Lionfish - what dive shops will let you hunt?

[cnherrick]

Do any dive shops in Coz let you bring spears, shears and containers and hunt Lionfish?

Lionfish Ceviche? Yum yum!

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Its pretty hard now to find enough lion fish in the National park to make any ceviche (I agree its the best). Some shops, including Aldora run frequent hunting trips to the north for that very purpose. 40cm plus fish are not uncommon and a simple Hawaiian Sling is all that is needed, and they can be rented or purchased in Cozumel for not a lot of pesos.

You might check our web page at Bienvenidos - Aldora Divers | Only the best of Cozumel under Aldora Adventures.

Dave Dillehay

 

[macado]

I may also be bit biased but I recommend Aldora especially if you want to organize a hunting trip in the north. There are some less commonly dove sites there that hunting is very good.

I did a quick video a few months ago at the Ledges. Unfortunately i didnt have my GoPro turned on for half of it but at the end, you can see how full the Zookeeper is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bePkdfzZ7mY&list=UU6EOSFXmlsvI1Ww_IqKTSFQ

 

[Fistgar]

I'm looking forward to trying some lionfish sushi I'll be checking out Aldora Divers to see if they have anything scheduled for 5/14-5/19.

 

[JFS]

I just read today that the prices for lion fish are going up 15-20% because of such high demand. 5 years ago when I started hunting them, nobody wanted to touch them with a 10 foot burrito.... I still get lots when I do go out for some slaying.

 

[Saltyhawg]

Is it legal for divers other than the DM's to carry a sling inside the park boundries?

Great video macado! We never saw any bigger than 4" inside the park (and only 5 or 6 in seven days of diving).I wish I had known about Aldora's trips up north when I was there!

 

[diverken374]

I may also be bit biased but I recommend Aldora especially if you want to organize a hunting trip in the north. There are some less commonly dove sites that that hunting is very good.

I did a quick video a few months ago at the Ledges. Unfortunately i didnt have my GoPro turned on for half of it but at the end, you can see how full the Zookeeper is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bePkdfzZ7mY&list=UU6EOSFXmlsvI1Ww_IqKTSFQ

Biased as well as I was in that video. Had a hard time getting that first one in the zookeeper. Pleased to be with a group of like minded divers that will go out of their way to hunt Pez lion including out of the park and sneaking around to the east side when conditions permit. Aldora has a great group of divers intent on eradicating lion fish ...and of course includes Sallye lion fish hunter extrordinaire.

 

[mikeycanuk]

I saw a few monster lionfish in the park last year. These were the uber lionfish, I maybe saw them for a few seconds before they took off into a hole. Smart and wiley.

 

[macado]

Is it legal for divers other than the DM's to carry a sling inside the park boundries?

Great video macado! We never saw any bigger than 4" inside the park (and only 5 or 6 in seven days of diving).I wish I had known about Aldora's trips up north when I was there!

Regarding legality, I don't know the official answer but I believe it's limited to DMs however I can tell you that a lot of people do carry spears inside the marine park. Marine park would have to enforce this. Now..I'm not the scuba police so please don't shoot the messenger.

Majority of my hunting is up North and on East side where numbers tend to be much higher as these areas are not heavily culled however I can tell you that Maracaibo, Punta Sur Sur, Colombia Deep have some very large lionfish that are fairly deep 100-140'.

 

[Christi]

Is it legal for divers other than the DM's to carry a sling inside the park boundries?

Great video macado! We never saw any bigger than 4" inside the park (and only 5 or 6 in seven days of diving).I wish I had known about Aldora's trips up north when I was there!

No, it is not! So the question which shops will "let" you hunt is really "which DM's will break the park regulations for bigger tips risking the shops permits and licenses - therefore the livelihoods of everyone working for that shop."

Special trips outside the marine park boundaries can be arranged with some shops - but this is not part of the regular schedule nor it it permitted on regular dives.

If you are diving with a shop and anyone other than the DM is spearing lionfish within park boundaries - please know that this is NOT permitted and they are breaking park regulations and putting everyone that works for that shop at risk - therefore; being incredibly selfish.

Food for thought!