Hiya

Around 6 years ago I did intro and advanced apnea total freediver courses with apnea total at Freedive Utila. I really loved it but also felt super anxious in the water a lot of the time and ended up getting to 19m. I did a couple coaching sessions in Nicaragua last year and got to similar depths but felt much more comfortable. I'm looking for a school, pretty much anywhere, where I can do probably a long masters course. I'm happy to do courses to get to that point if a different certifying agency as I'm not feeling confident about safetying others etc yet. Can anyone recommend a school with very safe practices, good instruction, and a long masters course/other courses where you aren't rushed to hit particular depths and skills? (I think the mental pressure alone would make me fail any course requirement unless I had time to work up to it!)

Thanks all

I ask this as I would love to be able to free dive. I had gromits and glue ear as a child (I’m 24 now). But I do suffer with sinus issues, TMJ. And do often get tinnitus often. I haven’t started training yet but I wonder if it’ll be a waste of time and impossible ??? I’ve been practicing breath holds with my experienced friend and practicing duck diving. I got to about 6 meters and I experienced severe pain in my ears from not equalising enough. I cannot seem to equalise. But I just wondered before I start the training from a proper course is it worth it with all these issues before?? Anyone had this glue ear as a child too?

using those iphone underwater cases

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PADI certified freediver here based in Dallas and looking for dive buddies who can join me on pool training sessions in Plano. ✌️

Hi All, I am just getting into freediving and was considering purchasing my first pair of freediving fins (currently using my scuba fins).

I have large feet size US 15, UK 14, EU 50. Can anyone recommend end fins for large feet?

Thanks in advance, James

I'm working on laps in the pool. I was just curious what sort of interim goals do people work towards (like blocks of 25 or 50 or something else.. 10s maybe) and what distances are aimed for in total. With and then also without fins?

We went to Dive4life in Siegburg yesterday for the final depth session of my AIDA2 course. It went pretty well! I almost got to the bottom on my last dive but fell just short because of an incomplete eq. It must have been about 18m, just past the stone roof you see on the photo. I made my instructor laugh because of how vigorously I got him to the surface on the rescue drill 😄. It was super fun! It's a really nice facility to train at!

Hey I'm going to Bali in a few months with my family and I really want to free dive while I'm there. There's a free dive company near amed beach that I'm possibly going to work with if I can't find a dive buddy since my family is all scared of the ocean. Other than that though, what spots would you recommend for diving the island?

Hello! I recently bought Leaderfins, but for the Forza footpocket, the size options are either 37-38 or 39-40. My foot size is 38-39 with my training fins, and I used to get blisters from friction when I wasn’t wearing diving socks, although the size was really a perfect fit for me.

The Leaderfins I rented felt a bit tight, especially with diving socks, but they worked fine for diving even though they were snug. I believe the rental pair was a size 37-38.

Now, the pair I bought is size 39-40, which feels loose on my bare feet but fits okay with diving socks. I’m a bit worried, though, that they might come off when I dive.

Could I ask if it’s okay to go with this looser size, or is it better to go for a tighter fit?

Hello, I'm new in freediving and diving in general. Gonna be in Kuala Lumpur for a few days and wondering if there's any good diving shop to get my first equipments (mask, snorkel, fins). If anyone got recommendations I'd appreciate very much :) my budget isn't that big tho hahaha thank youuu

I used to freedive almost weekly for many years up until 2016 when life threw me a few curveballs and I ended up moving away from the southern California coast for several years. I'm now looking to get back into it, but need to find a diving buddy. The problem is I've lost contact with my old diving buddies, and I don't really have anyone else in my life that's into it.

Short of sitting on the beach and waiting for another freediver to show up and see if I can join them (which, let's be honest, would mostly likely be a little awkward for them having some 40-year-old dude come up and ask to join their party for the day), I'm not really sure how else to go about finding a wingman. Not looking for a Meetup group or anything like that - just one person (or two) to go diving with.

They say making friends in your 40s is difficult. I think the true challenge is finding freediving buddies in your 40s.

Got any tips or resources? Thanks!

