Top Freediving Cities in The World to Live In?

[Mullins]

None of the NZ cities are freediving-friendly, Taupo would be the best (184m lake) but only in summer. Any Australian cities fit the bill? I know that Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane don't, deep water is way offshore.

 

[rxcnc2]

Well, half of South Pacific is NZ or AUS, even if the small island nations are formally independent. And they have the best freediving I have ever seen, forget the Red Sea which looks like a shallow puddle without fish and poor visibility in comparison. Of course, it all depends what you call a city but I'd choose Alofi or Vava'u over Dahab or Hawaii anytime. And Auckland is just a short hop away - if one has the money for the flight

 

[Mullins]

I'm heading to Aitutaki in July to do some freediving & spearfishing, I'll see how it is. Might be a worthwhile training venue, certainly a lot cheaper than getting to Egypt.

 

[rxcnc2]

Was there some years ago and almost died - no worries it won't happen to you I was being an idiot. It's good outside the lagoon very clear. But go with a boat or it will be very very hard to fin your way back inside. The lagoon itself is really shallow, very nice for a postcard but not for swimming. Rarotonga is more interesting for the time you spend on land. Pearl divers on Manihiki and Penrhyn, quite interesting.

 

[trux]

Well, Guilhaume Néry and Francisco already mentioned Nice / Villefranche, but if you prefer a little bit bigger city, Marseille is excellent too. Not only it is the second biggest city in France offering all what you may wish from a metropolis, but it has beautiful spots for freediving or scuba diving accessible within minutes. And there are freediving clubs and schools too. For example this one is in the proximity of the historical center: Avec ou sans Bulles - plongée, apnée, et randonnée subaquatique à Marseille

 

[Jared S]

Offshore FL coast is my favorite so far. You do have to go out a little ways to get to the deep with no layered currents though.

So, anywhere in the Gulfstream, giant vastness of open Ocean.

Would want to check out:
Nice, Villefranche
Greek Islands/Med

Sharm is cool cause you just walk off the dock to great water...but c'mon the food is a bit rough.

(Food has gotta weigh heavily for best location!)
Oh, and no depth but, Aarhus looks like a really cool city!

 

[Delfino]

If it's cities we're talking about and not the dive site itself then Villefranche sur mer is a close second place to Kona, Hawaii for me. I had a great time there.

 

[trux]

I've got a question about a club in Nice by PM, so am posting the information here for the reference too.

CIPA has all the necessary structure for deep diving and experienced monitors. You can also contact Francisco or Guillaume Néry. There is another freediving club in Nice, and much more of them in the region. So if you plan coming for holidays to Côte d'Azur, you can visit more places, and dive with great freedivers. Close to Nice is for example Monaco with Pierre Frolla, or Hyères with Stéphane Mifsud. Some other freediving clubs on Côte d'Azur are listed here: Clubs d'apnée Côte d'Azur

And if you go further to the West, there are freediving clubs in almost every town. Some of them are listed here: Clubs d'apnée France

 

[popolarbear]

how about Microneasia and Guam. kinda remote and difficult to get to, but alot of comercial build up recently.

 

[hunlee]

CAPE TOWN!
Ok I know you all think GREAT WHITES and that is a factor... but are we talking Competition Freediving? In that case CT is off the list, but if you mean pure aquatic joy, oh yeah!
Shore entries into kelp forests that will take your breath away, boat rides meeting dolphins, seals, all manner of (friendly) sharks... The ocean is alive and well and happy!
And on days with bad viz that should mean the swells running and you can grab a great surf- good cross-training! Or grab your kit and go climb an awesome mountain- cross-training again! And I've even built a hardy floating counterbalance that works in rough seas for deeper dives.
Oh and did I mention all the amazing restaurants... and wine farms?

 

[titan]

is there any good freediving cities in AUS?
I'm choosing my next city to live in,this is giving me some inspiration at the moment

 

[Newbie_spearo]

Sydney would probably be the best out of the lot, however I can't say from experience. I live in melbourne and the diving can be great here, but more often than not it is dismal!

