I think I’ve seen only ScubaPro in Taiwan. But I haven’t really been looking.
I went to Nangang Sports Center yesterday after work for a swim. There’s a freediving shop on the first floor now. And of course at least two dive shops outside. It seems Nangang is a popular destination for freediving practice (or lessons?) now.
Go to a scuba shop. Try on all masks they sell. It should be able to suction onto your face without straps and without pain. By what fits best and is most comfortable with good vision.
I looked around at a couple of scuba diving shops last week. They all have freediving equipment now. I noticed the freediving masks are smaller, sit closer to the face, and are cheaper than scuba diving masks (around 2,000 nt versus 4,000 nt for the good ones).
Should I go for a freediving mask if what I want to do is probably a 50-50 mix of snorkeling and freediving? Well at first I won’t be doing any real freediving at all since I’m so new to all this.
Edit:
Hmmmm.
For snorkeling you could use a three pane mask, with glass on 3 sides. Buy two, one free dive and one snorkeling.
as for a snorkel, just get a simple J tube. no need for those stupid valves, or top splash guard. etc.: they all tend to leak in my experience.
this is my set-up:
Mares Star is a great low volume scuba mask… wide lenses close to the face so you can see well, even to the sides, but low enough volume for easy equalising in free dive.
Mares Pro-Flex snorkel.
Not save, and it’s discouraged to use them anyways. Just remember to blow the water out at intervals, or when you went underwater and come up.
My son has one of those snorkels. I was quite impressed since they weren’t around when I was a kid. But I’ll take your word for it. Also, for freediving, from the videos I watched, I get the impression that you use the snorkel just prior to the initial dive down and then push it aside for the actual dive once you get under water. So you don’t really need anything fancy.
It’s possible to practice freediving at Songshan Sports Center. I believe they reserve a lane for this in their big pool which is 5m at the deep end. You need to have a “whale card,” which you receive by passing their 1000m swim in 30 minutes test.
Here are the details:
10am - noon (250nt)
Noon - 2 pm (250 nt)
7pm - 9pm (350 nt)
At the Nangang Sports Center, you can enter their 5m pool only as part of a class. It’s a small pool so I’m not surprised they limits things this way.
If someone new, let’s say a scuba diving instructor, be able to get in to the 5m pool?
They were very clear that you need to be in a class. It’s a tiny pool so can see why they would do this.
Songshan is open, though, as long as you have passed their swimming test. And I guess they have that pool in Taichung as shared above.
Songshan is 5m deep due to the diving tower. It’s pretty expensive, 2 hours for 250 NT$!
I agree. But I guess cheaper than an afternoon at Long Dong or a weekend at Green Island. And I think I can save way more than that by bringing my own bottle to a restaurant with no corkage fee.
Time to give back to this community.
I’ve been actively freediving for around 5 years now, and long before I got my license I’ve already been “freediving”.
Mask
This is more or less the standard mask you’ll see everyone use. All brands get them from the same source, the only difference is cosmetic (color, lens tint, branding/logos). I’ve tried a multitude of different brands/styles/shapes, this is the only mask that makes me feel like I’m not wearing anything over my face.
Get the cheapest one you can find. Brands/models such as Aqualung Sphera/Salvimar Apnea 100/Molchanovs Core/Double K Jaguar - you know this mask works well given how everyone has their own flavor of it.
We all have different facial structures, I suggest visiting a shop and trying out different masks.
Remember: comfort and ease of pinching your nose to equalize is #1 priority.
Pros
Cheap
Comfortable - I’ve worn this for >4 hours straight without feeling any discomfort.
Wide viewing angle
Cons
Flimsy, but if you take care of it then it will last you. Mine has been with me for 2 years.
Plastic lens, easily gets scratched.
Curved lens might not work for some people, it will distort the sides, it took me a few dives before I got used to it.
Snorkel
Get the simplest+cheapest+softest one J snorkel you can find.
The deeper you go the more pressure there will be, and the more it will press on your head (if you leave it stuck to the side of your mask), hence a snorkel that is soft/bends is ideal.
Long Bifins
Two parts: Foot pockets and blades
Foot pockets: Usually comes as a set with the blades, but most most can be purchased separately if you have a preferred foot pocket that doesn’t come with the blades you want.
Blades have three tiers: Plastic, Fiberglass, Carbon Fiber (composite/pure)
Plastic - cheapest, heaviest and hardest material. It will bend overtime. I would not recommend them even for first timers.
Fiberglass - pricier than plastic, usually comes in 3 softness levels. Best price/performance ratio.
- Leaderfins
- Molchanovs Sport
- Prussian Blue (local brand in Taiwan)
Carbon Fiber: Most expensive (can be 3x-4x the cost of Fiberglass). Lightest and softest fins you can find. Only worth it if you are competing professionally and feel like your fins are limiting your ability/comfort - or if you want some clout.
- Alchemy V3
- Molchanovs Competition
Freediving certifications
Important!!! (not only for your own safety as well as for others) but some dive sites will not let you get in the water without it. Divecube in Taichung recently changed their rules to only allow those with >= level 2 certification due to a recent death.
AIDA - cheapest, common, easiest requirements for certification.
PADI - cheap, common, not much different from AIDA.
SSI - cheap, common, not much different from AIDA.
Apnea Total - old school, not as easy to find as the three above.
Molchanovs - new (2 years?), not as available, competitive/enthusiast/professional kind of vibes, most expensive. Hardest requirements for certifications.
As me anything gear related/camera and housings/Philippines and Indonesia destinations.
*not me in the photo, I did take the shot however.
Yes, I will eventually have more questions. It’s a bit cold now so freediving isn’t uppermost on my mind. Great information here!
I engineered and manufactured this mask to customer specs years ago. Not a suitable freediving mask because of air volume. Also ultimately not commercially successful because of the requirement to wear contacts but a very interesting underwater experience visually nonetheless/no optical distortion:
It seems the seas around Taiwan isn’t really safe for beginner diver anyways.
Speaking of diving though, a dive shop just opened near my shop.
But I’m really not into water so I never got into this whole diving thing.
The only reason to blow some air (through the nose) is to level/equalize pressure in your mask. It’s not that your eyes are going to be sucked out but there could be some small blood vessels damage.