With so much to keep us occupied in the shallows why go deeper? We could spend our time enjoying the coral reef, the turtles, big schools of sardines, whale sharks. Mantas and dolphins, the list goes on but you get the point.
Any diver with even a modest amount of experience knows that marine life becomes harder to find as we progress into the deeper water. It gets darker, colder and more foreboding, so why are we so desperate to get down there?
If we stick to the shallows we can enjoy the warming rays of the sun dancing for us through blue waters and find a fresh lungful of air just a few kicks away, but it’s not enough and the deep keeps on calling me down.
There are several things that can motivate us to push further, sport, competitiveness, glory, a physical challenge or perhaps to banish our own demons. These can all be true, different for us all perhaps, but I think something else comes first.
The appeal certainly isn’t what I might see down there, I will often leave my mask behind, saving that precious gas that would be needed to equalise it for myself.
The reward is an internal one, something just for me. My heartrate drops, my mind becomes silent, focused, I’m almost in a kind of half sleep. Soon the silence is deafening and the only interruptions are my tiny and deliberate movements.
I’m failing to give a clear description of this sensation here, it’s something that needs to be experienced to be understood, nearly impossible to paint it with words, but I am sure any fellow freedivers reading this will understand.
We must also consider the preparation, there is work needed to get to the place where these actions become possible. Training is not just physical but mental. Understanding the limitations placed on me by my body, and those which I have created in my mind.
It sounds cliché to say I learned about myself from my training and experiences but it is still true, pushing through those mental barriers that I once thought, was certain, were physical limits is an incredible experience.
If you need an example let’s look at the average student on a level one course, day one I ask them how long they can hold their breath, honest answers range for 30 seconds to a minute. A day later I typically see the same students holding their breath for four minutes or longer during static apnea classes. No changes to their physiology have occurred, but a big change in their mental outlook has taken place and some new freedivers are born.
So in a nutshell many of the rewards of going deep are realised before I even get my fins on, but I know I still have that magical serene experience waiting for me when I get there, the deep shapes my life and the way I live it, I hope to see you down there!
Tomas Jereb is an active freediver, a Pure Apnea Instructor Trainer, a scuba instructor accredited by several agencies and a commercial diver.
Tomas provides freediver training from complete beginner through to master Instructor at Savedra Dive Center, Moalboal, Philippines.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of training with Tomas drop him a line at freediving@savedra.com
