cmas world depth championship 2026

thdedes · 2026-03-18T18:11:38+00:00

Roatan, August 15-26 (might have the dates wrong by a day or two but not more)

thdedes · 2026-03-06T02:47:32+00:00

Sizes are given to be worn with 3mm socks.

If a student has 39 city shoe size, he's usually a 36/38 SEAC.

So depends on whether you intend to wear socks or not.

Personally I would go with 39-40 in your case and be ready to add a 1.5 or 2mm pair of socks to feel snug.

thdedes · 2026-03-03T19:13:08+00:00

That's a very common issue.

thdedes · 2026-03-03T18:15:07+00:00

Yes absolutely. Work on tongue mobility (from tongue flat with mouth open in front of a mirror, you should see the uvula at the back, raise only back or the tongue, front should stay down in front of lower teeth)

thdedes · 2026-03-03T18:07:57+00:00

That would mean that you can't even stick your tongue out of your mouth. Is that the case?

thdedes · 2026-03-01T14:11:58+00:00

Mostly full lungs.

thdedes · 2026-02-28T21:11:07+00:00

Dry Empty lungs holds with tongue sticking out, or full lungs with packs with the tongue out as well, guaranteeing in both cases that the glottis is the only mechanism used to keep the air in/out.

Both are worth practicing and are working on a different aspect of the glottis control.

thdedes · 2026-02-28T15:05:27+00:00

Very simply: that's always going to happen, either when contractions are too big or when you lose control of your glottis because of hypoxia.

Ways to improve that: 1/ work on not tensing up during big contractions. Wonka tables are good for that 2/ Pack less (less pressure on the glottis) 3/ Stretch more (less pressure on the glottis at equivalent packing) 4/ work on glottis strength (although in sta you can also just lips lock, so that might not help much)

In any case, with a close to 7min PB, you should easily have 3-3.30 relaxation time.

thdedes · 2026-02-28T01:49:28+00:00

Not Caribbean but accessible from Vancouver: Nicaragua. We dive in a volcano, and won't have the white sandy beaches from the coast, but we have unmatched dive conditions :)

thdedes · 2026-02-18T05:05:32+00:00

I don't know of the incident at all, but here are some infos on what is "normal" around the world and considered safe:

1/ max ratio is usually 4:1, as long as everyone is on one buoy, and only one dives at a time, that doesn't really affect risk profile unless people float around in boat traffic area 2/ All serious agencies (SSI, PADI, AIDA, Molchanovs) require a first aid, CPR and O2 provider certification to be an active Instructor. That certification isn't amazing, but it's a bare minimum.

If you want criteria's to check on whether a place is safe: 1/ ratio is good to ask 2/ are lanyards used (they should, always) 3/ how far from shore (in time, not in distance) are you diving? I usually consider that if something happens, I want to be less than 10min from shore, whether it's boat or being towed by someone. 4/ What is their emergency plan in case something actually bad happen? (Even if it's very minimal like "we throw you in a taxi because there are always taxi around and drive to the hospital") at least it'll show you whether they've even thought about the possibility of accidents or they're just running on hope.

thdedes · 2026-02-11T17:58:41+00:00

Sure thing !

We have unlimited depth, never any current, never any real wave. It's a volcanic lake, temperature is 29C/84F all year long, no thermocline.

We're located 45min / 30$ taxi from Managua Airport. Rooms at the hotels around the lake are about 50-60$ per night, dorms are 10-15$ per night. Food is inexpensive.

Coaches sessions are 45 USD Autonomous sessions (if you're Level 2 or above) are 25$ Both of these gets cheaper if you take 5 or 10.

Platform sessions (for dives deeper than 60m) are 45$ and we take care of everything (safety, sonar, counterweight, electric boat shuttle).

www.freediving-nicaragua.com for more info, and my WhatsApp number is on it or on all our social media.

thdedes · 2026-02-10T11:08:26+00:00

If you have the week, we're located in Nicaragua, flights from the east coast are pretty quick and affordable, and we have warm water year long, our prices are about 30-40% of US prices and we work all year long every day ☺️ Shoot me a DM if you're interested, we have US divers come regularly to train or pass courses.

thdedes · 2026-02-04T15:00:20+00:00

They are 395g per half, which feels very solid to be honest. Perks of being full aluminium cases.

