Why it's Important to Learn to Freedive with a Buddy
One of the first things you will learn when you take a Freediving course is that is very important to have a buddy with you at all times. There is one instance when it is not important to have a body with you. That is when you're doing dry statics. If you're doing them properly you'll be laying down and on a comfortable surface so that if you do happen to black out you will not fall and hurt yourself. You will simply wake up. If you were diving in the water in the ocean in the pool and or even your bathtub though it is important to have a buddy.
When you learn to freedive in a Kona of Freedivers's course we will teach you the fundamentals of diving safely. This includes having a buddy with you at all times. It's important that your buddy be near you so that they can monitor you while you were diving. Over 90% of blackouts occur on the surface. This means that it's important to have your buddy near you on the surface while you were driving. During your freediving course we will teach you how to properly safety and monitoring your buddy during a free dive. Sometimes you will get separated from your buddy. It's important that you understand how to search for your buddy in the event of separation and what to do.
Sometimes you just need to take your care often make adjustments your buddy can help you hold dear. If you have a flute with your buddy can help carry or pull the float along if you get tired. You can even share one spear gun between two buddies for a much safer spearfishing experience. Having a buddy can make the experience more enjoyable to. Nobody will believe that you saw that whale if you don't have a picture but your body can corroborate. There's so many wonderful aspects to having a buddy with you in the water. When we line dies here in Kona we like to have at least three people on the float. This gives you the optimal flow while you are diving. Giving you one person breathing up, one person diving, and another person safetying. Once you get comfortable diving with your buddy you will find that it becomes very easy to provide proper safety. It almost becomes an afterthought. Freediving in Kona can be deceptively. Because you can see your buddy at the bottom very easily. This can make it deceptive that people are not diving deeper really pushing themselves when they are. This is why it's important when you learn to freedive that you listen and focus on the safety so that you can turn it into habit.
The buddy system has saved many people. There are many stories throughout the world of one buddy helping another in the dire situation. Just think of it, you could be spearfishing and be at the bottom holding your breath near the end of your dive ready to come up. But instead of coming up you decide that you will stay down a little longer because you saw a large fish swim by. Should you decide to shoot this fish then the real struggle begins as the fish fights you and perhaps can get tangled if you don't take this opportunity to swim back to the surface or you can't get back to the surface immediately your buddy can help. It's important that you have a buddy with you in these tires circumstances. When you shoot or injure a fish your adrenaline can still begin to race causing your heart to pump. This means that you will be consuming much more oxygen than you anticipate. Once your body becomes law and oxygen in the surface the oxygen level drops to a point where you can easily blackout. It's important to have a buddy with you in these circumstances so that they can provide proper freediving safety. This is why it's important for spear fishermen to learn to freedive.
The buddy system is important for competitive freedivers as well. There are stories of freedivers going out to practice competitive freediving and never returning. We had such a circumstance happen while we were in Santorini Greece. We were invited by the freedivers to go practice freediving on the line there. One of the divers tried to dive deep on a constant weight ballast system. They dove down past 70 m and never returned. Having comes in buddies that know how to say to you in this circumstances is very important. Especially for competitive freedivers were pushing the limits constantly. Through our training we will teach you how to push your limits safely and know when you are going past went where you should be for your level. There are different tools and techniques available to freedivers to know when you are nearing your limits. And there are certain ways to go about progressing your death and progressing your breath hold time. Having a buddy nearby can help you be safe while you are pushing your limits. When you learn to freedive Kona freedivers we will teach you where some of these limits are and show you how to push them appropriately.
Even swimmers and snorkelers can benefit from having the buddy system. Sometimes boats will be in the area and will not pay good attention to what is in the water head of them. Having a buddy on the surface while you were underwater provides a marker for the boat to see where you are. It's also important to have a float with you and your buddy can hold this little while you are diving. Some swimmers or snorkelers don't realize it, but they are so comfortable in the water that it can be easy for them to stay down for long periods of time. They are essentially freediving, but some but often times without a buddy. It's important to have a buddy in these scenarios because the diver can inadvertently stay down to long and suffer a blackout at the surface. In this instance a buddy can very easily say to you. It can be your life. This is why when you learn to freedive we teach you the buddy system.
Learn to freedive with Kona Freedivers. We will help make you and your body safer more competent freedivers. We regularly teach level I freediving courses. Often holding at least once a month. Anybody wanting to explore Kona's waters more in depth should take a freediving course.