# Playa del Carmen Spearfishing Laws



## The1stOGdangus (8 mo ago)

Is it illegal to spearfish in Playa del Carmen or other spots in the Riviera without a dive Buoy?


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Don't know about the dive buoy. 

But be sure you know the laws about what fish you can spear. There was a news item a couple years ago about some expats that got arrested for spearing an endangered species.

And why would you want to? There was another news item about somebody that got run over and killed by a boat while diving recently.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

eastwind said:


> There was another news item about somebody that got run over and killed by a boat while diving recently.


So you are suggesting that no one ever go diving or spear fishing? Or just in Playa del Carmen?


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

When I said "why would you want to", I meant "why would you want to go spear fishing without a buoy", not "why would you want to go spear fishing". 

Go, have a good time, be legal and safe and incident-free. Don't become a headline.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Cutting corners on safety measures, no matter what you are doing, is never a bright idea.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

The1stOGdangus said:


> Is it illegal to spearfish in Playa del Carmen or other spots in the Riviera without a dive Buoy?


I have never dove off Playa del Carmen specifically but I have dove a bit from Puerto Aventuras down to just north of Tulum. I don't believe you are going to be doing a beach dive. The surface vessel is going to act as your dive flag. The captain will stay over your 'bubbles'. He will keep other vessels away. Have look at ScubaBoard.com. They have a Mexico specific forum. You'll likely get better info there than here. I'm not sure there are many divers here.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Coincidentally, I have a marine biologist from the US Virgin Islands, St.Tomas, staying as my Airbnb guest right now.
They do deep dives to 200 ft. They use rebreathers, not scuba gear, as the bubbles would scare away the fish they are trying to study. So they have to use flags on strings, as there are no bubbles for the dive boat to follow.

She also told me that it isn't blood that the sharks are attracted to, it's the movement of something that is in distress. So a speared fish flapping around wildly will cause the sharks to zoom in, but once she has the fish she has speared off the spear and into her dive bag, the sharks swim away, even if the fish is bleeding into the water. 

I'm finding her stories fascinating, as I know nothing about diving nor much about marine life.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Interesting - but I don't think the OP will be reaching any depths close to 200 feet off the Riviera Maya. And I doubt she/he will even see a rebreather (but I could be wrong). Gosh - I hope your friend pops a lift bag near the surface and doesn't drag along a flag at 200 ft !

Actually - I have a BS in Marine Biology and I also spent time (many years ago) at a marine lab on St Croix USVI (long since closed). My wife and I were married on St Croix. I did some specimen collecting for museums and labs to earn some extra cash. Your friend may have an issue with an agressive bull shark. They can give you a good bump just to let you know they are there - even if you are not spearing fish.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

My guest is employed by the University there. They definitely use all the proper gear and follow safety protocols, and she's been doing this for at least 20 years.
The story she told me last night, which was one of the scariest situations she'd been in, did involve a bull shark and two tiger sharks moving in while she was trying to get the fish off the spear and the toggle was stuck. Luckily her dive partner was right behind her and made movements that drove the sharks away.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I'm trying to downsize and I have a ton of SCUBA equipment I am trying to unload. I had someone in the house recently to look my stuff over and we talked about our experiences. Turns out I still have my original PADI certification card. It is dated 1973 and the instructor number on my card is like 2000. Compare that to my own PADI instructor number which is over 191000. I stopped logging my dives when I passed 1,000 (I know people who have 5 times that many). 

There is definitly safety in numbers. In South Florida (where I am from) there are a lot of wrecks and often times the dive boat will 'tie into' the wreck so the divers can follow the line down. Well - someone has to do the tieing (tying ?) - and that person is always alone. Well the sharks are a lot less intimidated by the solo diver than they are by the divers that follow. My wife and I had a small boat and we often went out diving, just the two of us. We saw a lot of things you don't see when you go out on a commercial dive boat.


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