General thread for freediving and/or spearfishing, since I don't see one mentioning either.

My personal questions:
I've been thinking about taking a certification course so I can learn to do these things correctly and safely. I'm probably happy just doing the diving, but spearfishing seems like an easy and practical extension. I only casually skindive and rod-and-reel fish at the moment. Does anyone have experience taking such a course?
I know I'll need my own gear early on, but each instructor I can find seems to have their own equipment shops, so I imagine they wouldn't be impartial about the quality of other gear on the market. I live on the Pacific coast of the US, so I see that a 7 mm open cell wetsuit is strongly recommended. What good/bad features should I look out for on wetsuits and other equipment? For non-competitive diving, carbon fiber fins are almost certainly not worth the price, right?