Your First Week of Freediving
Dahab is where people learn to freedive, and there is a reason the courses here are four days rather than two.
The wall at the Lighthouse drops to depth a few metres from the shore, the water is flat most mornings, and there is no boat ride. That is the whole reason this town is full of freedivers.
What a beginner course covers
Breathing and relaxation on land, then static breath holds in shallow water, then a line to ten or twenty metres. Four days, because the third day is where people stop fighting it and the fourth is where it becomes easy. A two-day course teaches you the same theory and half the skill.
How it feels
The first day is uncomfortable — your body argues with you, and the urge to breathe arrives long before you actually need air. By the third day most people hold their breath for two minutes on land without much trouble and are surprised by it.
What helps
- Sleep, and no alcohol the night before
- A massage on the rest day; your chest and shoulders will have worked harder than you think
- Warmth: cold makes everything shorter
After the course
You can keep diving at the Lighthouse with a buddy, and the schools run fun sessions most mornings. Never alone, not once, not for a metre — that rule is the whole sport.
