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Why I Dive From A Kayak

Posted: 05.09.2019

kayak spear fishing

Top 3 reasons why I always end up diving from my kayak.

By Thomas Watanapun
 

Ah, choices and decisions. With so many options to choose from when looking at the weather and swell reports for my next diving/spearfishing adventure, it can be a battle of ultimate indecisiveness choosing how I want to spend my day on the water. It comes down to a few factors but I almost always find myself loading up my Tarpon 160 along with my kart with wheels as my tool of choice. Sometimes I ask myself why I even ask the question because I always end up in the same place - on my kayak, paddling and floating in the ocean. Here are my top 3 reasons why I almost always end up diving from my kayak.
 

You can hit more spots on the kayak vs diving from shore: this should be pretty obvious but the comfort of knowing you can move around when your favorite honey-hole is super slow is a nice comfort to have. With a kayak, you can explore more range along the coast and maybe even find new spots you weren’t able to access directly from shore.
 

The tankwell and bow hatches can be a savior for equipment and fish: the storage on the kayak is so key when you’re out on the water. It helps keep your expensive equipment safe from being deposited into Davy Jones’ Locker. The tankwell is also the best place to put your full stringers. Having the luxury of the stringer hanging back in your tankwell vs strapped on a dive board or on your waist swimming to shore is super convenient. So load up the stringers and throw them in your tank well for the paddle back to shore!
 

Paddling on the ocean in current is a phenomenal workout: If you’ve never done it, it’s a must. On some days, it feels like you’re on an endless treadmill not going anywhere. And when you mix in swell, it can feel like you’ve been paddling for hours. Another benefit to paddling before diving is the warm up effect you get. Diving in the cold waters of Northern California are hard enough, but doing it without a proper warm up for your lungs is even harder! Taking your kayak give you an excuse when you don’t want to go to the gym Monday morning =)
 

Taking your kayak give you such a unique perspective of the ocean and spearfishing in general. You not only get to explore places you wouldn’t get to otherwise, you have the potential to bring back even more fish and you get a workout too. So prep your gear and get to paddling!