pinoy newbie needs help

[blues_diver]

Hello all,

I recently got certified as an open water scuba diver (PADI) simply because I wanted to pursue freediving. I know it's not necessary but I wanted to be able to say, “Yeah I tried scuba…Freediving rules!” I’m from the Philippines where freediving is not a popular sport, not even in the scuba diving community. That’s half of my problem, it’s hard to find shops that sell good freediving fins and gears. I recently emailed a local dive shop and got a harsh reply saying that they do not nor will they ever sell freediving equipment. And even if I do secure good enough gears, it’s hard to find a good buddy as people here would always rather follow PADI’s most important rule (which is to never hold your breath) than to go freediving. Besides that local book stores and even dive shops do not have freediving resources/reference materials.

Thank God for the internet! Deeper Blue has filled that empty void and has helped me learn more about this sport in more ways than you all could imagine. Suddenly books don’t seem that important, I think almost everything I need is in the articles and in this forum.

Okay so here’s the other half of the problem, though I have so much passion for freediving, I TOTALLY SUCK at this breath hold thing. I’m quite a competent swimmer and am extremely comfortable in deep waters. I’ve been snorkeling for quite sometime before I enrolled in scuba. I hope you guys could help me out. If there are any Filipinos in this forum please get in touch with me. I’ll try to browse through all the resources in this site so that I don’t ask questions/issues that has already been answered. But if you have any other links where you could direct newbies like me it would be most helpful!

Wish me luck, maybe someday I’ll get to set Freediving records in my country while the standards are still low! Hehehe.

Padayon,

Blues Diver

Ps: is there some friction going on between freediver and scuba divers? Just wondering…

 

[thin_air]

blues_diver, welcome to deeperblue

as for your problem with stores, i have the same problem, except without the harshness, there just isnt enough intrest in freediving for it to be reasonable to sell freediving equipement

im happy to know that deeperblue has helped you as much as it helped me, there is a definite lack of freediving material out there, just remember that no matter how much they talk about saftey, it can never be enough.

and the most important lesson is to have fun while being safe

ps. im not aware of any friction between the freedivers and scubadivers

 

[thin_air]

oh ya, and if you need to order freediving equipment just do it at the deeperblue shop

have fun

 

[Randy Quimpo]

another pinoy, eh?

Well, well, another Filipino freediver. That makes two of us, I think. Actually, many divemasters are quite knowledgeable about freediving, and near my house (makati) there is actually a dive shop that sells Cressi Gara fins - and they have made ONE SALE so far.

I have not bothered to be PADI certified for anything - freediving seems be a much better trip for me. Recently, I surprised a bunch of scubies when I appeared out of nowhere with my underwater camera, then just as quickly disappeard - and all that with no tanks. Much better for my ego, this freediving is.

Regarding this idea of your of setting a Philippine record, I have actually videotaped pearl divers in Sulu who go down as deep as 200 feet, so don't think that its going to be easy. In fact, if you go to the Visayas, you will find that almost everyone in the coastal towns knows someone who goes this deep. Then again, I myself have toyed with this idea at one time or another.

Keep in touch - its nice to know that I can stop diving solo now. But be warned - I'm more into shallow water photography than deep diving.

 

[blues_diver]

hey there randy!

You know that scene in Interview with a Vampire where Brad Pitt finally met up with a fellow vampire? That’s more or less how reading your message was like. Thanks for replying. I live in Muntinlupa City, near Alabang (recently got married and moved from San Pedro Laguna). I do work however near the Ortigas area. What’s the name of the dive shop where you saw the fins? And how much will it set me back? I might check it out one of these days.

I bet you gave those scuba divers a real scare when you appeared out of nowhere. Probably mistook you for a humongous fish!

It’s nice to hear that you are into underwater photography. Probably when me meet up and dive you could take a decent picture of me underwater. I am sooo frustrated with all the shots I have that my friends took.

Wow really? 200 feet? Damn those pearl divers! Sigh, there goes my drive to pursue the Philippine record attempt. Anyway, so you do u/w documentaries? I’d love to see your work. I’ll be doing some updating on my homepage, but you could check it out if you want to know more about me.


Padayon,

Blues Diver

 

[ivan]

hi

I'am not comfortable in deep water anything where you cant see the bottom and im scared, but im comfortable at holding my breath.

cheers

 

[creeps]

Philippine freedivers WOW theres 3 of us. I'm from Manila.

 

[Randy Quimpo]

Welcome to Deeper Blue, Creeps

Hi Creeps

Welcome to Deeper Blue. I guess you, me and blues boy makes three - is that enough for a club? Lets see if we can do some diving someday!

rgds

Randy Quimpo

 

[blues_diver]

should we reserve pinoyfreedivers.com.ph? hehehe

Hey Randy,

I just sent you and Creeps here an email.
You haven't replied to my last post (sigh, sigh).

I tried to email Ocean Colors in Makati if they have freediving fins available and they replied that they don't (which isn't much of a surprise).

But they did however say that there is an informal freediving group in Boracay that they will try to get in touch with. (Damn, I was just there January of this year) If they send me any contact I'll be sure to touch base with you guys.

Keep in touch!

 

[lomaguindo]

musta mga pre!! just saw this thread. so have any of you found a local supplier? i have also been trying to find shops that sell freediving equipment, but it's too much of a hassle... just saw one fin, omer, just forgot the specs... it's in a shop near greenhills..

dang! last post was 2002 :duh

 

[ajwaverider]

Welcome All. A friend of mine was planning on moving back to manilla and by what he told me I was thinking there would be some dive shops there in that city.Is there anything around there?My fiance' is from Pozorubio.

 

[blues_diver]

hey, a dive instructor friend who works in Aqua One dive shop (Makati, i think) said they could get freediving fins (Cressi Gara) by just ordering it. send me an email at haring_ulan@lycos.com if you are interested and i will get in touch with him, i just hope he's still here in Manila.

hold your breath!

-blues diver

(PS: hi randy and creeps! long time...)

 

[Prästen]

If you want some help with breathholding: http://www.apneamania.com/code/training_list.asp?catID=1

The first simple exercise helped me from 2.10 to 3.34 minutes in just one month.

The other two had helped me become much better at swimming underwater.

 

[pinoycatfish]

better late than later hehehehe that makes us 4 filipino freediver.. as for the shops nautilus sells some freediving fins, cressi gara i think. good day guys.

 

[pinoycatfish]

by the way you can find nautilus at arnaiz road (pasay road)