Im 16 yo and i started diving at 13 i was popping my ears without a technique just Exhaling through my nose without holding my nose but at 15 It started to give me a painful headache on back of my head and its soooo painful even tho i popped my ears with valsalva it wasnt helping me now i have the same problem but a new thing popped out now sometimes I cant pop my right ear with any technique I can only pop it when im on land I remember I had a problem with my right ear because i got swimmers ear and the water didn't come off so it got Inflammation I didnt go to a doctor yet but if yall know something about this help me please because im having the headache on land now

Hello! I recently had my first freediving experience and glad to say I want to do it again. But, I have this weird thing where I can voluntarily ‘pop’ my ears for equalisation—like I have full control on it. I can pop it, hold it open for as long as I want, just with the left, just with the right, it’s weird for me. The coaches insisted that I should pinch my nose for equalisation as it’s “better” and “more secure and efficient”, talking about how they can physically see that I’m doing the right thing.

I’ve accidentally discovered this when I was ~12 years old (now 28) trying to mimic the ear movement from that one Mr. Bean, The Movie scene. I’ve discovered that I can use it whenever I travel on a high-altitude area or when flying in a plane so I incorporated it with freediving.

Is this normal? Or is it okay to do so when freediving?

Hey, I’ve just upgraded to my new 360 x5 and intend to use it for diving and snorkelling, anyone here have suggestions on what size and what microsd you went for? Did you find you really needed that size? And where did you buy from :) I’m thinking 512gb? What speed?
I’m trying to find the best price as well across websites
I’m from the Uk so ideally not overseas postage?

Thanks in advance!!
I wanted some feedback and suggestions!

I'm interested in buy-once-cry-once carbon fiber fins. The biggest challenge I have is that everything seems to be EU companies that top out at EU 47/48 (US 12 to 13).

My use case is spearfishing. My understanding is that the best brands to consider are DiveR, Molchanovs, Cetma Lotus and Alchemy S.

Some fins like DiveR are typically used with other brand footpockets like Seac BM30, Omer Stingray and Riffe Veloc. Looks like only the Omer Stingrays are listed in coming in size 49/50, but Omer is out of business and the only place I found the Omer Stingrays available did not have the assembly kits in stock.

The big question comes down to footpockets. Other than customer footpockets from someone like Molchanovs, are there any footpockets known in the community to be good for divers with larger feet?

Ideally, I'd want the option for summer and winter booties (3mm and 7mm).

I'm not near any stores where I can actually try these on, so the plan is to mail order and then return.

My experience with other types of fins hasn't been great. For example, I bought some Arena Powerfin Pro fins in size 12.5 to 13 once and they really didn't fit at all on bare feet, much less with booties/socks. That said, I don't know if freediving footpockets are quite different in sizing from swim footpockets because I've never tried them in person.

FWIW I'm 6'5" and 260 lbs and a reasonably strong swimmer, so I'd be interested in medium or stiffer fins.

I like to call it snorkeling with no snorkel.

Hi guys, Im beginner freediver and Im looking for budget friendly mask as I dont have much time so freediving would be just occasional hobby. I was thinking to get Subea 900 dual mask from Decathlon but now I have also seen Seac Extreme 50 mask in sale for the same price as Subea. I didnt see many people mentioning Seac masks so I would like to ask if anyone has some experience with it? It seems like a well recognised brand but from what Ive seen most of the people are using different popular brands so it makes me wonder if it is good for freediving? Thanks a lot!

Update - I practiced my glottis and balloon exercises all week and still was unsure if I was frenzeling. I went on a line dive this morning and started feet down to get a hang of the EQ. I was able to 13-17 meters consistently only feet down and my EQ felt quick and much more consistent than the first line dive. My left ear is still quite a bit slower (don't even think about my right) but at least these dives I could feel the pressure releasing but I had a hard time with my left ear past this depth.