My local pool is a little chilly. Not sure the temp, a long sleeve rash guard helps but I’d like a bit more for extended pool times. Anyone have good or bad to say about any of the Amazon $40ish vests? Some are zippered. Some aren’t. Not sure about material used. I’d really like to not have to wear a weight belt for training. But that’s not a deal breaker anyways. Maybe something around the 2mm thickness?

I am really new to free diving and primarily have experience cold water snorkelling. I am wanting to get into diving, at least a couple of metres depth to spot more wildlife.

However, I am having trouble staying below the surface. I have a 7mm open cell wetsuit that makes me extremely buoyant. I have a weight belt with currently 16 pounds (for reference I am 160 lbs female).

With this weight I am able to duck dive but I can't stay below long before I am sucked back up to the surface. Is this because I need more weight? Or is there a trick to staying down?

Any ideas on how much more weight I might need? Lead is expensive where I am from and I want to buy weights as heavy as possible to reduce the number of singular weights on my belt.

I am also having trouble with my weight belt moving up my back when I dive down.

Thanks!

(Not to be confused with Demonican Republic)

My husband and I are joining our extended family on a cruise (for the first time) and we have about 8 hours in Dominica and looking to do some diving.

The closer to the south east part of the island the better. Tour recommendations are fine too!

In the past several months I have picked up freediving again after a long hiatus, and I'm pleasantly surprised at my static apnea progress. Now I don't know what my static was before I quit, since I never really measured it, but I'm glad to see that I crossed the 3-minute mark quite fast.

It was still a bit of an effort though; the first few days it took me many attempts to get to 3:00 and I experienced dizzyness and headaches afterwards, but now I no longer have that problem. Also, my contractions and urge to breathe, while still having the same time of onset (at about 1:50) aren't nearly as strong as when I first started.

All in all, I can hardly wait for summer again!

Hey all!

I'm doing a solo trip in Latin America, and I plan to end it in Honduras, in either Utila or Ruatan, and spend some time freediving.

I've done a basic freedivers course in my country 3 years ago, and dove to approx 16 meters head down, and got a static record of 3 mins.

My questions are:

• between those 2 sites, which one is better for freediving? My parameters are: good schools and instructors (ideally English speaking), good, diverse diving spots, a good place and safe environment to stay in the off time, ideally with other things to do and see

• Is there a reason to see both?

• What is a good training route that is not too stressful and allows for gradual improvement in the sport?

is there some sort of group training in spots like these? If so, how do I join them?

When were apnea tables invented? I have googled this and was not able to find an answer.

Hi all!

Does anyone have a copy of Oxygen by William Trubridge they would be willing to sell? Thanks

Do you think there might be a correlation between hemoglobin levels in the blood and breath-hold duration? Would it make sense to try increasing hemoglobin levels if they’re low? Have you experienced difficulty with breath holds when your hemoglobin was low?

PADI freediver certified in Monterey, CA!! So excited to be able to finally make this post.

I’ve never been an athletic person (so succeeding in a sport is really exciting for me) but something about the ocean is absolutely magnetic and I need to be in it.

My first open water dive was tough and couldn’t complete any skills due to trouble with EQ but after (properly) learning frenzel I was able to complete all my skills today! If you’re local to monterey let’s go dive :)

Trying to get multiple 150ft dives per session. Almost there!

Yesterday, just before bed I decided to practice the Frenzel some more, so I did two contractions, releaving the pressure in between. They weren't particularly forceful and it definitely didn't hurt. But laying in bed afterwards, I hear an almost constant buzzing/humming sound in my right ear. Did I just injure myself permanently? Or is there a chance this clears up?

Also, my AIDA2 depth session is supposed to be this Wednesday..

I took a freediving course and failed because I couldn’t equalize past a certain depth. (Passed the other non-depth parts.) After the course I was still on vacation for a few days so I watched Adam stern’s frenzel video and practiced some more and it helped a lot. But I can still only get to 8 meters (measured using my spouse’s suunto watch on freedive mode) before I’m struggling to equalize again. I was at 6 meters during my course.

Other than practice in open water, since I don’t live near a warm ocean, any exercises or anything else I can do to improve? I’d like to go for it again on my next vacation.