It’s hardly possible to mention Seychelles without thinking of the ocean, with its clear waters, beautiful coral reefs, and its dive-friendly climate. If you love the underwater world as much as we do then why not try pushing your snorkelling skills to the next level with Freediving Seychelles!
Photographs taken on one-breath by Jean-Marie Croguennec (Luxury Nature)
Freediving or apnea, is the art of diving down underwater with just a breath taken from the surface. It may sound scary but with proper guidance and supervision it is very safe and progression is much faster than you might think!
You may wonder that people who dive to such depths on just one breath have to be some sort of super healthy, non-smoking, yoga-loving athlete, right? Nope!
Freediving is something that everyone (regardless of shape, size, or fitness levels) can try and be successful at – as long as there are no serious ear problems. It’s not so much physical exercise, but more about knowing your body, mastering the psychological effects felt and strengthening our mind’s ability to live the moment peacefully, whilst in full control of the situation. Which is the approach we take at Freediving Seychelles, in addition to emphasis on safety training! Whether someone aims to dive for depth or exploration it’s all encapsulated with the diversity of sites and varying depths Seychelles has to offer; displaying a world of marine life, awesome underwater rock formations and ship wrecks! Some of the best spots are Twin Barges; perfect for slightly more confident divers, Dredger Wreck; a deeper wreck which lies at 24m on the seabed and is always surrounded by a school of yellow snappers and Shark bank; a dive site in between Mahe and Silhouette Island which has small reef sharks, octopus, barracudas and marble stingrays.
With freediving, the beauty is in its simplicity and silence. We hope to encourage more people in Seychelles to try out the sport because the freedom felt whilst underwater without the heavy scuba equipment is really quite exhilarating. The marine life you encounter aren’t as skittish as when you’re scuba diving. Freedivers appear to be less of a threat, so if you're diving for fun the creatures down there let you get closer to them, and they also come closer to you. You are bound to see Dolphins, Turtles, Groupers, Eagle Rays, Parrot Fish, Giant Trevallis, Green Jobfish, if you are lucky a Whaleshark, and lots of other cool species.
Diving for depth is a competitive form of freediving; seeing how deep you can go on a single breath within various disciplines (free immersion, constant weight with or without fins, static apnea, dynamic apnea with or without fins). We’re excited to say we recently certified a diver with his AIDA 3 level at a 40m meter depth! Our aims at Freediving Seychelles is to ensure you feel comfortable and safe throughout the entire session thus we incorporate a variety of breathing techniques and meditation in our trainings to promote self-awareness inside your body and in your mind! As well as going through rescue techniques which is always a useful and important skill to learn.
The idea in creating a freediving school and community within Seychelles is to share our passion, knowledge and insights with people who would like to enjoy the freedom and peace of being in the water. Which leads us to an extremely exciting future for the sport!
Freediving is still very new in the country, which is why we are passionate in developing the sport and putting it on the map as a Freediving destination!
Since we started offering freediving courses and training, we have traine over 80 people! 66% of them had never done Freediving before. 39% of them were Seychelloise and 58% of them were female.
We also had the priviledge of meeting Zandi Ndhlovu also known as; Black Mermaid who came to Seychelles to inspire and share with us her experiences about being the first black freediver in South Africa.
We have been lucky to freedive with the talented underwater photographer In Seychelles Jean-Marie Croguennec, founder of Luxury Nature who captures the most magical moments of you in stunning underwater locations.
He can guide you on how to perform underwater in the safest and most comfortable way so you can take home with you incredible memories that will forever stay within you.
The best months to visit Seychelles for Freediving are from the end of April to the end of June, and from the end of September to the middle of November when temperatures are high, weather is dry and there is 25m+ underwater visibility. Throughout the year, the underwater temperatures are on average 26 °C (79 °F), making it fit to wear a shortie wetsuit. The temperatures slightly drop from July through to October to around 24 °C (75 °F), you may experience slight thermocline and we would recommend wearing a 2-3mm long wetsuit; this is the coldest it'll ever get.
December through to March, is when we have the Northwest wind and the sea in around the Northwest becomes choppy. So the best spots to freedive in this period would be the south east coast of the Islands.
Our climate is always hot and humid, when the southeast trade wind begins from May through to August, it's better to stay on the west coast of the islands for calm seas.
Looking forward, we aim to qualify more enthusiasts, continuing and expanding educational movie nights (covid permitting), monthly trainings/fun dives and freediving community meet ups, hosting competitions local and international, engaging and partnering with the youth in school programs, building a wider community with a shared interest in the sport and so much more!
Our goal is a simple one; we want our students and community to enjoy freediving and embrace a lifestyle which brings relaxation and reaching new goals into their everyday life. Join us!
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