Your best dive ever? :-)

[Simos]

Looking back over the last month or so, we had some very sad events indeed that led to some downbeat conversations - despite necessary, it's good to remember why we love freediving and share some of our best dives and most special freediving moments!

So I thought I'd start a thread where we can share great dives - one of those dives when everything falls together or simply a special freediving moment!

Mine will sound a bit odd we were diving in Wraysbury, a small reservoir just outside London with lots of underwater 'attractions', put there for divers.

Amongst other objects, there is a container that is open on both ends - it's normally very dark becuase of bad vis and we call it 'the tunnel of doom' (mainly for beginner courses lol) but in reality it's quite shallow, only 10m of water or so.

I dove through this container a fair amount of times but on a very sunny day, I went down and entered the container while looking up and all of a sudden I was suspended weightless in the middle, perfect neutral boyancy, surrounded by lots of fluorescent green rays of light entering through holes all around.

I don't know how long I was there for but it felt like forever, just suspended there on my back surrounded by rays of light, no urge to breath, perfectly relaxed.

I was so happy I really didn't want to come up but i managed to snap out of it at some point and slowly made my way out of the container and floated up to the surface with a huge grin on my face that lasted for the rest of the day! I still smile just remembering that feeling!

 

[Erik]

Snorkelled with 2 grey whales up north of Vancouver Island!

 

[ReefTroll]

Swimming 2 metres of water whilst watching cormorants dive for bait fish in perfect visibility.

 

[Simos]

Great way to start the day reading about your moments - I'm jealous

I've had some encounters that should have been great in theory (mantas etc) but I've often found that they were a bit spoilt by the fact that there were lots of people in the water with me (selfish huh?)

Was lucky enough to get 15mins alone time with a few eagle rays once and it was up there with my best times, although I was way too slow for them

 

[freeln2]

just for fun (don't forget to switch the sound on

 

[Kars]

Well the dives I recall are my first CWT 50 in Spain, landing on the endless sandy bottom, hands free equalising from 25m on downwards. Standing there in the blue desert.
Another dive I recall was the 42CWT in Belgium, where I was surprised by Phillipe Desitter Safetying my all the way down to my first National Record
Another great dive was the 43m CNF dive I enjoyed in Egypt, with a fairly slow start, modest inhale and hands free all the way down in the glass and warm water was amazing and rather flowy.
The 65m CWT in Sweden a couple of years ago, where the things I learned came together, and I managed to find that static like relaxation on the looong way down. The way up was nice, swift and easy. I made me feel very content with myself enjoying the discoveries. In about two weeks I hope to repeat it, and cultivate my new flowy approach to deep diving as I feel it's very relaxing and the way of diving that fits my person and body best. With fluid goggles and nose clip I expect the flow and immersion will be even deeper.
In the pool I enjoyed some static sessions very much as well as some empty lung static-dynamics, who felt surreal and easy after overcoming the urge to breath. Similar dives I enjoyed very much are the Frog Flow exercises.

It's nice to read peoples greatest experiences, keep it up!

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[dom12]

Free falling down onto a wreck at about 60 ft of water mingling with some big barracudas and gently swooping down over and next to them, watching them watch me and being curious about what i was.
Then watching the larger ones hunt along the wreck.

Beautiful Predators!

 

[Simos]

Free falling down onto a wreck at about 60 ft of water mingling with some big barracudas and gently swooping down over and next to them, watching them watch me and being curious about what i was.
Then watching the larger ones hunt along the wreck.

Beautiful Predators!

Must be cool diving with barracudas! Do you need to be careful with them or do they generally leave divers alone?

 

[dom12]

No they are just curious, they will come an arms length from you and just stare at you completely montionless, when you get abit too close , they some times turn abit black, show you their teeth.. But are 1st to move away and back down.
There has been now report of unprovoked attack that i know off.

Dom.

 

[pingshui]

My first open water dive ever was on the Gilis (Indonesia). I enjoyed the extreme blue and the sun rays in the water distracted me from the fact that I was holding my breath. I made a quite long hang on 20m and it seemed as if time had stopped.
Now I use this moment and the feeling I had to get myself through o2 and Co2 tables

 

[cdavis]

The best dive? Now, that is a hard one. Try this.

Back in the day when I'd just started diving, when my average spearfishing depth was 10 ft, deep was 20 and the average vis was considerably less than 10 ft, At Alabama Point bridge, high tide, a 20 ft visibility, best I'd ever seen, 25 ft of water, sun almost overhead. Me on the surface fascinated with the sun beams streaming past my head, making shimmering prisms falling into the deep. Dive into them and it was like diving into a great translucent emerald crystal where you could swim among and between the prisms made by sunbeams. Magnificent and indescribable. Forty-six years ago and I can still see it vividly.

Connor

 

[hogphish]

recently I was doing warm ups on the line while safetying a class. I did a very easy free immersion to the plate (30 meters) and came up even more slowly. I wasn't paying attention when they set the line nor was I paying attention when I was in the "zone " on the way down. The plate was actually at 40 meters but the free immersion seemed effortless...what a mind game freediving is.

 

[Simos]

recently I was doing warm ups on the line while safetying a class. I did a very easy free immersion to the plate (30 meters) and came up even more slowly. I wasn't paying attention when they set the line nor was I paying attention when I was in the "zone " on the way down. The plate was actually at 40 meters but the free immersion seemed effortless...what a mind game freediving is.

Love it when you have a super relaxed dive and then realise that you had gone much longer/longer/deeper than you thought

 

[uw_ikarus]

Last year in June I went out with a kajak in the early morning for doing some recreational dives. Vis was excellent, some 30 m. I let myself fall into the deep blue, suddenly noticing a huge Manta (something like 3 m) behind me. I followed it for some moment, then it disappeared into the deep....

 

[Simos]

Hi uw_ikarus - sounds like a great dive! Where were you when you saw the manta out of curiosity?

I don't know much about mantas but they seem pretty curious - if you lie still on the surface they sometimes keep coming right onto you to take a look. They also seem quite shy when alone but they are a bit braver when in a group.

 

[uw_ikarus]

Hi Simos,

I was on the Ionian coast of Sicily, somewhat north of Taormina. The coast is rather steep there (something like 10%) and the water had something like 23 degrees C - I could dive without a wet suit . I notice rather frequently small Manta's just hanging around on the ground, but I never met an animal of such dimensions before.

 

[Simos]

Wow never thought there could be manta rays in Italy (or the Mediterranean) for some reason! I always associate them with places like the Maldives, Indonesia etc.

You're lucky to have come across one especially when you least expected it, I can see why it is one of your top dives

 

[uw_ikarus]

The Ionian Sea is rather deep (in its central part more than 3000 m) and the sea-floor falls steeply (10% as I said) in the northern part of the Sicilian coast. So the shy animals have enough room to escape rapidly when they feel afraid. May be that's the reason why I was lucky.

 

[Dr. Hawk]

I can't really add to this, most of my "dives" involve alot of blue, alot of tiles, and alot of people in swim suits above me...

And when I try something else, its so murky it defies the point. I wish I had my own private ocean.

 

[ReefTroll]

You need a holiday Dr. Hawk!!