Freediving in the Maldives

Freediving in the Maldives

The Maldives sounds like white beaches and turquoise seascapes, and that's exactly what it looks like in pictures and advertisements. It is paradise-beautiful both above and below the surface. But what makes whether you enjoy a place or not isn't about good diving or beautiful beaches. It's more about the people you meet there. We are eternally grateful that Scuba Travel arranged the trip to a local island instead of a so-called 'resort island' to freedive in the Maldives. It is so much nicer and more interesting to get to know a culture and contribute to the survival of families instead of impersonal resorts. We were wonderfully welcomed by TME retreats and Iceland divers already on arrival.

Scuba Travel's ambassador Annelie Pompe

My assistant instructor and I traveled down about a week before the students arrived to scout and get to know the dive sites. It was especially good that all the diving instructors at the diving center were interested in freediving and had even taken courses in freediving. They knew exactly what we needed; calm blue sea for training on a rope buoy and magical encounters with animals and reefs, as well as yoga mats! After the exploration, we put together a perfect plan for the course and the freediving.

Practice holding your breath

The more skilled you are as a freediver, the more you can enjoy participating whale sharks, manta rays and turtles under the surface. So we started by practicing breathing by stretching for bigger breaths and learning all the secrets of how to breathe better. The students managed to hold their breath between 3 and 5 minutes after half an hour of tips and exercises. After a well-deserved breakfast, there was an introduction to freediving on a buoy with a line down to the bottom to practice pressure equalization techniques and relaxation. Everyone made it down to the bottom of 8m without any problems. After further exercises in diving technique, fin swimming technique, the students were ready for greater depths, rescue techniques and to hang out for a longer time with fish and turtles, rays and reef sharks.

And of course whale shark. It was literally the 'big' reason for traveling to the Maldives. I have personally freedived with a whale shark several times before, but it is just as magical every time. Looking into the whale shark's eye and swimming together for a while is an experience of a lifetime. The more comfortable you are on a breath, the longer the experience can be. We were also keen to go out and look for whale sharks on days when fewer boats were out.

Whale tourism brings in many millions of dollars every year and thus there are many tourists/snorkelers/divers on site. It can sometimes be crowded on the surface. Then it is extra nice to take a deep breath and leave the surface for a while. The contrasts are great. To celebrate the day, we also got to free-dive with dolphins up close. One student said the day was already perfect. When we then got to hang out with a whale shark via the surface for 20 minutes, happiness was total! Freediving in the Maldives is fantastic and if you want to try it then contact Scuba Travel here.