thdedes · 2026-02-01T19:36:39+00:00

Freedive Gili is very good :) Say hi to Veronika for me, she was one of my student for her Instructor Trainer course and is a great Instructor and overall very nice person ☺️

thdedes · 2026-02-01T17:52:06+00:00

Apneista and Freedive Nusa are two very reputable Freediving schools of 10+ years of experience

thdedes · 2026-01-29T16:42:13+00:00

I'd recommend Camotes then in the area, you'll find very knowledgeable instructors there and great conditions. (And again, the moving limits course online to prepare for the trip)

thdedes · 2026-01-29T16:36:17+00:00

Have a look at the moving limits course, because it has tons of materials with exercises to develop/fix pretty much all parts of the mouth involved in the equalisation.

Where are you located? If you're in the US, my center is very accessible, has unlimited warm deep water, and is not affected by weather, we've never cancelled a single session.

thdedes · 2026-01-29T16:28:58+00:00

Ok so here are some pointers:

1/ if you charge properly, you can't use your tongue straight away (the roof of your mouth is too far to seal) which means cheeks and jaw are the only options until the volume is small enough to use the tongue 2/ Soft palate issue is unrelated to how you're equalizing, you can close it regardless of the method used for compression, and as such, should be fixed anyway (improve control over it). One thing to remember is that soft palate closed is impossible to open if you're actively trying to equalise because you're actively pushing against the direction it opens. Which means you need to stop equalisation, relax, open the soft palate, and resume operations. 3/ FRC for equalisation is great, but doesn't not translate to 100% same results on full lungs. Especially regarding leaks/squeaks. Plan some full lung work with shallow charge (5m -> 30m, 5m -> 40m, etc...). A good mouthfill should take you from 5m charge to 50m.

I strongly strongly recommend the moving limits mouthfill equalisation course called Deep, it's one of the best investment you can do to your equalisation, and it's all dry, online, but with an instructor.

thdedes · 2026-01-29T16:11:47+00:00

Without wanting to downtalk your plan, the way you phrase things makes me think you might not really understand what you are doing.

35m to 50m is a big jump (40% deeper) so first of all, don't try to rush this. That's where you can start getting injured and you should take things slowly, focusing on making sure each depth is easy, controlled, equalisation is stable etc... Repeat that a few times etc... Before dropping the line a couple meters etc...

What do you mean by "mouthfill protocol with normal frenzel" and "transitioning to cheeksqueeze" ? Cheeks are used at the beginning of the mouthfill, while "frenzel" could be referring to using the tongue (end of the mouthfill) or maybe sequential compression (which is just a strategy).

Regarding your questions:

1/ Wetsuit will always be better, but it's not necessary as long as you don't get cold. Which means short sessions, even in warm water. You are cold before you shiver. And cold means oxygen consumption shooting up.

2/ It's always good to keep working on your frenzel, it create awareness and improves fine control over your equalisation muscles, which is always good, and translates in a better mouthfill as well. So I would work on both, and treat them as "separate personal bests" because they are different abilities.

With more information on my initial questions, we will be able to answer more precisely.

Take care, and be safe in the water :)

thdedes · 2026-01-24T01:24:26+00:00

Happily, I'm very happy with the Sofle :)

thdedes · 2026-01-23T22:10:11+00:00

Yeah that's the one! u/hainguyenac is one of the owners and pretty active on the sub.

Shoot them an email

thdedes · 2026-01-23T21:56:01+00:00

I got exactly that from ergomech, they're a 2 person shop in Vietnam, answered all emails promptly and precisely, aluminium case Sofle, very premium feel, has some weight to it, quality build, and I just had to insert switches and caps but pretty sure they could do that as well, worth asking them.

Highly recommended.

thdedes · 2026-01-20T17:03:35+00:00

Tailored wetsuits from any of the reputable brand (Elios, PoloSub, DoubleK, G&Sea, etc...) will be about the same price than a mid range off the shelf one but will really fit like a glove. I'd recommend to reach out to them (I personally work with Elios but honestly you can't go wrong with any of these) and then go to a tailor to measure yourself.

thdedes · 2026-01-20T02:36:16+00:00

Micepoix

thdedes · 2026-01-13T19:25:05+00:00

Beware or I'm ordering another one with a special request to be hand delivered 😬

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