New to the sport.

[Alan Brooks]

I actually only started spearfishing a couple years ago. We go to the Keys every summer and I have a friend who talked me into trying spearfishing out. Well, 2 years ago I did and I have been hooked since. I go here in St. Augustine as often as I can and when we are in the Keys I pretty much leave the fishing poles at home anymore.
I prefer free-diving but I'm not good enough at it yet. I took up scuba last year so that i could get to the depths required here in St. Augustine to find fish. We don't have any shallow reefs that I could free-dive to.
I'm excited to find this forum and am looking forward to learning as much as I can. If anyone needs info on the N.E. Florida area I would be happy to share what I have.
Thanks,
Alan

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to Deeperblue! What depths do you normally reach when freediving? A class can help drastically with technique and safety. It's an invaluable investment.

A good number of DB folks are from Florida. You may want to search in the Intro/Greets and USA/Canada subforums and see if any posts pique your interest.

Glad you could join us!

 

[Alan Brooks]

Welcome to Deeperblue! What depths do you normally reach when freediving? A class can help drastically with technique and safety. It's an invaluable investment.

A good number of DB folks are from Florida. You may want to search in the Intro/Greets and USA/Canada subforums and see if any posts pique your interest.

Glad you could join us!

A class would be awesome. I haven't found one in my area though. The closest I've seen is down in Ft. Lauderdale which is 4 or 5 hours away. I can only "effectively" make it to 20 - 25 feet. I can go a bit deeper but would only have enough breath to turn right around and go back to the surface. I do enjoy it though.
We are headed to the Keys this weekend for a week of vacation. I'll get some practice in there.

 

[BatRay]

Well, you may want to check out the instructor locator at http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/locator/
Out of curiosity, I did a quick search and it seems Cameron Kirkconnell is in your neck of the woods. His bio and contact info are viewable if you click the St. Augustine location tab. You'd be in very capable hands if you take a class with him.

In the meantime, there is a ton of freediving information on this site. Browse and ask questions to your heart's content.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

We also have a specific website we've developed to help find courses near you - head over to www.freedivingcourses.com and search by location