The Spearfishing Today team is as devoted as it is diverse.
Different lifestyles, backgrounds, and nationalities.
Depending on where you go spearfishing with us in the Mexican Caribbean, you’ll be accompanied by a different guide.
In Cancun, that bright-eyed, passionate spearo would be none other than Mr. Andrew Kenneth Petch.
We sat down with Andrew to learn more about the man behind the myth.
Our Cancun Spearfishing Guide: Andrew
Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, in faraway sunny England, Andrew, an FII-certified guide and freediving enthusiast, has been an essential part of the company since 2014.
Behold, Andrew, in his own words.
Where did it all begin, Andrew?
I came to be part of the team when I came on holiday with my parents and my best friend nearly ten years ago now.
I fell in love with the sport, the ethos, and, of course, Leo and what Spearfishing Today represents.
After that, I couldn’t keep away from it. Once I had the opportunity to represent the company here in Cancun, I couldn’t say no.
Tell us about your first trip with Spearfishing Today.
I started with the company by going out on a trip with Leo and my family.
I was studying sports at the time, so I was highly interested in the physical and mental attributes that you need for spearfishing.
I fell in love with the sport and thereon in I kept in contact with Leo.
He really inspired me and I was very interested in what he did and what he planned to do as well as his views on the sport.
And here I am today.
Learning to Spearfish
Do you remember the first fish you speared?
The first fish I speared was a triggerfish.
I was with my friend Michael, and he was just out of reach.
He shot the fish, but the tip of his gun bounced off and as he came back up Leo passed me the gun, I dove down, took my shot, it went straight through.
This was nearly ten years ago, and me and my friend Michael we still talk about it to this day.
In fact, that one triggerfish still torments him, but that fish was the best-tasting fish that I’ve ever had in my life.
Caribbean Fishing
How would you describe your relationship with the sea?
My relationship to the sea… because it’s always changing and it’s completely out of our comfort zone I feel like I learn a lot more about myself, my body, my physical and mental state when I’m diving, and challenging myself, and seeing other people develop when they’re there as well.
It’s a beautiful place.
There’s life that’s not touched by the social forms that we have beautiful and incredible and inspiring and breathtaking all at the same time.
I think as humans we are very sanitized to go into a shop and just grab our meat and our chicken and whatever from a freezer and we don’t really know where our food comes from.
I think it awakens like this Neanderthal part of me, the hunter-gatherer, and also the fact of what I’ve learned about my body’s limitations.
That makes me wonder what else are our limitations as humans, and this all due to myself taking my first trip of spearfishing and learning about my body and its limits has brought me to where I am today.
The life lesson that it taught me was that my body can do a lot more than I ever thought it would, so maybe my mind and myself can do even more than that.
Advice for Spearfishing Newbies
What advice would you give someone just wanting to start out and unsure if spearfishing is the right sport for them?
If someone had doubts as a beginning spearo, then I would say they should put their trust in a reputable and respectable company like Spearfishing Today.
On our spearfishing charters for beginners, we’re experienced and able to assess people’s skill levels to get the best out of them within the sport.
In doing so, they’re able to perform, catch some great fish, feel comfortable in the water, learn a new skill, and have a great time as well as learn about the ocean and sustainable fishing.
What were you like growing up?
In high school, I was a bit of everything.
I played a lot of rugby, football, tennis, cricket, golf.
I had a lot of friends from all sorts of different areas due to music and sports tastes and also enjoying video games and online gaming. I was a bit of a social butterfly but I always enjoyed meeting and talking to different types of people.
And, going back to the job, one of the best things about spearfishing and the job is that you get to meet people from all around the world and from all different types of backgrounds.
An Inspired Spearo
Who would you say your role models were or are?
My role models would be my family, my mother and father.
They’ve done everything that they can to give me an incredible life, and they’ve set a great example for hard work and determination and never giving up.
They gave me the mentality to do what I am doing now, to move away from a very comfortable life to live in a foreign country and try to be successful at a sport that not too many people do.
So I am extremely grateful for them and look up to them in every way, shape, and form.
Ready to head out on a spearfishing venture with Andrew?
Be sure to check out our Cancun spearfishing charters!