Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
Like small children, underwater hunters get what they want by holding their breath. Secure your prey the toddler's way with today's Groupon: for $75, you get an introductory spearfishing lesson at Westside Dive and Tackle in Kapolei (a $225 value).
Westside Dive and Tackle teaches novice fish-hunters the basic tenets of spearfishing. During a five-hour Spectator 2 Spearo course, which is designed for snorkelers with a little free-diving experience, groups of up to six pick up the fundamental skills needed to engage in the underwater hunt and delve deeply enough into the rules and regulations to realize that the ending of Jaws was in direct violation of 50 maritime laws. Beginning in the classroom, pupils will explore safety tips and the sport's history while also learning how to operate a spear gun and aim it at legal prey. A water session then follows—while holding their breath for 30 seconds or more, students free-dive at depths of up to 20 feet, where they can practice their breath-control techniques and shoot things. Trainees must provide all diving equipment save the speargun, or temporarily acquire gear from the shop's collection of rentals. A $10 discount is included for those who'd like to purchase one of Westside's snorkeling masks.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Sep 9, 2012. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Limit 1 per visit. Reservation required. 15-17 years must be accompanied by guardian. Must sign waiver. Subject to weather. Must be able to swim. Mask and snorkel required. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About Westside Dive and Tackle
When it comes to spearfishing, Westside Dive and Tackle founder Kris Tyler considers using scuba tanks as cheating. So when he suits up to spearfish, the seasoned outdoorsman plunges 20 feet below the water’s surface, holds his breath in the stillness, and waits: “You become a part of the reef or rock, and you wait for the perfect situation—for the one fish that might give you that really good shot.” A self-described “water baby,” Kris has been swimming and fishing in Hawaii and Florida since childhood. Most of all, he loves the way spearfishing enables him to connect with the underwater universe and partake in a tradition Hawaiians have enriched for generations.
In addition to his spearfishing expeditions, Mr. Tyler totes explorers to his favorite sunken wrecks and lava caverns off the coast of Oahu on scuba-diving charters, and equips them to chart their own expeditions or challenge blowfish to staring contests during scuba-diving certification.