tore off the first spear, but he quickly grabbed my speargun, dove down, and shot it again.

We decided to celebrate our catch by taking it to a local restaurant.

The restaurant prepared the grouper butterfly style for us. It was just delicious.

It took us three attempts to convince the restaurant owners to cook our catch—a challenge likely due to the area's touristic vibe.

But once they agreed, it was the perfect end to an unforgettable spearfishing adventure in Thessaloniki.”

“When I started spearfishing, I didn’t know anyone who was participating in the sport. Really, nobody. So one of the reasons I started the blog was to connect with the community.

But also to help others—those who want to connect with the spearo community and gain the knowledge that’s so hard to come by when you’re traveling to different countries.

Additionally, I work with local guides and connect them with clients who are interested in spearing the destinations I cover in my articles.”

“I’ve learned that every time I research a destination, it’s incredibly difficult to find information about minimum sizes, bag limits, marine protected areas, etc. For most of my articles, I’ve had to contact the government directly to get this information since there was no English info available.

So, I try to include some of that knowledge to make my readers’ spearfishing trips guilt-free—allowing them to spear with fun and a clear conscience.”

“Push out more helpful content while checking out more destinations!”

“If you’d like, you can guest-write an article to share your spearo knowledge with the community.

Or, if you find the articles useful, you could link to them. That helps a lot with the Google algorithm.

If you’re a spearfishing guide and would like to partner, feel free to contact me. :)”