For The Love Of The Sea

It’s the new mindfulness practice, the trail running of the sea, a great adventure and a way to escape the noise Slowly breathing in and out, calmly holding your breath and sinking along a tropical reef in the Red Sea or into the Kelp forest in Cape Town brings an instant calm Endorphins fire, and I am filled with a benign sense of joy after my dive How often can you find that these days?

I’m a snorkeller at heart with little interest in going deep on the line or swimming through caves. I prefer to swim around in the shallows, somewhere between 2 to 6 meters deep, where the light still carries the full rainbow colour spectrum The forest canopy splices sunshine making it dance and weave on sea urchins and starfish floors, creating an endless show In this space, I play on one breath and fiddle with my camera settings to recreate what I see.

The Cape coastline is fickle; the swell and raging South Easterly wind determine where one can dive Generally, it means the Atlantic side of the Peninsula, but when the Northwesterly blows, it clears up False Bay Standard freediving requirements in Cape Town differ from the rest of the world Shore entries can be tricky off rocks, you’ll have to get used to the kelp tickling your body, and you’ll often be confronted by the average visibility of about 3 to 4 meters A good day ranges from 6 to 10 meters in contrast to the average of 20 meters in tropical waters.

With this in mind, I book a holiday to the Red Sea Using the relaxed little town of Dahab as our base, we check into a quirky apartment on the beach in the neighbourhood of Asalah, an old part of town with a reef right on our doorstep The streets are dusty, and the buildings crowd around narrow lanes leading down to the sea We’re a quick 15-minute walk to the main tourist area and several beautiful dive sites.

Diving in the Red Sea differs from my everyday underwater world in the Kelp forests The one similarity is that you can access plenty of dive sites from land, which is a significant plus The biggest shock is adjusting to the warm temperatures and the constant visibility into the big blue without the ‘protection’ of the Kelp forest Sometimes you can’t dive for days in Cape Town, but in the Red Sea, none of that applies.

Plopping into the water for the first time after a rather long flight resulted in endless squeals of delight from myself and my buddy Neither of us could believe what we saw and quickly lapsed into a slightly delirious state of joy The soft palette of pastel corals created a gentle topography reminding me of gelato ice cream with an array of toppings in the form of brightly coloured reef fish I loved these reefs around the town extending out from the land in a flat shelf and then dropping you straight down into the blue.

Freediving, like scuba diving, in the Red Sea is strictly regulated as there are fatal accidents yearly in this diving mecca Without a freediving guide and certification, you may not go out on a boat You can’t even rent a weight belt as it immediately makes the dive school liable. When we see the multitudes of people learning to scuba and freedive everywhere, we start to understand the necessity of these strict rules. If you want to learn to freedive, I’d highly recommend spending a holiday in Dahab on the Red Sea; there are many schools and easily accessible reefs to practise your skills.

Freediving has become hugely popular in Cape Town, helped by the world-famous film, ‘My Octopus Teacher’ Multiple WhatsApp groups ping away, sharing ocean conditions and linking up with buddies all over the Western Cape daily Freediving courses are booked three months in advance, and freediving gear sales have gone through the roof If you haven’t seen it, watch it now.

Around Cape Town, you can start snorkelling in a tidal pool and slowly gain confidence before heading into the sea I love this ocean activity, compared to scuba diving, because it has shallow barriers to entry All you need is a mask and snorkel to get started, and if you like it, move on to buying fins and a weight belt Wetsuits are optional, but in temperatures ranging from 12 to 20 degrees in Cape Town, you’ll probably want one unless you’re particularly prone to self-flagellation, as I was for a few years If it is something you like, then do a course You will enjoy the course much more if you are comfortable in the water and using a mask.

The ocean has always been a safe space for me It’s where I go to soothe my anxiety or, more recently, to mend a broken heart Most days, I dive for the sheer joy of it and out of curiosity for what I might see.

Freediving sounds a little scary to most; I recommend thinking of it as adventurous snorkelling as I do. Don’t let the thoughts of holding your breath for minutes and diving to great depths put you off The simple reason being it’s not about that at all.

GUIDE

Cape Town, South Africa

The majority of freedive sites in Cape Town are accessible from the shore They are located on the False Bay side of the Peninsula close to the ocean Wikitravel has a meticulously puttogether list of sites along the Cape Coastline Monitor the weather and keep an eye on the swell As mentioned above, diving in Cape Town can be tricky, and conditions can change quickly Contact one of the companies below if you’d like to hire a guide or equipment or do a course I’d recommend hiring a guide to start, many of the shore entries aren’t obvious, and you will need a car to reach them A guide will also ensure that you stay safe if you are unfamiliar with diving in Cape Town.

DIVE SITES OF CAPE TOWN

https://wikitravelorg/en/Diving the Cape Pen insula and False Bay

This resource is a huge help With loads of information, and was created by an avid diver and underwater explorer, Mr Peter Southwood

Cape Town Freedivers: www capetownfreediving com

Argonaut Science: www argonautscience com

Pisces Divers: www piscesdivers co za

DAHAB, RED SEA, EGYPT

I’ve only spent ten days here, so I am not an expert We found the dive sites easy to access from land and plenty of internet resources giving instructions on where they are. We brought all our gear, but you can hire equipment if certified. We engaged a freediving guide to take us to the more remote reefs by boat near Dahab and another guide in Sharm el Sheik who took us to dive in Ras Mohammed National Park, an absolute highlight Day trips can be arranged where they will pick you up with a taxi driver and show you where the sites are, saving you time and confusion You will also have the contact number of knowledgeable taxi drivers for future trips Like anywhere in the world, get there early For example, we arrived at the world-famous Blue Hole at 7 am and had it to ourselves for 2 hours The same applied at Shark reef in Ras Mohammed National Park.

Dahab – Catherine www blueoceanfreedivers com

Ras Mohammed – Antonella www freedivingworld