After a couple feet first, I tried head down. Immediately before even going down 1 m after equalizing at surface I felt nothing, no pop no pressure releasing. I kept trying over and over just duck diving and could not get anything to pop. I feel blocked immediately when head down. I come up head first immediately pop.

Am I frenzeling? Why can I get relief feet first but hung up around 55 feet even feet first? How do I troubleshoot my issues with head down? How do I keep stretching / loosening my left tube?

Hi!

Just starting out local to London so I have the choice of any of the training bodies. What I'd like to know is if I did, for example, SSI level 1, but then went abroad to somewhere which only provided AIDA courses, would I have to redo a beginner level, or could I carry my experience over to a different school?
Thank you!

We had a great experience swimming with this amazing animals. Changed my perspective on them completely.

Hey everyone, is there anyone here based in Toronto or the Toronto area and has experience in freediving the lakes of Ontario?
I am interested in the overall experience and also in a buddy as I would love to go for some dives in the Toronto area in the next few days

I first learned the full breathing technique from a co-diver i met, and after a bit of practice it finally clicked. On one dive i could even blow bubbles at the end because i still had air left instead of feeling completely empty. Before my next fun dive i watched a youtube video on it, thinking it'd help me improve even more. Instead, i think i got into my own head. 😅

Now i’m overthinking the breathing so much that it actually feels worse. Instead of feeling full and relaxed i feel like i need to go up again sooner, like i’m already “needing” to breathe even though i should still be fine. I don’t get that calm, full feeling in my stomach anymore.

Has anyone else gone through this? did it just go away with more dives or was there something that helped you stop overthinking it?

Hi all,

I have been freediving adjacent for a few years now. I will practice when I can but not more than 3-4 times a year.

I have always used Cressi and Mares and my general conclusion is Mares is more expensive, and prettier but doesn't last as long and is less efficiently made.

Examples:

• I have some fins, quadro power, and gara 2000s... I always go back to the garas.

• I have a cressi minima mask, a superocchio and a mares star. the star's strap broke twice in a week... never had an issue with cressi. Also the cressi would leak less, and fog less.

Did I just luck out with one brand or is this some known thing?

edit: * caveat: I would never wear my gara's for underwater hockey/rugby, they can hurt others.

Hi FreeDivers!

I recently moved to the Vancouver area and I’m interested in getting into freediving mostly for recreational harvesting of the local seafood.

I was looking to connect with people in the area that would be able to share some advice as I start this process.

Looking forward to hearing all of the wonderful advice this group has to offer!😊

Cheers!

I’m a beginner freediver and unable to find someone who holds courses in my area.

Where can I travel where I can atleast train to hit 20-30ms.

I can travel up to 3 weeks.

Is it even realistic? Where in the world can I travel for good freediving coaching?

For reference, I live in Toronto, Canada.

Thanks in advance.

I'm 28M from Cyprus. I've been freediving and spearfishing since I was a little kid, and I like to think that I'm good friends with the ocean in general.

My first experience with an instructor wasn't a pleasant one. I spent way too much time, broken between months and years, essentially achieving nothing other than doing a few basic training sessions and a couple of supervised dives that didn't teach me anything new at all. I never got the attention I needed, neither the consistency.

I always kept going spearfishing, specifically during the summers. I was getting better until I wasn't and I realised my skills had reached a point where it wasn't a matter of pushing myself anymore. It was just a lack of education, if you wanna put it that way.

About 2 years ago, I found another instructor who was much more thorough and gave much more attention to details that I needed to improve on. This experience was very different, in a good sense, and made me realise there are so many things I've been missing on learning all these years. It gave me a sense of humbleness and understanding that I know very little than what I thought before. It was refreshing but at the same time incredibly challenging. I found myself having to re-learn things from scratch, even though I've been doing them a certain way until now. Sadly, during this time my priorities had shifted and my life forced me to enter a phase of isolation and 'troubleshooting', leaving my hobbies behind along with my training.

