Diver Down

The annual Wrightsville Beach Spearfishing Tournament, headquartered at SeaPath Marina & Yacht Club, is back in September after a one-year hiatus. The tournament began in 1998, organized by Aquatic Safaris.

Mark Labocetta came to the first spearfishing tournament from the College of Charleston, and he says he brought free diving to the event.

Now the owner of Reef Runner Dive & Spear Fishing in Wilmington, Labocetta has been a steadfast participant over the years. After not having a tournament last year, he stepped up to revive it.

“We didn’t hold it last year because no one felt like doing it anymore. I wanted to bring it back, because spearfishing has always been a part of my life,” he says.

“In 2022, I was on the U.S. spearfishing team in Italy as an assistant coach, but winning the WB Spearfishing Tournament with a very large gag grouper (32 pounds) freediving at 105 feet depth was somewhat of a career lifetime achievement for me. Probably my proudest moment in spearfishing tournaments in 25 years. I got a special fish diving against scuba divers in the grouper category. It was the largest such grouper weighed in the WB tournament and I did it breath-hold diving with my friend Craig Jeno of High Tide Upholstery who assisted me. At 44, I felt like I am still good enough to hang with the younger guys. Now I’m happy organizing the spearfishing tournament,” Laboccetta says.

This year the regulations are changing, and divers will not be able to take gag grouper or flounder. 

Competitors spend half their time free diving and the other half with scuba equipment.

“It makes for a fun rivalry,” Labocetta says. “We combine the scores. Whoever has the highest wins the master hunter award.”

Divers compete for a cash purse.

Mark Batson has been spearfishing since he was 15, both free and tank.

“What I love about it is we are in an urban environment during the week but as soon as you get out on the ocean you were in a wild environment, as wild as the Serengeti,” Batson says.

He describes less pressure on the reef off North Carolina, and fewer divers.

“Compared to other places in the world, North Carolina is as dynamic, in a way like no other,” he says. “The vibrancy of the reef, the variety of the fish, the size of the mature fish; the fish are allowed to grow to their full potential.”

Divisions are inshore (including sheepshead, black seabass, porgy, black drum), bottom fish (grouper, snapper, hogfish, triggerfish), and pelagic (wahoo, tuna, pompano and mahi, among others).

There will also be several women’s categories this year.

Competitors come from all over, including Florida and New York and as far away as Puerto Rico.