North Devon 2020 freediving/snorkeling

[redsands]

Hi all,

Is anyone still attempting to get some dives/snorkeling done in North Devon these days? I gave Lee Bay near Ilfracombe about 5 mins before aborting a few days ago. The visibility was maybe a 1 metre!

Would love to know where people go in the area other than Lee Bay? And any tips for identifying a good day. I gathered several good indicators from this article but wondered if there is anything region-specific.

I'm up for buddying up although I warn you I'm a total amateur with no free diving certs.

 

[redsands]

Update to the above - I'm now AIDA level 2 certified. Hoping to see more of a show of hands for buddying now

 

[DivingNomad]

Update to the above - I'm now AIDA level 2 certified. Hoping to see more of a show of hands for buddying now

Congratulations!!

Tell us more about your training, where did you do and how was the instructor?

 

[redsands]

Congratulations!!

Tell us more about your training, where did you do and how was the instructor?

Thanks

I did the course at Freedive UK in Newquay with Shaun as my instructor who is really knowledgeable and passionate about the sport. We did our deep dive to 16m, the 40m dynamic apnea and the 5m rescue in Little Trolvis Quarry, Penryn in about 12°C and it got pretty dark down there!

I'm aiming to build up my depth first as I'd love to explore some glorious British wrecks without the burden of scuba equipment. Would be great to train with someone towards achieving that.

 

[DivingNomad]

How man

Thanks

I did the course at Freedive UK in Newquay with Shaun as my instructor who is really knowledgeable and passionate about the sport. We did our deep dive to 16m, the 40m dynamic apnea and the 5m rescue in Little Trolvis Quarry, Penryn in about 12°C and it got pretty dark down there!

I'm aiming to build up my depth first as I'd love to explore some glorious British wrecks without the burden of scuba equipment. Would be great to train with someone towards achieving that.

How many days in the pool, classroom and openwater?

 

[redsands]

How man


How many days in the pool, classroom and openwater?

Day 1 was basically a couple of hours in the classroom followed by about 5 hours in the pool. In the pool, we got our duck dive technique down, finning on the surface, the rescue technique, getting correct weighting, equalisation practise then 2-3 rounds each of static apnea (where we had to breath hold for at least 2 mins to meet the certification requirement). That was followed by a couple more hours in the classroom including the written exam.

Day 2 was everything I described before plus some bonus, non-syllabus training on being a good buddy. Then we had a well deserved lunch together to celebrate!

Do you dive in the UK ever?

 

[DivingNomad]

Do you dive in the UK ever?

I got my toes wet long time ago when I went to school in Bournemouth


Your first days water work was done in a swimming pool and day two in the quarry?

 

[redsands]

I got my toes wet long time ago when I went to school in Bournemouth


Your first days water work was done in a swimming pool and day two in the quarry?

You know a bit about our little island then And yeah, that's exactly how it was! We would have spent Day 2 in the sea but the conditions were not good.

 

[dcvf]

Hi redsands

I compared with my AIDA 2*…in Belgium it’s the same of course.

I’m 3* since december 2015 ( I was ‘young’ at this time …73…but nowadays the 4* it’s not anymore possible… at Nemo33 last time in february 2020 I was blocked at 19,8 m…I could compensate anymore. ;-o((

Here below what I filmed in a quarry at Esneux near Liège in Belgium

La Gombe 11octobre 2015 with Sony HDR-AS15



La Gombe 22 mai 2016 Sony HDR-AS50
Film edited without any treatment just to check this video camera




Do you have videos in apnea from your quarry ?

 

[redsands]

Nice vids. Nicely edited together. The waters where you were are nicer than the quarry I was in! I took this vid of our deep dives on the course. My own dive is at 01:50. You can see just how bad the visibility is. Past 8m we passed into a layer of blackness where the light barely penetrated.



I'm so impressed that you are doing deep dives like that at 73+ years! It's remarkable. It shows how open freediving is to everyone.