Why Freedive?

[cmburch]

Northern California.

I can stay in the water longer. This is a big plus!

May have a better chance of killing certain fish due to longer time in the water.

Cannot take abalone on SCUBA.

There is less gear to hike down-and-up the coastal cliff trails.

Less gear to deal with at the end of the day.

Some deeper fish may have better luck on SCUBA though.

We wear much the same gear. Wetsuit, weight belt, mask, snorkel, etc. Just minus the SCUBA tank, Rig, and Reg.

So the wonderful feeling on being in the water is the same on SCUBA or freediving for many of us. A wetsuit and lead weight you get use to.

Cost of SCUBA gear may also be a factor for many freedivers.

It is exhilarating with the sun shining down through the kelp canopy, surfacing in an opening of the kelp bed. But after a few times I prefer to be search below for quarry.

 

[Scubaru_Steve]

I absolutely love the feeling you feel so free and you dont have all that scuba gear restricting movement. In my opinion its the purest and the most moving type of diving. I still remember ascending from my very first freedive to fifty feet. It felt like I was flying, slowly rising to the surface as the light got brighter it was like a dream. I will never forget that feeling.

That sounds incredible. I kinda have been persuaded by this thread to try this, get some training and see what I can do with it.

 

[kyjellyfish]

Used to a snorkel quite a bit when I was younger and was fascinated by the underwater world. This was one of the big reasons why I started diving but I still love free diving.

 

[madprops]

why free dive you ask
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU_IF20t2R8
nuff said

 

[cmburch]

I do not think I would ever be interested in that type of freediving. Forcefully pulling myself along metal rails or using a scooter. I think I would be happier on SCUBA for that. But that is just my opinion.

 

[cutlass]

Simplicity of time and portability. No fussing with scuba gear. Except for the float and flag, everything fits in a 5gal bucket including a rolled-up wetsuit and longblades stabbed in upright.

My needs are just as simple: to be in the water and being with nature. But truth be known, there's also a touch of rebellion against the C-card machine.

 

[daniel1948]

It's a good question. I love both scuba and freediving, but I don't do the extremes of either. Extremes always have risks, and in both sports I just like looking at the pretty fishes and the corals.

I've been a "freediver" since I was a kid, though back then it meant ducking down to 10 or 12 feet and staying under for half a minute. I enjoy exercise, which I get freediving but not on scuba where you have to conserve air. I enjoy the freedom of having no other gear than mask, snorkel, and fins. And I enjoy the sense of accomplishment, since when I freedive, I'm doing it myself, whereas on scuba, the equipment is providing me an artificial environment to allow me to breathe. Of course there are skills involved in scuba, but they are the skills of using the artificial environment of tanks and regulator. The skills of freediving are those of personal control and endurance.

Again, I love both. They are two very different ways of experiencing the underwater world.

An added incentive for taking a freediving class and trying to increase both my depth and my breath-hold time is my love of swimming with wild dolphins. The dolphins consider it play when you freedive. Where I go the sea floor is probably 30 to 50 feet. I aspire to 50 feet, to cover the entire water column with the dolphins. And I aspire to 60 seconds, which I regard as an acceptably long time under while still being a reasonable goal. At these limits, and with adequate training and supervision, I regard the risks as minimal. The real danger is the drive to and from the airport.

Please note that training is crucial if you want to push your limits. There are lots of places where you can explore shallow reefs freediving without any special training. But as with any diving, safety is important.

 

[madprops]

I do not think I would ever be interested in that type of freediving. Forcefully pulling myself along metal rails or using a scooter. I think I would be happier on SCUBA for that. But that is just my opinion.

meh i thought that was cool as hell

the free divers you see in that video are some of the best teachers in the world! this was just one video

look up free dive deans blue hole or the free dive base jump no metal there

 

[thiago1029]

i'm not letting go of my tank and regs!

 

[Scubaru_Steve]

meh i thought that was cool as hell

the free divers you see in that video are some of the best teachers in the world! this was just one video

look up free dive deans blue hole or the free dive base jump no metal there

Idk if this is the one you were talking about but I found this quite incredible and why I posted this thread.

YouTube - Nery Guillaume - Ocean Free Fall (absolutely EPIC vid)