After so many failed attempts at leveling up my freediving skills, I finally did it!
My freediving journey has not been very smooth. During my beginner class, I almost backed out when I touched the water. I know how to swim but my good relationship with the deep waters has been on and off. When I thought I've overcome my fear, I get another traumatic near-drowning experience.
Anyway, I've become more comfortable in the water since and I have no problem diving deep. But I just can't seem to equalize during my duck dives. For those who don't know what equalization and duck dives are: equalization is what divers do to adjust the internal pressure inside our heads and duck diving is the entry movement of a dive. Most beginners blow their nose while pinching it to equalize the pressure and in the past, no matter what I do, I can't seem to figure out why I can't equalize after I duck dive.
I went to Catmon, Cebu with my girlfriend and some of our freediving friends and it was there that I realized what was preventing me from equalizing. IT WAS HESITATION! I was always overthinking whether I dive too deep or equalize too early that I end up not generating enough pressure to counter the pressure of the water.
Once I let go of my hesitation, I had no problem equalizing for much lower depths. I even followed my girlfriend while taking a video of her diving through an underwater passage. I'll see if I can share a video of that. In the meantime, here are some of our shots while on the surface. The water was clear and so calm. The dive resort was badly damaged by the typhoon last year but thankfully, they were already open when we got there.
📍 Kuya Jom's Crib, Catmon, Cebu, Philippines