After bidding farewell to my friend and the boat, I was solo once again, continuing to live the island life, this time off the east coast of Thailand. I headed to Ko Tao, the diving capital of Thailand, and maybe the world. I opted for Free Diving, with the opportunity to travel into the depths without the aide of scuba gear and oxygen. I arrived for the 2-day course with the hopes of learning a few new skills in breath holding and open water swimming. Within the first couple hours, I had held my breath for nearly 2:30, about 3 times longer than I’d ever been able to accomplish in the past. I was content to call it good at that point, but we were just getting started.
The first day out on the water was choppy at best. Maintaining the relaxed breathing became much more of a challenge as the current required a death grip on the buoy. Nevertheless, I made my way down the rope, reaching a depth of over 30 feet, where a deep blue calm surrounded me. It was both thrilling and mesmerizing at the same time. Unfortunately, it was very challenging for me to equalize the pressure in my ears while my head was upside down, so swimming straight down became a nonstarter, and eventually, even keeping my head upright was too painful at depths without equalization.
The next day, I achieved my personal best underwater breath hold of 3:16, something I still can’t believe I did as I write this. The technique is actually not even that difficult, I’m happy to give some unofficial lessons whenever I return if anybody is interested. Back in the water, I was able to equalize a bit better, but still struggled with my head straight down. I made it down to almost 45 feet, though, before calling it a day in the depths. While I won’t be becoming a professional free diver anytime soon, I look forward to a little extra snorkeling time underwater, and perhaps a few pool tricks back home…
I took my course with Blue Immersion Freediving on Ko Tao, Thailand. Highly recommended.