THE BENEFITS OF FREEDIVING WITH RAID
RAID is putting a lot of effort and a focus on Freediving programs this year. Why is that?
We asked our Freediving SME (subject matter expert) to explain why freediving is important to her and why it’s a benefit for anyone who dives as well as anyone specifically interested in moving into that branch of our sport.
“As both a scuba and freedive instructor, I’ve taught a lot of people over the years, including teaching qualified scuba divers to freedive. There are some huge benefits to be gained by taking a freediving course. As a scuba diver, you will already have a pretty good handle on your buoyancy, and the feelings associated with being underwater. Learning to freedive can give you a better understanding of breath control, better equalisation skills, improved buoyancy, improved body awareness and more confidence in the water. This can make you into a more relaxed and efficient scuba diver, with better air consumption, meaning you can dive for longer.”
Pash Baker is also an underwater photographer, and one of the things she loves about freediving is the ability to have incredible animal encounters that are simply not possible on scuba.
“I’ve had baby humpbacks swim over to check me out and then stay and play a while. I’ve freedived with blue whales, had a one-on-one encounter with an Oceanic White Tip shark on breath hold and many other amazing experiences. The images I take while freediving are very emotive for me, as they are attached to memories of phenomenal encounters.”
So, with all that in mind, we hope the agency’s recent focus on freediving begins to make sense and that this month… and onwards… you think seriously about expanding your personal experience to include breath-hold, no-tank diving with RAID.
And above all the benefits that Pash mentions, it’s fun!
