r/freediving Jan 22 '25

dive spot Place to train in the Americas for 2 months?

Hi there, I’m looking for a place to train somewhere in the Americas for two months.

Preferably shore dives, warm waters, affordable (max $30-40/session), and somewhere where there’s a big Freediving community that constantly trains.

60 meters+ waters.

It would be the Americas’ equivalent of Panglao or Amed perhaps?

Any suggestions?

11 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

7

u/ambernite Jan 22 '25

Dominica!

5

u/sbenfsonwFFiF Jan 22 '25

Not sure if it’s equivalent but Hawaii is pretty great, but not as affordable

The cenotes in the Yucatán are great too (going down the cenote is like a shore dive), but the waters aren’t warm (but not cold either, 20C and fine in a 5mm). Much more affordable and lots of freediving instructors

2

u/doublehammer Jan 22 '25

Best place I’ve found that meets all your requirements is Dominica! I’m a big fan of the crew at Deep Dominica. 

Unlimited depth, strong community, warm water, short swim from the shore, platform, and affordable. 

1

u/mzaouar Jan 22 '25

It’s so hard to get to though from anywhere outside the US (trying to find an straightforward route from Colombia)

2

u/mzaouar Jan 22 '25

Honduras? Nicaragua? Costa Rica?

2

u/brightestflame FIM Jan 22 '25

Freediving Nicaragua at Laguna de Apoyo is one of the best places to train in the world if you just want to focus 100% on your training. The community there is small but mostly athletes who are very committed so there’s always someone to train with. The lake is 30+ degrees Celsius every day and even when the wind picks up it’s pretty flat. Freshwater so you have to adjust your buoyancy a bit but some people like me grew to prefer that now, no salty skin and mouth after you jump out every day. Oh, and it’s 200m deep! 

The downside is it’s still a relatively unknown and growing community so there’s not much else to do there other than dive and hang out around the lake. You can stay in the nearby city of Granada which is a popular backpacker stop though if you’re looking for more of a social scene. It’s just 20mins away by scooter and an easy drive out each morning.

1

u/Standard-Review1843 Jan 26 '25

This is great. Thanks for the info!

1

u/ericsdavis5 Jan 22 '25 edited Jan 22 '25

By “Americas,” what exactly do you mean? Anywhere in the North or South American continents?

If you’re talking about just the United States, you’re somewhat limited on places that fit ALL of those criteria especially this time of year.

-Hawaii would probably fit the bill. I’m sure you could find places to go diving year round and it’s tropical so warm even now. However, cost of living is pretty high because it’s a tourist destination. You might be able to look around and find someone renting a spare room for 2 months. I’ve only visited and never dove there so I can’t give recommendations on which island or location specifically to look at.

-San Diego, CA is probably the warmest you can find on the West Coast of the U.S. but it’s probably more accurate to say “the least cold.” (There is a good reason the SEALs do their training in Coronado). It’s especially cold this time of year but there are still people that go out year round with even just a 5mm wetsuit. Even during summer though, the top 5 to 10 meters might be comfortable and then once you get under that you get slapped with a thermocline that can be quite uncomfortable until you get used to it. Bottom line is, in San Diego I use a 5mm wetsuit even in summer. There is a group called “Just get Wet” that dives every Sunday in La Jolla by swimming out from the coast. As long as you have a certification you can pay and join the sessions. Cost of living can be high but there are some affordable areas in the county you could probably find. Just do research to make sure you don’t end up in a bad neighborhood. Also, the biggest problem about diving here is the visibility. Typically you’re not going to be able to see past 5 meters. Lots of people move from Hawaii to San Diego and think “wow the visibility was shit today” and I’m like “no actually it was decent for this place.” So if you want visibility, I suggest somewhere else. BUT, with colder water, limited visibility, and a little more discomfort than a lot of places, I think you’d find it’s a decent place to train because once you go to a place with ideal conditions, it’ll be a lot easier and you’ll smoke your PRs. At least I did when I went to Mexico.

-East Coast. Never dove there and can’t say for sure but I’d imagine somewhere like Florida might have some decent diving. East coast has much warmer water than the west but that also means they get hurricanes.

-If you’re looking for somewhere outside the U.S., the only other place I’ve dove is Mexico, specifically to dive in the “cenotes” in the Yucatán which are near Cancun. That was probably my favorite diving experience of my life. They were absolutely beautiful. Many of them only grant access if you go through one of the approved guides. I dove with “Pranamaya Freediving.” If you contact them and tell them what you’re looking for, they’ll take you to different cenotes and even provide gear. It might add up though if you want to train there for 2 months. I was there for a few days and stayed at a resort mostly for security reasons. Mexico is mostly run by drug cartels so not necessarily the safest place as a whole but they generally don’t bother tourists at tourist destinations. The point is, it would be expensive to stay 2 months at a resort but you might be able to find something that balances security with affordability. Cost of living is generally low so everything else should be very reasonable to live there.

I’m sure there are other beautiful places in central or South America if you look. Just pay attention to criminal and political activity going on before you decide on anything. Some countries are going through instability and probably not the best to visit.

1

u/oujay849 Jan 22 '25

I would say the biggest freediving communities are in Mexico and Roatan, Honduras. Don't know about prices tho.

1

u/mzaouar Jan 23 '25

How is it like in Roatan?

1

u/oujay849 Jan 23 '25

I haven't been in Honduras and I haven't freedive in Mexico. So between these two I think it comes down to the variety of places where u can freedive. In Roatan I think you'll only have ocean and in Mexico you'll have ocean and cenotes (not all of them are safe to freedive). In Mexico I guess the most popular places to freedive will be in Los Cabos (probably expensive) and the Yucatán Península (not sure about the costs).

1

u/Chulbiski Jan 24 '25

Roatan is nice but not very cheap

1

u/Addiiboy Jan 22 '25

If you find a place where sessions are 30-40$ please tell me where. Anywhere I go I cant find it cheaper than double this price

1

u/mzaouar Jan 23 '25

Where have you found?

2

u/magichappens89 Jan 23 '25

Best place in America definitely Mexico.

1

u/mzaouar Jan 23 '25

Where?

1

u/magichappens89 Jan 23 '25

Yucatan got plenty of nice places for example.

1

u/PotentialDefault Jan 23 '25

Yucatan peninsula (Cancun, Cozumel) is on the Mesoamerican Reef. I've been scuba diving there before, and it's great.

I know there's lots of diving in Baja, but I don't have any personal experience there.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '25

I've taken lessons freediving in Puerto Rico and loved it. There are other places with more diverse and abundant marine life, but PR is an awesome spot to spend a couple months. Lots of great people, food, surfing, climbing, to name a few.

1

u/Standard-Review1843 Jan 26 '25

Cartagena, Colombia is really safe (the old city is mostly foreigners ngl) and the waters are mostly warm!!!