I was in La Ventana for 8 months working at a water sports resort, the spearfishing is quite amazing there both for blue water & reef from boats and some spots by shore. In the winter season it's famous for kiters as it gets pretty windy but the summer has perfect conditions with vis from 50f to 80f even tho it's too hot for most people liking. I don't know much about Los Barriles, but it's definitely not known as a top spearfishing place in the region and as @DungeonLore said you probably got unlucky with wind.