40 metres deep sounded deep, and believe me, it is. Basic scuba dive qualifications typically certify to around 20 metres, the more advanced to 30 – 35 metres (Padi Advanced Open Water and BSAC Sport respectively) so this challenge was to dive down to beyond both of those limits on only a single breath.

It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of learning, travelling and practicing but I made some good friends and learnt some incredible things that for sure I would not have done otherwise.

Here’s a video that I found inspiring:

The hardest part is getting off the surface but once you have mastered the duck dive and got past the point of neutral buoyancy at around 10 metres you become ‘weightless’.

At around 20 metres you enter a freefall where gravity accelerates you to the ocean floor – this sense of effortless yet continuous acceleration is incredible and probably caused by what Slomo is explaining referring to in the below video in neurological terms at 08:42. I just love the sound of the water passing my ears as I fall.

Each 10 metres down from the surface adds a force equivalent to an additional atmosphere on top of the one at the surface. As a result, at 10 metres the lungs half when the pressure doubles from 1 to 2 atmospheres.

At 20 metres the pressure doesn’t double again but adding another atmosphere means your lungs compress to a third of the size they were on the surface and at 30 metres that is 3 atmospheres plus the one at the surface equalling a total of 4 atmospheres. This increase in pressure effectively reduces the lungs to a mere quarter of what they were on the surface. This makes it very difficult to equalise beyond this point without using advanced techniques as all the air inside you is so compressed it is hard to move it around.

At 40 metres your lungs are a fifth of the size they were on the surface and to counteract this, I retain some air in my mouth cavity instead of inhaling it all at the surface in order that I still have some in my mouth to equalise with.

The thing that struck me the most is how much this activity relates back to our roots as aquatic mammals. I have not felt a sense of calm under pressure like I have under the surface, I can feel my body, my lungs and heartrate adapting and I can feel the squeeze of the water as the pressure increases and a sense of unencumbered orgasmic immersion takes over.

James Nestor does an incredible speech at Google on the following link that goes a long way to explain the science behind what effects it has on the human body, how the body has retained some of these sensed and reactions and how it adapts. They are using it to great effect when researching sperm whales and I have experienced first hand how creatures are less afraid of me if I am not exhausting used air bubbles into the water (as with scuba diving):

I had been freediving of my own accord previously, something that I referred to as ‘skin diving’ but would now denote it as merely ‘enhanced snorkelling’. I made it as far as 15 metres but came to the sensible conclusion that I needed some fellow like minded divers who could reach the depths I could and who I could share knowledge with.

It was during one of my enhanced snorkelling sessions that I met a guy called Zak who is a freediving and diving inductor and is the contemporary mortal represtation of the Roman God Neptune. Zak is patient, kind and very forgiving. I really enjoy spending time with him and learning to become a true freediver from him was an honour and a privilege.

I have always been able to hold my breath for a reasonable amount of time and estimated that travelling at around a metre a minute would take at approximately 80 seconds (40 down and 40 back up) so one minute and 20 seconds but it is only by practicing this, by practicing the dive, by learning how to control your attitude and direction in the water that you are able to reach as far as 40 metres. My biggest hurdle is relaxing. Relaxation is key and without it, this is not possible. I still have a lot to learn in that regard.

It’s definitely not as simple as just holding your breath and going for it!

During the course of the next 18 months, I secured my AIDA Level 2 and and Level 3 qualifications and SSI Level 2 qualification. Freediving gave to me something amazing, it expanded my underwater potential and ironically was the breath of fresh air I needed and remains something I want to do for many years to come.

It’s amazing how much progress I made in 12 months with Zak’s instruction:

Getting to 40 metres was a beautiful moment and I paused at the plate of course to make sure I had made it (confirmed registration on my dive watch!) but also to absorb some of the tranquillity and calm before I was forced to resurface.

Some pictures chronicling my journey can be found below:

I cannot recommend my friend, mentor and highly skilled amphibian instructor Zak highly enough, I trust him with my life and am very grateful for his support, energy and inspiration.

Zakaria Diving Instructor Freedive Master Instructor & scuba
كبير مدربين غوص حر و سكوبا
00966503645482
Instagram:@zak_dive