Watersports | Dumagat Freedive International Freediving School

Freediving Randoms

December 7, 2014 by Dumagat Freedive International Freediving School

First morning of the 7-day freediving training stage in beautiful and charming Romblon. Sylvain wakes up the team with light breathing and stretching exercises.

Two things we have plenty of: fresh air and clean water.

It’s a jungle down here!

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Coffee and all things sugary – some of the things freedivers do without for the love of the sport. But it’s Sunday and we’re going wild. ‪#‎DumagatFreediveSunday‬ ‪#‎FreediversGoneWild‬

Team Omniblue with a little bit less jet lag. :)

Water conditions straight out of a sci-fi movie.

We don’t like classrooms so we decided to visit another island to do the freediving final exam. Here’s Janis completing the exam at Tuburan Community, perhaps the coolest and most chill place in the province. Congratulations, Janis! Welcome to freediving! And big thanks to Tuburan for welcoming and hosting us.

One of the resident schools of fish you might encounter during a training session

Island style freediver with wooden goggles and bamboo noseclip vs. the modern style freediver. I think it’s pretty obvious who has better style, no? ‪#‎Freediving‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬

We may be a bunch of lazy freedivers here, but Kyla is still so ready to take on the freediving instructor course. New personal best of 44 meters with many more training days to go. Way to go Kyla!

We hardly ever use a boat for training sessions; but when we do, our boat men join in the party.

Benjamin of team Omniblue Freedive looking epic on a dive with skandalopetra. Skandalopetra diving is a breath-hold dive aided by a stone tied to a rope. It dates back from ancient Greece and was used by sponge fishermen. Photo by Sylvain Bes.

This kid wanted to play a little farther from shore on his birthday so we did. Not only did he do a fun variable weight dive to 65 meters, he also managed to do an easy free immersion to 62 meters. Happy Birthday, old man! Beers on you!

Perfect conditions.

Karel’s signature stance.

Sunset panoramic shot of the bay.

Niels working on his form and technique during his #SSI Level 1 course.

When a spadefish hijacks your training line and shows you how it’s done.

A panoramic view of our water entry point. How do you enter the water?

Kyla cruising over a bed of corals.

Perfect conditions.

Checking out some of the cool local underwater features.

And we’re back on the island!

Playtime with Mathilde & Sof.

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Sometimes a lone fish, a passing turtle, a school of sardines, or a pack of very curious squids, we freedive for moments like this.

Part Four: The Ascent.

Romblon channel at sunset.

These three guys were being too friendly so we abandoned our training line and just played with them for a while. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Freediving‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬ ‪#‎DumagatFreedive‬

These curious squids have become our regular spectators.

Hanging at a relatively shallow depth is one of the usual warm-up routines freedivers use at the beginning of a freediving session. Hanging helps trigger the mammalian diving reflex which helps the body adapt to each dive. And, if you’re lucky like on this session, you might find yourself amused by a turtle that’s even more amused by you. Maybe next time we’ll get the turtle in the shot too.

Part Three: The Descent.

We find that Parisians look way cooler with local wooden goggles. Photo by Valerie L.

Karel when he’s somewhat serious.

Niels checking out the reef just below during ascent.

Part One: The Swim.

And just like that, freediving season is here. Have a great weekend everyone!

Cruising

Mirror, mirror… who’s the silliest freediver of them all?

Hangover fix.

Part Five: The Farewell.

Well done on an easy and clean morning dive to 57 meters, Mikhail.

The party the night before continues underwater.

When it’s so glassy that there isn’t a ripple on the surface, you can look up from under and see the clouds.

Team Omniblue at Dumagat Freedive

Sof feeling completely free after completing all the requirements for the #SSI Level 3 course.

A properly executed duck dive allows you to dive down without much effort.

Too late for the Aquaman lead role audition. ‪

Basking in good atmosphere during our return trip from a full day of epic freediving adventure around nearby islands. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Adventure‬

Part Two: The Warm-up.

Probably the closest thing to being in space.

When the sea is as glassy as it’s been lately, you learn to walk just under the surface. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Freediving‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬ ‪#‎DumagatFreedive‬

Raced them to the bottom. They won. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬ ‪#‎DumagatFreedive‬

Just hanging out on a lazy day.

During warm-up, Sylvain Bes of Omniblue Freedive hung at 10 meters for 5 minutes on a single breath.

Play more. Have an epic weekend, everyone!

Sylvain Bes of OmniBlue Freedive talks about technique during a training camp at Dumagat Freedive.

Exploring the waters around surrounding islets in search of more places to play in. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Freediving‬

The newest member of the Dumagat Freedive team. Mostly he’s been busy murdering anything that moves and considerably smaller than him, but in time we’re hoping that he’d learn to do other things.

Proper breathe-up before every dive relaxes the body and the mind making each dive easier, safer and more enjoyable. This fundamental relaxation skill is just as important on shallow dives as it is on much deeper dives like this one. ‪#‎freediving‬ ‪#‎philippines‬

Just a nice glassy day.

Cris on ascent during a short session where he managed to set a new personal best. ‪#‎Philippines‬ ‪#‎Freediving‬

When mother nature decides it’s not a day for depth training, working on improving your breath hold is always an option in our natural static pool. Holding your breath underwater should never be attempted without proper training and supervision.

Erwan working on his constant weight no fins (CNF) technique. This depth discipline is considered to be the most challenging because the freediver performs the dive without pulling on the rope, without fins, and without variable weight to help with the descent.

Team smiley :) Thanks for the photo, Denen!

Sita & Aline practicing constant weight and free immersion dives during an SSI Level 1 Freediving course.

Naomi Gittoes’ beautiful artwork made it to the island of Romblon in the Philippines!

Breathing and relaxation exercise with Michal & Karl. Both held their breaths for nearly 4 and a half impressive minutes! Not bad at all for first timers!

World’s first bamboo-carbon fins prototype currently being tested here in Romblon waters by Sylvain Bes of Omniblue Freedive. Credits to Benjamin Angeloni, the engineer behind the epic design.

And with a bit persistence, you learn to run it eventually.

Reliving the ancient times of skandalopetra diving with team Omniblue Freedive. Skandalopetra diving is a breath-hold dive aided by a stone tied to a rope. It dates back from ancient Greece and was used by sponge fishermen. ‪#‎Freediving‬ ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬

David working on his form during an SSI level 1 course.

Natural born freedivers. It’s the only way I can describe these two.

Early morning stretching with Sylvain Bes and team OmniBlue Freedive during a training camp.

Romblon Sunset is our favorite color. Romblon’s Deep Blue comes second. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎Philippines‬

Gen and Niels during an easy training session. Thanks for sharing the photos, guys!

Dominique while training in 30°C water temperature and 30m visibility.

Bubble ring blowing training to end an epic freediving session just makes it even more epic.

It is said that dairy products and alcohol increase mucous production which may make equalization difficult, but we say consumption of both to celebrate a perfect dive is certainly good for you. Congratulations on a new personal best of 50 meters (164 feet) on a single breath, Kyla. And thanks, Sylvain of Omniblue Freedive, for the celebratory wine and cheese.

Friday goof around session.

And so we begin the season with smiles and epic water conditions.

Told them there was a bottle of beer at the bottom. Of course, Louis bolted down the fastest. Romblon misses you already, Louis. See you next year.

Good morning, everyone! Have an epic weekend!

So we recently just learned about this hipster thing, collective global art project, another silly internet craze, or whatever you want to call it, here we are snail planking it. ‪#‎Romblon‬ ‪#‎SnailPlanking‬