CAPE TOWN / SOUTH AFRICA

2020 has thrown all of us in the travel industry a very hard curveball - but for us it has brought an unexpected gift too; many more months in Cape Town than usual! We have marvelled at the magnificent winter days gracing our beautiful False Bay and plotted and planned how to share the very best our beautiful blue backyard has to offer. We have been teaching freediving in Cape Town for over 15 years and know this area inside out - and we are excited to share our ‘best of’ with you.

Until such time as international travel into South Africa reopens, we have created this weekend offering based on the same high standards of experience we offer on our extended international trips, but catered to South Africans with a love of the sea!

Our Weekend Freediving Exploration Courses will cover the foundations of freediving theory, the knowledge and skills training needed to safely explore the peninsula from the shore as well as an introduction to some of our favourite dive spots. On top of this you will also learn about the conservation challenges as well as the success stories along our coastline. After the weekend you will receive an internationally recognised certification from Pure Apnea as an Adventure Freediver.

We will host the course from a beautiful villa right on the rocks of the Castle Rock Marine Protected Area, home to some of our very favourite cape creatures, kelp forests and a prime shore entry dive site. (Please note that the course does not include accommodation, you will join us at the villa each day for the course duration - if you are from outside of Cape Town area, please let us know and we can help find accommodation nearby to suit you.)

The Weekend Freediving Exploration Course will run from Friday late afternoon to Sunday afternoon. We will meet on Friday afternoon for sunset welcome snacks (and drinks!) and a run through of the theory for the weekend.

Saturday morning we will start the day with smoothies and a quick introduction to the day followed by lung expansion stretches, deep breathing exercises and breath hold exercises in the pool. After a light lunch catered by acclaimed chef Arabella (Eat to Thrive) we will do our first open water dive session together at Millers Point working on equalisation, safety, duck diving and other open water freediving skills. After some hot tea and a short break we will move to another dive spot in the same area and explore more seascapes and skills, amongst others buddy diving routines, increasing bottom time and conservation minded exploration. We will finish off with hot chocolate and a debrief at the villa.

Sunday morning will once again start at the villa with a breakfast snack, stretches and breath work, focusing on carbon dioxide tolerance and mental strength. Our morning dive straight after will be at a nearby divespot further increasing our skills from day one and learning more about the marine ecosystems of False Bay. Lunch will again be catered by Arabella and we will discuss how what we eat not only has an effect on our freediving and oxygen consumption but also the ocean as a whole. After lunch we will do further open water dives, working on deeper dive sites, swim throughs and safety practice.

The course will be limited to a max of 8 participants - ensuring you get the best training and experience.