Freediving near Tokyo

[jwd]

Good morning all,

I will be heading over to Tokyo in August for 3 weeks on a work trip. I'd like to find out if anyone does any pool training during the evening and if there is any weekend diving I could come along to.

In terms of ability I can comfortably dive to 30m+ (pb 42m), 100m dynamic (pb 125m), 4 min static

I will be staying in Akasaka.

Thanks

[scottdk]

Hey.. Did you get ANY info when you were here? I've been in Tokyo for years, but just recently got into freediving in Thailand. Looking for pool training and weekend dives too.

[jwd]

Hi there.

Diving in Japan was a much bigger logistical exercise than I was used to. There was some good diving to be had but it was several hours out of town.

In terms of locations, most of the stuff was on the IZU Peninsula about 6 hours south of Tokyo.

There was a scuba park called I.O.P (Izu Ocean Park) which had good access to 25m+ water but any deeper than that meant you risked being run over by one of the many tour boats. There is basically a dedicated area set aside for SCUBA divers with access ramps, underwater ropes to navigate you, and hot tubs and showers on the shore for after the dive. You can catch a train from Toyko down South and hook up with one of the local dive shops to pick you up in their van to take you to the park. Alternatively there is a local guy who will pick you up from your hotel/apartment in his van and drive you all the way down there (a much better option is you can afford it as you can just relax and look out the window).

I also dived at Mikimoto Island (where the Ama come from) which again had some amazing dropoff locations but it was fairly commercial and you needed to get a boat ride out from the shore (about 30min). Saw a sailfish during my deco stop.

The best place I dived was out of Nara in Okinawa but this involves a flight and at least a weekend to get the most out of the trip.

Not the best news I'm sure but there is some good diving to be had (cold water) you just need to work a bit harder than normal to get to the spots.

Not really much in terms of freedivers training at the local pool (you have to hire a specific lane) but there is a club you may have some success with. Check out the link “Œ‹žƒtƒŠ�[ƒ_ƒCƒrƒ“ƒO‹äŠy•”

I managed to hook up with a local Japanese diver who showed me around and did a great job of acting as guide and interpreter for my weekend trips.

The only email I can find for her at the moment is junko.kitahama@aida-international.org

She should be able to give you a pretty good run down of diving opportunities in Japan.

James

[scottdk]

Thanks! That's excellent information. I just happen to have a friend with a car (8 seater van) who loves camping at Izu. I've been in japan 8 years and travelled all over, but never made it to Izu. I can forsee some weekend camping/freediving trips coming up. Anyone interested in doing a weekend trip out of Tokyo? Share fuel and tollways with him, and it will probably be a cheap weekend getaway... Will actually discuss with the car-owner first, and make a posting on here later...

What's the water temp down there now? can somebody go and stick a thermometer in and let me know? I don't have a wetsuit (yet).