 

[Walid]

HI! I live in Colombia right now and there are some nice cities to practice pool freediving in altitude, but then you'd need to go to the sea to practice and there's a nice island, San Andres which has very nice sea conditions.
By the way, I might need to move to Saudi Arabia, anybody nows how are conditions for a good deep freediving training?
Thanx,

Walid

 

[titan]

I'm trying to imigrate for some time my main problem is with visas I'm an EU citizen so have to the chance probably gonna be in denmark I want to get a decent superior university studies without outrageous fees and some nice people,a culture that and to be part of it and help it,

my guess is that no matter whre are you is there is will you will get a lot of freediving action and even more fun :fridayjust look at the guys at palooza even I when I was a teen I dived pretty often in 5 degree water with a dive mask and I have lot of fun with my old, problem is all my old mates migrate :vangry this actually the country with most emigrants in the world, but still I find hard to beat those unforgetable moments and I had the pleasure to already dive in incredible places that defy imagination

 

[ILDiver]

I liked Oahu, deep water is a bit off shore, but a lot of good divers there. I hope to check out Kona in Oct.

Ft Lauderdale is nice if you can get out on a boat.

Madison WI is a good centalized location for freediving the Midwest. Just get a good chainsaw for the winter dives!

 

[nostres]

Miami:friday

 

[titan]

I'm envy , I hate you all:vangry it's summer here girls almost zero:rcard(ok ok we the usual creepy old ladies:blackeye), stormy sea all year plus rain more rain rain, good news is spearfishing has more fans everyday ufff(relief) everyone likes to eat fish and shot things in a legal way hopefully I will turn all those to the dark side:tfreediving side

I saw that some people find NZ like a non friendly zone for freedivers, isn't suposed you guys have sea mamals visibility lots of fish (I'm not considering depth here) I know sometimes the sea is stormy there in europe NZ has the fame to be a great place to live although it's turns out to be a boring place, I would like to hear what the kiwis have to say about this:chatup

 

[flying_spanner]

I saw that some people find NZ like a non friendly zone for freedivers, isn't suposed you guys have sea mamals visibility lots of fish (I'm not considering depth here) I know sometimes the sea is stormy there in europe NZ has the fame to be a great place to live although it's turns out to be a boring place, I would like to hear what the kiwis have to say about this:chatup

Well I can tell you that here in NZ the diving is excellent. Sure we do get a lot of crappy weather and the sea can be rough for months on end. But I just think of the bad weather as preservation of the fishery.

Cos when it clears the spearfishing is awesome.

The water can be cold thugh. It's the middle of winter and the water down on the east coast was 8deg C on the surface a fortnight ago.

As far as the pool training goes over here, the liability boffins have been getting on their high horses of late. In my opinion all it will take is someone to blackout and die while training at the local pool.

The media would get hold of the story, blow it out of proportion. Then all us kiwi freedivers would be facing a blanket ban across the country for freedive training in public pools.

Thankfully New Zealand Underwater Assn are in the process of draughting up an agreement/operating practise between Swimsafe (the company representing the pools) and NZU (who represent us).

Provided everyone plays by the simple rules things should work out fine.

 

[flying_spanner]

Also if New Zealand is so Freediver un freindly then how come Kiwis hold most of the World Records for the sport????

Names like William Trubridge, Dave Mullins, Kathryn McPhee come to mind and there are a handful of divers hot on their heels......

 

[titan]

thx flying spanner 8 degree is cold as **** but to my eyes you maked a good a team of reedivers there not by the records but by the capabiliety of making spearfishing and freediving groups :inlove

PS:kiwi freediver are not the only one with that problem I train a lot alone in the water I'm limited to 60-70% no warm up and some CO2 table style dynamic, I think there are many people with the same problem, the nearest freediving club is more than 350 km away:rcard