I used to live in on a yacht in Italy many years ago. It was during those two years that I was introduced to the sport of free-diving. In Italy it's got a pretty hardcore following. Something I admire about the Italians and the French - when they decide to follow a sport or any endeavour for that matter - music, cooking, wine making etc etc, they throw their absolute heart into it. They elevate it to an art form. Free diving to an Italian is an art form and it goes hand in hand with hunting. The passionate Italian free diver often does it to either spear fish or collect other bounties of the sea - lobsters and other shell fish, octopus and so on.
Im an Australian. Aussies are good at spearfishing too. We have a much more straight forward attitude and entirely unromantic approach to free diving. We just get on with it. Deep breath, dive, shoot, surface, try again until the fish is on the spear and job done. We don't wax lyrical of being "one with the ocean", of "feeling at peace" under the waves, etc etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I dig all that and full respect to those that take free-diving to this level of spiritual immersion.
Several years ago I had the honour of meeting a Thai free-diving instructor and professional model. Her name is Vipudhporn Bovornphibul - good luck pronouncing that...:) Luckily like all Thais, Miss Vipudhporn goes by a less tongue-twisting nickname, Tammy. Putting aside her natural beauty as a professional model, Tammy is an amazing free-diver and is a certified SSI free-diving instructor. Tammy teaches new comers to the sport correct diving techniques in the safe and controlled environment of a swimming pool before leading diving expeditions to Thailand's amazing coral reefs.
This photo taken at Seascout Swimming Pool Bangkok.
This photo taken at Trang.
This photo taken at Ran Kai Island, Chumporn
Now I had no idea that the discipline of free-diving was a growing sport in Thailand and gaining in popularity every year. Im a SCUBA diver and that is debatable if "sport" is the right term for SCUBA diving in my opinion. I'm sure there is room for debate on that but we can touch on that another day. Free-diving however is undeniably a demanding sport that takes many years of training and disciplined practice to become adept at. You need to be without fear of the ocean and all things that lurk beneath the surface. You need to be a swimmer - not just a casual swimmer but a proper swimmer with technique, style and grace. You need to have stamina and endurance, being able to hold your breath for long periods of time underwater while conserving as much energy as possible.
This photo taken at Koh Tao.
This photo taken at Shark Bay, Koh Tao.
If you can master these core prerequisites then an amazing underwater world awaits you beneath the surface. Free divers in Thailand have the advantage of easy and inexpensive access to some of Asia's most beautiful coral reefs just metres below the surface so it's quite simply an amazing place to learn and continue diving. An accomplished free-diver can easily explore depths beyond 20 metres and remain there comfortable for up to and beyond two minutes.
This photo taken at Koh Racha Yai, Phuket
This photo taken at Koh Racha Yai, Phuket
There are a few key factors to remaining submerged for longer and longer. Free-divers use established relaxation techniques at the surface before diving. Long periods of deep slow breathing before each dive to make yourself physically and mentally relaxed and prepared for each dive. Immediately before the dive hyperventilation is practiced by more experienced divers - the jury is out on if this is safe practice - particularly for new divers and also for dives beyond the two minute mark. I'm not going into the science of it here - lets leave that for the ensuing comments, but the core idea is to expel as much C02 from your system as possible, meaning that the urge to breath during the dive is suppressed, this can however increase the risks of "shallow water blackout" on the ascent.
This photo taken at Hin Daeng, Krabi
This photo taken at Suthep Bay, Surin island
Pre-dive breathing protocols and exercises are important but more importantly is the amount of energy used underwater - hence burning your oxygen supply faster and meaning faster surfacing. Those massive fins that free-divers wear are to give the maximum propulsion with minimum effort, meaning they can descend quickly without using all those leg muscles - leg muscles are the biggest in the body and hence require the most oxygen to work. So a few short flicks of those long flexible fins are the best method of descent, minimal movement of any part of your body, and down you sink into the underwater world. The fins that Tammy uses in all these images are provided by Deep Finder and here is their Facebook address - https://www.facebook.com/DeepFinderTH/
This photo taken at HTMS Chang shipwreck, Koh Chang
This photo taken at Mhoo Koh Chumporn, Chumporn
This photo taken at HTMS Prab Wreck, Koh Ngam Noi, Chumporn
Tammy kindly provided all the photos used in this article. Please check out Tammy's instagram profile for more amazing underwater photos and videos.
https://www.instagram.com/tammvpp
All photos taken by Tammy's dear friend and colleague Taranat Tienpajeekul and used with permission. Please visit https://www.facebook.com/t.tienpajeekul to see more of his amazing underwater images of Tammy free-diving in Thailand
I have marked each picture with the location details. All of these places are easily reachable in Thailand.
Im Jobiker and I think free-diving is one of the coolest sports in the world (after surfing and bombing downhill trails on a mountain bike of course 😌), and I also think my friend Tammy is bloody awesome!
Peace!
