Freediving from snorkeling boat?

[seeker242]

So I'm taking my FII Lvl 1 training this weekend! Can't wait!

I was wondering if a typical snorkel trip operator would have any problems with people freediving off their vessel? Not really deep or anything because snorkel trips don't go to deep water. 20-25' maybe. I'm just wondering if anyone is going to hassle me for wearing a weight belt going "snorkeling"?

 

[danvolker]

So I'm taking my FII Lvl 1 training this weekend! Can't wait!

I was wondering if a typical snorkel trip operator would have any problems with people freediving off their vessel? Not really deep or anything because snorkel trips don't go to deep water. 20-25' maybe. I'm just wondering if anyone is going to hassle me for wearing a weight belt going "snorkeling"?

The Keylypso Boat out of Lake Park Marina /Riviera Beach ( Palm Beach) is fine with having Freedivers on it....
When they do Breakers shallow, there are some 30 foot deep areas of reef that are fun to practice on....the boat itself is awesome to dive on....very comfortable and fast.

 

[REVAN]

It might be too late for this comment, but be careful who you go out with! I once went out on a snorkel boat in Key Largo thinking it an inexpensive way to access some pretty water to do a little freediving. They wouldn't allow me to get in the water without wearing a freaking horse collar life vest and I couldn't take any weights! I was absolutely shocked and pissed.

I ended up finding another anchor buoy away from the boat and tied the vest to the bottom of the line. I then had to go back and retrieve the damn thing. I also had to make sure I stayed far enough from the boat they couldn't tell I had no vest, which kept me pretty far away from the intended dive site as well. In all, it was a disappointing waste of money.

Sorry if I'm too late to prevent you having a similar experience.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It might be too late for this comment, but be careful who you go out with! I once went out on a snorkel boat in Key Largo thinking it an inexpensive way to access some pretty water to do a little freediving. They wouldn't allow me to get in the water without wearing a freaking horse collar life vest and I couldn't take any weights! I was absolutely shocked and pissed. . . .

I'm not any kind of freediver as the term is understood today, but like most of us I have snorkeled since I was a kid, and part of what I consider "snorkeling" is the ability to dive down now and then to get a closer look at something. I used to spearfish in Mexico that way, too, with a weight belt, though the word "freediving" was not in my vocabulary--I considered it more of the diving phase of snorkeling. Have snorkeling and freediving diverged to the extent you describe?

 

[effortdee]

Pretty much lorenzoid, freediving is becoming more and more popular and that is what people relate to diving down from the surface.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Pretty much lorenzoid, freediving is becoming more and more popular and that is what people relate to diving down from the surface.

So "snorkeling" boat operators are now prohibiting snorkelers from doing what snorkelers have been doing for decades before the freediving craze came along. That's pathetic.

 

[Phantom Menace]

So "snorkeling" boat operators are now prohibiting snorkelers from doing what snorkelers have been doing for decades before the freediving craze came along. That's pathetic.

Luckily (for me) that is not the case here in New Zealand - although I do a lot of my free diving (99%) from private boats (either mine or friends).

We went to the Poor Knights Islands for a weekend about a year or so ago and they were happy for us to free dive (although the guy on a rebreather seemed a little surprised when I swam past him at around 115 ft).

I also did a family trip to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) for Easter this year. Initially the dive masters on the boats were a little restrictive but shortly into our 4 days on the island they had relaxed and were happy for me to hang round visiting the SCUBA sites rather than staying over the reef with the snorkeling group (most trips had both snorkelers and SCUBA).

 

[seeker242]

None of the boats I go on require snorkelers to wear a vest. They have them available, but they're not mandatory.

 

[Kharon]

They wouldn't allow me to get in the water without wearing a freaking horse collar life vest ...

Is there some reason you didn't simply completely uninflate the horse collar??? I've snorkeled & freedove with one on and didn't even notice it was there.

---------- Post added November 25th, 2015 at 09:35 AM ----------

Pretty much lorenzoid, freediving is becoming more and more popular and that is what people relate to diving down from the surface.

I have never until recently heard that leaving the surface while snorkeling was "freediving". What nonsense. Snorkelers have done that since snorkels were invented and it was never considered anything but snorkeling - till recently. Freediving has always been the way deep snorkel-less dives. Too bad the terms have become corrupted by people that don't understand them.

 

[seeker242]

I have never until recently heard that leaving the surface while snorkeling was "freediving". What nonsense. Snorkelers have done that since snorkels were invented and it was never considered anything but snorkeling - till recently.

"Freediving" originated with the pearl and sponge divers of ancient times. It wasn't called "snorkeling". Actually, it was called "skin diving" in the earlier part of the 20th century. Today, snorkeling does not mean you are going to depth of 100+ ft, etc. The idea that there is no distinction is nonsensical. Go on a typical snorkel boat and say "Hey, everyone, alright follow me! We're going to go down to 100 ft and look around" See what everyone says about that, LOL.