Why Freediving?
It's the most in tune your mind and body will ever be! Freediving requires both mental and physical dicipline and fitness. Extreme Sports Cafe's Freediving courses offer from entry level up to advanced and instructor level instruction in freediving..

That sounds a bit much..!
No this is actually a scientifically demonstrable effect. Freediving is based on a phenomena known as "the Mammalian Diving reflex". This is something that was originally observed in whales and dolphins and has recently been rediscovered in humans.

In the trained individual when the face is immersed in water on a breath hold the body begins to react. The heart rate slows and the body re-routes blood supply to essential organs and shuts down the "non essential extremities". At extreme depths divers experience what is called "baracardia shift" this is where the body fills the lung cavity with its own plasma. One World Champion Free Diver had his pulse recorded at 9 beats per minute during baracardia shift! In fact our main instructor with ESC was seen on national television functioning perfectly normally with no recordable pulse at all!

All this through the power of mind and body

Isn't Freediving a bit dangerous?
If you know what you are doing and dive with a buddy, NO.
If you try it at home in the bath alone, YES!

How do I learn to freedive?

Extreme Sports Cafe is offering a extensive range of freediving courses. The basic free diving course teaches the principals and in water skills that you will need to progress. Once the basic water skills are mastered the course then takes you on to the principles of extended breath holding, safe hyperventilation the risks of shallow water black out and how to deal with it.

What then?
Well it's up to you, there are many different branches of Freediving. There are the purist competitive disciplines such as Static Apnea, Constant Weight, Free Immersion ,No Limits and Dynamic Apnea. Alternatively there is a huge range of Spear fishing and hunting activities. Or for many there is the simple pleasure of Soul Freediving free deep beneath the surface with out cumbersome noisy SCUBA equipment.

There is a lot of terminology in that last answer! Is Freediving surrounded by elitist goble de gook?
Not at all...

• Static apnea is a competition discipline which is just what it's name implies. Holding ones breath for as long as possible under water motionless ( the world record is over 8 minutes).
• Constant Weight Involves swimming vertically down a shot line to achieve a maximum depth and returning to to surface with the same amount of Weight that one has used to get down.
• Free immersion is similar but no fins are allowed.
• NO LIMITS is perhaps the most spectacular. Fans of the Movie the Big Blue will be familiar with the images of breath hold divers plummeting into the depths hanging on to a metal sledge The world record currently stands at over 150 meters!!
• Dynamic apnea is a horizontal distance attempt.

This all sounds very solitary......
Not at all. Freediving is also a communal activity. There are even team sports such as Octopush ( underwater hocky ) and Underwater Rugby.

And I want toys...
Loads of them... Spear Guns, Monofins, meter long Freedive Fins, Low profile masks, Underwater Contact Lenses, Skin tight Hydrophobic Freedive suits. Lung trainers. etc.etc.
Contact ESC for a look at these toys...

Is there an age limit to learn to freedive?

Not really. If you are healthy and can swim there is no real upper age limit for freediving.
Common sense applies to lower ages.

If you have any more questions about freediving, then please don’t hesitate to get back to us – we’ll be only too pleased to help. After all, the team at ESC are passionate about our various sporting disciplines – we want you to be, as well!