Learn to Freedive: 9 Reasons Why Freediving is the Perfect Hobby
October 17, 2022
Have you been looking for a new hobby but cannot decide what to go for? …Well look no further, we have something for you that you are bound to love!
There are SO many reasons to take up freediving, from exploration to mental health benefits, competitions to team bonding, freediving offers something special for every kind of person.
If you are still on the fence about whether you should learn to freedive, you will not be by the end of this read.
Let’s look at the 9 top reasons why freediving could be the perfect new hobby for you.
1.Exploration
Are you someone who loves adventure? Freediving is a great way to explore the underwater world. It can be more convenient than scuba diving, in that it requires less equipment. You can hit the water with just a mask and fins, and not have to worry about heavy tanks or no decompression limits.
Caves, canyons, corals, and shipwrecks, there is a lifetime’s worth of exploration to be done below the waves. Learning to freedive will give you the tools you need to stay underwater for longer and witness first hand the vibrant colors and stunning marine life.
2. Education
If you love to geek out on theory, you will find freediving truly fascinating. For example, have you heard of the mammalian dive response? A physiological mechanism that kicks in when we hold our breath, or when our face is submerged in cool water. It triggers a survival reflex that helps us to conserve oxygen and hold our breath for longer… pretty cool, eh?
But that is just the start. When you learn to freedive you will also be taught proper diving technique, breathwork, relaxation, safety procedures, and lots more about freediving theory. If you love to learn, freediving could be your next fascinating hobby.
You will also learn alot about marine life, corals, and conservation. When you dive regularly you start to pay attention to the fish you see and witness first hand some of the damage that is being done from issues like plastic pollution.
After your beginner course, you can go onto practicing and learning even more about freediving.
3. Competitions
The beauty of freediving as a sport is that it is only as competitive as you want it to be. You can enjoy freediving shallow and exploring the corals, or, if you have a competitive streak, you might enjoy training to freedive for your country in a competition.
Freediving competitions happen regularly all around the world. If you are the sort of person that is excited to see what you are capable of, and you are driven to beat records, freediving could suit you well.
Or, if you are not interested in competing against other divers, you can still compete with yourself, training to add a little more time to your maximum breath hold, or a little more depth to your personal best.
4. Meditation
Ommm… Spirituality is calling. If you love to zone out and quiet your mind, freediving can be an extraordinary form of meditation.
When you learn to freedive you will be taught relaxation and breathwork techniques to help you feel at peace underwater.
Relaxation and breathwork play a huge role in freediving. The more relaxed you can become, the nicer the breathhold will feel. This is a process that comes easy to some people, and for others it can take some practice. But learning how to control the breath and de-stress the mind can be beneficial both in the water as well as in your day-to-day life.
5. Mental health
Leading on from meditation, breathwork has also been proven to be very beneficial for your mental health.
For those of you who suffer with depression or anxiety, freediving could help you. Many freedivers say that once they enter the water for a dive, their mind becomes clear and they forget their worries. Freediving lowers the heart rate and brings on feelings of peace and intense relaxation.
6. Physical fitness
Freediving regularly can help towards your level of fitness. Swimming is a great form of exercise that works the whole body. But on top of this, freediving can improve flexibility of the ribs, and encourage a healthy lifestyle as you strive to improve in the sport.
Many freedivers have a morning stretching routine that helps them to be flexible in the water as well as dry. You learn some of these stretches in your advanced freediving certifications.
7. Community and team bonding
A freediving buddy is someone you have to trust entirely. This person will be there for you in a diving emergency, but they can also deliver words of encouragement, advice, and a good laugh on the buoy.
The freediving community is very special, whenever you meet a new diver, you have something in common and you can talk for hours about the sport. Where did they learn to freedive? Where is the best place they have dived? What are their PBs? Why do they enjoy it so much? …There is so much to discuss. When you start freediving you will make dive buddies, and life long friends.
8. Self confidence
Freediving is a fantastic confidence booster. When you see yourself progress from being nervous on your first day of the course, to diving with ease and perfecting your technique, you will feel proud and your self esteem goes through the roof.
There is nothing better than improving at something, and in freediving there is always something to work on. Even the world’s top freedivers say that they are still learning and improving.
9. Travel
As an adventurer, freediving could be a great way to channel your wandering spirit. The best reefs, fish, and shipwrecks are spread across the world in some absolutely stunning places. Freediving is a great excuse to book flights to explore new places, foods, waters, and cultures.
Travel truly broadens the mind, and as a traveling freediver you will see the best underwater life from around the world, and meet other like minded, freediving as you go.
Have we convinced you? Book your first freediving course today and start your perfect new hobby! Want to know what to expect from your beginner course? Check out our beginner’s guide to freediving.