Newbies come together

[OahuNSfreediver]

seeking partner(s) on Oahu's NS

While I was always a water person coming out of the water only after the chills would start me shivering as a grommet, freediving only really captured my spirit after I was taken out of surfing by a major work accident (two broken vertebrae, shredded internal shoulder ligaments >3 nasty surgeries). Having surfed 10 winters in Hawaii prior to injury, I'd always felt like a decent waterman, but I was almost always sliding around on the surface

In the flat summers on the NS of Oahu, there are some really nice caves to dive through at shark's cove (a good skill builder to develop calmness during a 2+ wave holddown in large groundswell w/ intervals of 18+ seconds), but it seemed I was always in a hurry to get through and get to the O2 on the other side.

As my own personal rehab regimen for the last three years I've found the low impact, mental challenge, and core strengthening aspects of dynamic apnea to be richly rewarding. Now that I've gotten a bit more into it, I've increased my range of depth and down time to allow me to glide slowly (1-2 minutes+) without the urge to surface. Knowing the feeling of having plenty of time to get from point A to B within a comfort range that has a good margin of safety is pleasurably addictive.

I'd really like to get to know some people locally to enjoy a mutually supportive environment within which we can safely push our limits. Any newbies who are reasonably competent water people that would like to increase their down time together in mutual supportive watchfulness, Email me Glade@hawaii.edu My two current favorites sites are sharks cove for leisurely swimming through the larger caves and lava tubes, or the outer ledge of Waiamea break when it's flat which is approximately 50-60+ ft depth.

nice to have a place with knowledgeable mentors looking out for people.

 

[iceselkie]

..another newbie in Canada

HI all :wave I've been swimming all my life too, but only just recently learned that hanging out at the bottom of the pool with no urge to surface was not a "weird" thing but in fact had an official label, "freediving"! Now that I have some leads, I'm anxious to persue this a bit more seriously. Looking for a wetsuit currently- and trying to defend that I *like* not knowing how long I can stay underwater for. Anyways, looks like fun here,

Iceselkie

 

[Roan]

My intro to freediving.

Here's how I got into freediving. I grew up surfing and bodysurfing the waters of Huntington Beach so I got to be pretty comfortable in the ocean that way. Work, education and careers helped me to drift away from any kind of ocean life. Thankfully, a severe back injury really laid me up for awhile and I knew I had to find some kind of excercise that would help me to recover so I thought of swimming. Knowing the multiple tiers of breakers at Huntington would thrash me around too much I headed out to the Balboa Peninsula where there is just one usually mild break, right on shore, then a immediate, fairly steep drop off in depth. The perfect place to float around, swim a bit and not get pummeled by waves! Which is what I did. I went out almost every day, sans wetsuit in often sub 60 degree temps and as I floated on my back in what was for me the deep blue, the ocean began to heal me and I wondered why I had allowed myself to be seperated from the sea for so long.
Soon I began to frequent the coves of Laguna, for the most part because they were more scenic. I was wary of the rocks and shapes (reefs, kelp) looming beneath me in the water so I bought a mask in order to better see what I felt I needed to steer clear of. That's when it began to open up for me. I dug out an old pair of Churchills, bought a snorkel and began exploring all the points and coves of Laguna.
One day I was out at Abalone Point and I was approached by two large grey shapes. Bat rays were the largest critters I had seen underwater up to that time, so naturally I freaked for a split second thinking they were sharks. Much to my relief I saw that they were harbor seals.
Over time I noticed that when the seals would approach and if I would dive down to any depth they were more curious, at ease and even playful. That is when I began to learn of the challenges that I needed to overcome in order to be able to dive deeper. What I mean of course are: buoyancy control, apnea, physical and mental conditioning, equalization and colder water.
Today I'm trying to better learn the sport of freediving; I'd like to do some hunting soon but like alot of us newbies ear clearing (equalizing) is the area where I must progress in order to go much further in this beautiful sport

Thanks to all who have gone before me and who share their experience on this fine web site!

 

[ARDEN]

I have recently returned to the sport after a 5 year break. I began diving at about 5 years old and started going to fairly respectable depths
when I was about ten but never knew what I was doing was called freediving until I was almost 20. I was certified in SCUBA at 15 but was always annoyed by too much equipment
and to this day I have never gone as deep with SCUBA as I have on a freedive. My father fed himself in the 60's by spearfishing and bug hunting off LA . I can't
say that I could feed myself but i do my best.

 

[portinfer]

I just started this summer properly. I've always been into swimming and the sea (life on a small island (Guernsey)...) but never really did that much snorkelling.

I went early this spring and then had a few things I wanted to find out so I found this 'ere web site. Very informative, got me hooked quickly.

all my mates still like to go out and get p*ssed at the weekend - i prefer to head for a swim or a snorkel or a bit of freediving....

I find a sense of peace out there and as I cycle most places scuba tanks are not an option !

Anyway - we'll see how long I last into the autumn and then winter. Slowly building up lung capacity but in no rush (which I think is the best way).