Get started the right way.

Speargun. Rob Allen Snapper in 75 cm is the correct first gun for Thailand reef hunting. If you know you want to chase jacks and mid-range fish, go 90 cm. Nothing shorter than 65 cm, nothing longer than 110 cm as a first gun.

Wetsuit. 1.5 mm open-cell smoothskin. Year-round. You will be warm enough on the Gulf in March and still fine in December. Cheap suits in 3 mm are worse than proper 1.5 mm open-cell.

Fins. Rob Allen Scorpia or Cressi Gara with plastic blades to start. Carbon later. Beginners break carbon blades on rocks.

Mask. Low-volume clear-skirt. Cressi Nano, Rob Allen Low Vol, or similar. Do not spearfish in a scuba mask.

Weight belt. Rubber belt, not nylon. 4 kg with a 1.5 mm suit is roughly neutral at 5 m for an average-built male. Adjust to your body.

Knife. Small dive knife on the inside of your thigh or calf. For emergencies, not fish dispatch. Dispatch is with an ikijime spike.

Float + float line + flag. Non-negotiable. A Thai law requirement, a safety requirement, and the only thing that saves a gun you drop.

Stage 1 — Water comfort. If you are not comfortable snorkelling in 5 m for a whole afternoon, do that first. Hunting comes after comfort, never before.

Stage 2 — Freediving certification. Do a proper Apnea Total Level 1. Three days, 9,500 THB on Koh Samui with Freediving Koh Samui. You will learn duck diving, equalisation, safety protocols, and blackout recognition. Zero shortcuts.

Stage 3 — Dry breath-hold training. Use our breath-hold trainer to run CO2 tables three times a week. No water. No risk.

Stage 4 — In-water hunting practice. First 20 dives, no gun. Just watch fish, time your holds, learn to read currents. Most new spearos skip this step and wonder why they cannot shoot anything.

Stage 5 — First fish. Pick easy targets. Snapper in a hole. Grouper on a ledge. Not a pelagic at 15 m on day one.

Spearfishing is legal in Thailand outside marine parks. This sounds simple until you realise the most photogenic dive sites are inside marine parks — Similan, Surin, Koh Rok, Koh Tarutao, Ang Thong, and most of the Chumphon and Koh Samui islands above Koh Tao. Do not hunt there. Fines are serious and equipment gets confiscated.

Legal: Gulf of Thailand around Koh Samui (outside Ang Thong park), Chumphon mainland coastline, Pattaya area. Andaman: Phuket outer reefs, parts of Krabi outside Hong park.

Read the full legality guide →

Never dive alone. Never hunt tired. Never skip the weight belt quick-release check. Never hyperventilate before a breath-up. Never chase a fish beyond your turn-around depth. Never shoot without a float line attached.

Blackout is the silent killer. It does not feel like anything. One second you are pulling for the surface, the next you are face down and the only person who saves you is your buddy. Dive with a qualified partner. No exceptions.