Luca Malaguti, Alchemy freediving and spearfishing team member, runs his teaching and expedition company out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sea to Sky Freediving & Spearfishing, is located right along one of the most beautiful highways in Canada, the Sea to Sky Highway. Right by its shores, you have access to incredible depth, at the foothills of the massive Coastal Mountains. Not far from this place, and the city of Vancouver, a ferry ride brings you to the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, two places teeming with marine wildlife. Here, the aquatic biodiversity even impressed Jacques Cousteau, and to this day the marine habitats are home to a variety of fish.
The concept behind Tide to Table is among teaching freedivers or experienced breath-hold divers to sustainably and responsibly catch their food on one breath. Spearfishing is the most dangerous of breath-holding activities, so learning how to safely and intelligently spearfish is essential before starting off. The Canadian Pacific Northwest is far different than the Caribbean, the Mediterranean or South-East Asia. With cold waters, powerful storms, low visibility, and dark thermoclines, spearfishing here is not for the untrained. However, overcoming these simple obstacles with proper training and safety, you will find spearfishing in the Canadian West Coast is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
You will learn about freediving and how to apply freediving skills for spearfishing by Luca Malaguti. Luca is a professional and deep freediver, with a specialty in bi-finning (i.e. useful for spearfishing). He’s an 80 meter (260 feet) freediver, an Alchemy Freediving team athlete, and ranked overall #2 in Canada. Luca has partnered with some of the most experienced sailors, fisherman, navigators, and spearos in Western Canada to give you a high-quality educational experience in spearfishing. His partners include Tom Hearty, an excellent spearo and 30+ year, fisherman. Tom’s specialty, aside from being able to captain any boat and navigate any conditions, is identifying the best spots spearfishing. While we’re all still looking at the maps, he’s spotted the location. Denham, is also an all-around athlete, with freediving, spearfishing, para-gliding, sailing, base jumping and kiteboarding under his belt. He’s an excellent sailor and navigator, someone you want as captain when conditions go sour.
In short terms, quite a lot. They offer 1-day workshops or multi-day expeditions. Either way, you’ll come out from their experiences more knowledgeable, safer, and more effective when freediving or spearfishing.
Some things you might expect to learn:
- Learn about freediving techniques for spearfishing from a professional instructor.
- How to train your CO2 tolerance in spearfishing.
- Practice exercises to increase your bottom time.
- Spearfishing laws and regulations, how to navigate them legally.
- Fish identification, differentiating between species, and how to ethically kill.
- Learn about the specific equipment and gear we use in the Pacific Northwest.
- Techniques to catch and harvest different species.
- Safety for spearfishing and rescue skills.
- How to gut, prep, and cook delicious recipes.
They will bring you to some of their favourite, and often secret spots. They don’t always guarantee a catch, of course, many spearos know this, often they return empty-handed, but with an epic and educational experience. Spearfishing is about removing the ego from simply killing, and rather approaching the hunt as a connection with your food. Being thankful, that you can feed yourself, friends, and family with natural and healthy food. Most of their expeditions are done on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. These places are stunning to visit both above, and of course, below the water.
