Miami Freediving Clinic

[TriggerFish]

My Father and I have enrolled in the advanced Performance Freediving clinic in Miami, FL this April. I am not familiar with the area and had some questions about water temp. that time of year and any shore based spearfishing if possible. I read a good article in Spearfishing mag. by Chad Carney but would be open to any advice that my not have been covered in his article by anyone who has taken this clinic. Is anyone else on the board signing up for April?

[Chauggie]

TriggerFish,
I took the course in Malibu and a refresher in RI. I'm sure you will benefit greatly from the clinic even though there is practically no talk of spearfishing.
Each time the oldest person in the class had the longest breathhold.
In the last clinic in Miami, the ocean portion of the class got blown out by weather.
Bring a wetsuit to wear in the pool. It gets cold after three hours.
Pace yourself. It's an intensive course and generally lasts more than eight hours each day. Find out when you will go for personal bests in static and depth. I did my PB in depth the day before scheduled while practicing technique. On the last day I was too tired to do well.
Chauggie

[divefan]

Hey Trigger,

My wife and I are also in the same course as you and your dad. We live a little farther north up near Pompano Beach and FT. Lauderdale. I can't give you too much info about Miami but if you want want to PM me I can go over any general questions about the area.

[smellsfishy]

Trigger,

I took the Miami course in January. The first day of the course the dive pool was 66 degrees and it got cold fast. The static pool was a lot warmer. The classroom itself was pretty cold and I was wearing shorts and a Tshirt so I couldn't get warm that first day. So you may want to bring something heavier just in case. Then again April should be a lot warmer.

I'll be back in April to finish the course. Due to bad weather we didn't get to complete all our ocean dives. Doh ! :( But we get to come back to any of the clinics and complete them Woohoo ! :D

The class was great. Kirk, Martin, and Tony were all great. They are not only great freedivers but very patient and good instructors.

I'm a total newbie to freediving and not only did they make sure I didn't kill myself, but I also learned a lot and had fun ! ;)

See you in April !

Meir / Smellsfishy

[Chad Carney]

Triggerfish,

Wow, that should be a great thing, to take the class with your father!

Kirk has shifted the date to April to avoid the sea lice problem we encountered in May last year. He and Martin were pretty badly stung, as was my buddy Sheri Daye.

You can get the water temperature from the c-man sites on this NDBC map. I just clicked on Fowey Light and it showed 73.4 degrees F. Make sure your wetsuit is very stretchy and well suited for freediving. I wore my 3mm Henderson Gold Core and was fine. A beanie can make a big difference also. Try to avoid thick suits because of the compression.

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Florida.shtml

You will likely never dive as deep afterwards as you might in the class. It's the perfect setting to do the best you can do.
I can't say enough about the professionalism, knowledge and abilities of all the Instructors. Kirk and Martin will amaze you!

When you do those negative pressure dives, don't exhale 100%, I can still remeber the throat pressure...cough, cough.

One last piece of advice...you will be on the run constantly, with little time to do anything else. You'll be too tired anyway. Before you go I'd buy a case of Gatorade or whatever you like, pretzels or power bars, etc. You don't want to eat heavy but keep your energy up.

Enjoy it! I may go back to monitor another session in the future.

Chad Carney

[Dan33]

I just got done with the Malibu clinic last weekend. It was incredible! I never knew how much there was to learn about freediving. My static time improved, as well as my constant ballast depth. Kirk and Martin are both awesome guys who are great teachers. If I had the cash I'd go through again with you down in Miami!

[TriggerFish]

Thanks for the feedback. I can't wait!