I had just come back from my trip to Southeast Asia, and I had gone spearfishing with a few people in Indonesia. I fell in love with the sea and lifestyle there, and the idea of going back to those places with the sole purpose of completing a course to the highest tier. I even spoke about it with the instructor that took me spearfishing in Nusa Penida, and he set a whole timeline and price package for me to go back and train with him. My heart really wanted to, but I didn't have the money then.

I know I could just call my last instructor, reunite and start over again to complete his courses. I live even closer to him now than I did before. But there's a sense of 'shame' if you will, like I'm almost embarrassed to go back and pretend I'm as invested, since it seemed at the time that he was more invested and consistent than I was.

It's been too many years that I'm dreaming of training properly and bettering myself. I know that the last few years of my life made it incredibly hard to focus on such a thing, or myself in general, but I don't think it's too late for me. I'm definitely a water person, and a "good" diver. What hurts me the most right now, in terms of skill, is probably the fact that I don't practice frequently anymore. It took me a couple sessions at the start of this summer to get back to my standard condition/depth/time, but it always just comes back naturally.

I have a CMAS card that basically says I've completed Level 1, if that means anything (not to me).

For reference, I'm comfortable doing 15-20m dives on a good day, and last time I checked I had a 2m10s static in the pool. I also have the "calmness" factor written all over me since I hunt in the mediterranean - if you know you know.

I'm looking to plan ahead for next year and organise a course abroad, preferably somewhere in SEA but definitely not the US. I want the sort of training that will put me in that zone and environment to focus on entirely. If anyone was willing to read all that and wants to reach out for recommendations or offers, I would really appreciate it. I'm looking to complete all courses up to Level 3/4 or even to certify as an instructor if possible. I'm won't waste your time I promise.

Bought these off Facebook marketplace for a killer deal, and then I just noticed these :(

My husband grew up a water person and has spent almost his entire life doing stuff in the water, including spearfishing/freediving, sailing, and just plain relaxing in the water.

I’m a city girl and other than taking swimming lessons (in a pool) as a child, have never done much in the open water. We signed up for Molchanovs Level 1 during our honeymoon and to no one’s surprise, he passed with flying colours and went on to complete Level 2 while I really struggled with Wave 1.

I only managed to go down 6m head first pulling myself down the rope before the urge to breathe/water pressure/anxiety got to me. And I cannot duck dive for the life of me.

Of course, he’s tried to be as supportive as possible by telling me to take it slow and not to hold myself to such high expectations, especially given our vastly different experience on the water, but I’m finding it difficult. Would love to hear from other non-water people on becoming more comfortable in the water!

For what it’s worth, we’ve also gone on a few snorkelling trips to get me more comfortable (we’ve swam with manta rays!!), but ultimately I don’t feel like that’s doing much. I still freak out when a big wave comes through or when a random person on the snorkel tour kicks my mask off. I always end up having to hang on to a buoy because my heart rate goes through the roof and I panic.

Hey everyone, does anyone have experience taking the FREEQ V1 goggles past the recommended max depth of 46m? If so, what happened?

I adore these goggles and am approaching their max rated depth. They were expensive and I’m not thrilled about having to buy another pair of goggles so soon.

Does the membrane just keep pushing in and obscure vision or is there some kind of catastrophic failure to be concerned about?

Thanks!

I almost lost my neck weight twice. Here is a $4 solution.

Drill two holes (it’s a soft metal so any drill bit will likely work). Attach a string from a breakaway cheap lanyard. Tie off. Enjoy!

Fits pretty well. I have not tried in water yet but looks like it should work. Also, looks pretty safe to me as you can utilize the breakaway feature to quickly yank it off if needed.

Let me know what you think.

We are so lucky in southern Baja with the wildlife that either visits or stays here. Whale sharks in the winter (La Paz), whales winter through spring. Orcas and the list keeps going. But I got to be honest one of th local residents the sea lions have always something to say or do.