I still remember my first freediving experience in Moalboal Cebu. It was June 2017 when my boyfriend invited me to have a freediving lesson.

Since then, I chased whale sharks in Leyte and spent a night inLlimasawa island, had an amazing freediving trip in Coron, explored the depths of Badian, and even had multiple clean-up activities and one of the memorable ones was in Malapascua Island.

I am always vocal and open about sharing my experiences. I even invited a few friends to join me and be part of this close-knit community.

CHECK: Freediving in Philippines Guide

So here I am again, sharing a bit of information to those who want to try freediving for the first time.

Here are the freediving gears to buy. If you are a beginner, but first the basic freediving gears below.

Basic Freediving Gears

Low volume Mask

Choose a freediving mask that fits properly your face. These are the following features to consider:

  • Low volume- for easier equalization.
  • Comfort- it should fit the shape of your face so that it will be comfortable when being compressed.
  • Clear lenses- to allow your buddy to see your eyes and check your condition.
  • Nose pocket – The nose pocket enables you to equalise the air in the mask. This is to prevent mask squeeze.

Snorkels

Freediving snorkels should be as simple as possible. Features you should look for:

  • Soft silicone mouthpiece-  make sure that it is comfortable so you don’t notice it in your mouth.
  • Medium-rigid – Not too flexible and not too rigid, just somewhere in-between would be great.
  • Simple – It could be straight or slightly curved bore
  • Buoyancy – Add a floater to avoid losing your snorkel. Also check it means of attaching it to your mask.

Fins

There are 3 different types of blade for the freediving fins:

  • Plastic – Durable and Affordable. Good for beginners.
  • Carbon Fiber – Fragile and a bit expensive. Good for deep divers.
  • Fiberglass – Just like Carbon Fiber, it is Fragile and a bit expensive. Often used in spearfishing too.

Advance Freediving Gears

Weight belt

 They say that the best freediving weight belts are rubber and silicone materials.

Tips on what freediving weight belts to buy:

  • Best to have an elastic belt that fits perfectly against your body during the entire dive.
  • Buckles to consider: the classic buckle similar to a regular belt in your pants with holes and a pin that locks in a fixed position. Gives you the same fit every time you wear it. The Quick release one is what you see on most weight belts for Scuba but also good for Freedivers because it is very easy to drop if needed.

Gloves

It is important to protect your hands while diving. They also come handy too if you dive in cold water and if youneed to climp rocks or do dive clean-ups.

Make sure that your gloves are thick enough to protect you and keep you warm and at the same time flexible enough so you can move your fingers freely for equalization and using your gears.

Wetsuit

I personally overlooked this freediving gear but I know for sure that this is very important especially to protect you from cold and jellyfish!

Tips on choosing the best wetsuit for you:

  • Make sure that your wetsuit is durable.
  • That fits you better or is flexible

ALTERNATIVE: Wetsuits are a bit expensive so if you can’t buy this for now, you an use a thick rashguard and leggings.

Lanyard

A freediving lanyard is a safety accessory that connects the diver to the diving line. Usually it has a quickly releasable carabiner.

Lanyard is recommended when diving in poor visibility conditions.

It is a mandatory safety accessory in competitions. In case of emergency, the diver can be brought up with the line.

Freediving Gear Bag or Fin Bag

You need to have a freediving gear bag or a fin bag to put all your gears!

Computer

A freediving computer helps you get the following information:

  • depths
  • dive time
  • water temperature

It also helps you stay safe while diving thanks to depth alarms and by calculating the surface recovery time. The selection is wide from affordable to professional models.

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freediving gears

Featured Photo by Farhan Sharief
Pinterest Photo by Kiril Dobrev