Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer and explorer, once observed that ‘from birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.'
This sentiment is most certainly shared by Victoria’s Frederic Lapierre and Laurie Feist. The pair co-owns East 2 West Freediving Inc., a shop that specializes in helping folks slip the constraints of land and sink beneath the waves.
After Lapierre migrated here from the Maritimes and Feist from Scotland, the couple fell in love with the spectacular ocean life off Vancouver Island’s coastline. While both are fully certified and experienced scuba divers, it was freediving that captured their hearts.
“We go out every Sunday and I can tell you that we have the best freediving in B.C. There is so much life here,” Lapierre said. “We may not have the coral reefs, but we have incredible kelp forests – they are just amazing.”
Freediving doesn’t require a ton of heavy equipment: divers simply hold their breath and sink beneath the waves for as long as they comfortably can. This might be the most liberating aspect of the activity for the thousands of participants on Vancouver Island.
“It means that we can walk in and dive in some areas that scuba divers just haven’t seen. They’d have to take a boat in to get there,” Lapierre said.
Freediving was never on Feist’s radar when she came to Canada.
“I wanted to go scuba diving, but I didn’t have my dry suit certificate,” she said. “Now, freediving is almost exclusively what I do. It’s quieter, freeing, and the range of life just below the surface is breathtaking.”
Feist also took her 65-year-old mother freediving while she was visiting.
“We went out twice and each time we saw a giant Pacific octopus. It was incredible,” she said.
The couple’s love for freediving is also shared by Sara Ellison, an astronomy professor at the University of Victoria.
“I had no idea what was growing just below the surface,” Ellison said.
When Ellison first tried freediving, she was surprised by two things – how cold the water was, and the amount of teeming life just below the surface. Later, Ellison wrote a book on freediving off Vancouver Island.
Although freediving does not require certifications, Feist recommends that those considering the activity for the first time take advantage of the free online safety courses the pair offers on their shop’s website.
“Free diving is nowhere near as hazardous as scuba diving, and there’s no worry about things such as decompression sickness, but it’s a good idea to get some training before you venture out,” said Lapierre. “We offer that information on our website and we’re always ready to offer advice here in the shop.”
Their shop also offers a full range of equipment for free diving, including the spear guns and the funky pole spears famously misused by contestants on the popular TV reality show, Survivor. A full selection can be found at east2westfreediving.ca.
“I can guarantee you that anyone who tries free diving runs the risk of being hooked,” said Feist. “It’s a whole new world out there – a world of beauty and freedom.”
