Spearfishing Safety Checklist — Pre-Dive, In-Water & Surface

Run this checklist before every session. It takes five minutes and prevents the mistakes that end seasons — or lives. Spearfishing in Victoria is genuinely safe when divers treat breath-hold discipline, buddy protocol, and location rules as non-negotiable. This checklist distils what experienced Victorian spearos actually do, not what looks good on social media.

Print it, screenshot it, or run through it verbally with your buddy at the car park. The goal is zero skipped steps — especially on "easy" shore dives in Port Phillip Bay where boat traffic, sanctuary boundaries, and shallow blackouts all coexist.

Flag design: Denelson83, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Before you leave home

Recreational fishing licence current — check expiry and exemptions. Details in Victoria rules.
Weather and swell checked — wind under your skill limit. Victorian shore sites turn ugly fast when swell picks up. If you are new, cap yourself at calm days under 10 knots.
Dive location legal for spears — confirm on VicFishing app or VFA maps. See banned waters for the main traps: inland waters, named estuaries, jetty exclusions, marine national parks.
Buddy confirmed — not "maybe meeting there." A named person, on time, with matched expectations for depth and duration.
Someone on land knows your plan — entry point, expected return time, vehicle description. Update them if plans change.
Phone charged — marine radio or PLB for remote or offshore dives. Bass Strait and western Victorian coast demand more comms redundancy than a suburban bay dip.

Gear check

Mask, fins, suit, weights, knife, float, Alpha flag visible — flag must be seen by boat traffic. Large, upright, high-contrast.
Speargun bands and line inspected — no cuts, frays, or dry-rotted rubber. Replace bands proactively; a band snap underwater is dangerous.
Weight belt quick-release works — dump it on the surface once per session. See weight belt guide.
No hyperventilation planned — normal breathing only. If anyone in the group mentions "getting more breath" by rapid breathing, stop and review shallow water blackout.
Knife accessible — not buried under suit layers. For entanglement and humane dispatch.
Correct weight for today's suit and site — re-test if you borrowed gear from the equipment library.

See beginner gear list for a full kit breakdown.

Buddy briefing (non-negotiable)

One up, one down agreed — the surface diver watches the diver underwater at all times. No exceptions for "quick" drops. Full protocol: buddy guide.
Hand signals reviewed — OK, problem, fish, ascend, danger. Agree on what a waved hand means before entering water.
Max depth and dive time for session set — beginners stay 3–8 metres unless trained and experienced. Session cap prevents ego dives at the end of a long day.
Rescue plan if someone does not surface — who dives, who calls for help, where the float is. Discuss annually; practise in a course.
Blackout response reviewed — meet the diver, bring airway above water, remove mask and snorkel, rescue breaths if trained, call 000.

In the water

Flag deployed before diving — not after your first duck dive. Boats need to see you before you disappear.
Equalise early — first squeeze at 1–2 metres, not at 5 metres when pain locks you up. Frenzel practice pays off here.
Rest 2× dive time on surface between dives — a 30-second dive means at least 60 seconds recovery. Longer is better in cold Victorian water.
Stop if headache, tingling, or ear pain — hypoxic symptoms and barotrauma are stop signals, not push-through discomfort.
Shot only when sure of target, size, and species legality — misidentification and undersize fish are offences and ethical failures. Snapper rules change; check current limits before hunting snapper in Victoria.
Stay within agreed depth and territory — do not drift into sanctuary zones. Port Phillip Bay has boundaries that are invisible from the water.

Surface recovery

Watch buddy's first three breaths after each dive — lazy, irregular, or absent breathing means intervene immediately.
No consecutive deep dives without full recovery — the second dive on a short surface interval is where many blackouts occur.
Hydrate and warm up between sessions in cold water — winter Victorian diving demands thermos, shelter, and honest session length limits.
Communicate how you feel — "I'm fine" after a hard dive is not enough. Tell your buddy if you pushed longer or deeper than usual.

End of day

All divers accounted for — headcount at the car. Nobody left on the reef or at the pier.
Fish within size and bag limits — measure every fish. Possession limits apply at home and on water.
Gear rinsed — especially if borrowed from equipment library. Salt and sand destroy loan kit and your deposit.
Debrief — what went well, what to fix next session. One minute of honesty prevents repeat mistakes.

Emergency — buddy blackout

This is the scenario your checklist exists for. Move immediately — hesitation costs seconds.

Dive to meet them — your buddy on the surface dives to the diver. Grab and ascend.
Airway above water — remove mask and snorkel. Support the head.
Rescue breaths if trained — freediving courses teach this. Without training, keep airway clear and call for help.
Call 000 — Australian marine emergency. State location clearly. Do not assume they will "come around."
Do not dive again that day — for either diver, unless you are the rescue professional and the situation demands it.

Review shallow water blackout annually. Take a freediving Level 1 course — AIDA, PADI, or Molchanovs providers operate across Victoria.

Why checklists work for spearfishing

Most spearfishing fatalities in Australia are breath-hold related, not shark related. They happen in calm, shallow, familiar water to experienced divers who skipped one step: buddy watching, surface interval, or normal breathing before the dive.

The checklist removes decision fatigue. You are not re-negotiating safety at the water's edge when conditions look perfect and you are keen to get in. You already decided at home.

Club culture in Victoria reinforces this. Organised dives through spearfishing and freediving clubs build habits early. If you are starting out, read the Victoria beginner guide and find a club before your first independent session.

FAQ

Is this overkill for a quick shore dive?
Blackouts happen on "quick" dives in 4 metres of Port Phillip Bay water. The checklist is shortest on calm days — still run it. Skipping buddy briefing because you are "only going in for twenty minutes" is how accidents happen.

Can I spearfishing in marine parks?
Usually no-take zones — spearguns prohibited for taking marine life. Some sanctuary zones allow line fishing but not spearfishing. Check maps pin by pin. Port Phillip Bay guide covers the main bay zones.

Where do I learn rescue skills?
Freediving Level 1 courses across Victoria — AIDA, PADI, Molchanovs. Clubs often run rescue refreshers. You need skills before you need them.

What wind limit for beginners?
No universal number — exposure of your site matters. A sheltered bay reef may be fine in 15 knots; an open ocean entry may be unsafe at 10. When in doubt, do not dive. Check BOM marine forecast and local club reports.

Can I dive alone if I stay shallow?
Practically, never. Solo spearfishing removes the only safety system that works for blackout. Technically legal in some waters; practically indefensible. Always use the buddy system.

Do I need different safety prep for boat dives?
Yes — add PLB or marine radio, engine-off zones around divers, and explicit boat-diver communication. Tidal flow at Port Phillip Heads is not beginner terrain. Flag must be visible from vessel height.