Why Apnea Life

“From infancy most of us feel a magical attraction to water. For 9 months before we are born, we live in water, like the sea many believe is the origin of all life. The sea many of us spend their lives trying to get back to.“

(“Ocean Men: extreme dive”, directed by Bob Talbot, 2001)

BENEFITS OF FREEDIVING

We’ve been in apnea since the beginning of our life. For the first 9 months, in the amniotic fluid of the womb. That’s how we live – carefree, with no stress, no worries – before coming in contact with our human experience.

An experience which is lived and perceived differently, depending on the eyes with which we look at a constantly changing and evolving world, where we are subject to rapid variations of stimuli, social and technological changes. In this society, launched towards an unstoppable trajectory with a dizzying rhythm, we can’t find the time to listen to ourselves, to deeply understand our body, our mind and our emotions. We lose contact with nature, but also with ourselves.

In a world that moves very quickly, one of the best ways to recover this lost contact is to go back to our roots: freediving is pure well-being. You won’t find it at extreme depths, you’ll live it simply by staying in the water. Of course, holding your breath is a completely unnatural action, but getting to live this dimension enables you to achieve a good relationship with yourself and to get to know a part of yourself better.

But how?

At the core of all this is breathing. If you breathe well, you can control your heartbeat and your mind. Breathing is at the heart of emotional balance, allowing you to meet positive energy to challenge yourself and your fears. Breathing consciously is the first step to make to listen to our own body again, staying focused on ourselves and our emotions, helping us understand and face what stresses us and allowing us to figure out what makes us happy. Breathing in the right way and being in apnea increase the degree of concentration on our actions, enabling us to re-discover the strength of our mind, which is able to overcome any obstacle that life presents.

Apnea – intended as a sports discipline based on breathing and relaxing – teaches you to get to know yourself deeply and can change your life. It’s not about being superheroes. It’s “only” about being conscious of your own talents. And to put them into practice in that magical element called water.

ABOUT US

Apnea Life Tenerife was born from the decision of Antonio – its founder – to leave his job and life in Italy to move to Tenerife in 2016. Antonio has always been passionate about water sports, especially surf and freediving, a discipline he’s been practicing since 2012 with constancy and dedication. Antonio decided that he wanted to stop feeling like “a fish out of water” and started to work as a surf instructor at a surf camp. In January 2018, his path led him to create his surf school: Surf Life Tenerife, its name representing a way of living life.

Alongside his career path, Antonio has never stopped practicing freediving, together with his friend Alejandro Hidalgo, at the Apnea Academy West Europe center run by former Spanish champion Paco Gonzalez Castro. In October 2018, Antonio and Alejandro took part in the Apnea Academy International instructor course held by Umberto Pelizzari in Tenerife, obtaining the freediving instructor certification. At last, one year after the rapid development of his surf school, Antonio decided to lay the foundations for his new freediving project, called Apnea Life Tenerife. Apnea Life Tenerife is based on the same values as the surf school: the love and well-being which we feel when in contact with water and the will to transmit them to the rest of the world. Alejandro decided to develop his Freedive Culture as well, establishing a collaboration with Antonio aimed at providing exceptional training.

Apnea Life Tenerife is supported by the surf school at Playa de Las Américas and offers tailored freediving courses for each level:

– Freediving theory and physiology lessons –

– Relaxing and breathing sessions –

– Training sessions at the swimming pool of top-class centers in Tenerife –

– Training sessions by the sea, at the fantastic bay of La Caleta and other locations with greater depths (boats will be used if necessary) –

Freediving theory and physiology lessons
–
Relaxing and breathing sessions
–
Training sessions at the swimming pool of top-class centers in Tenerife
–
Training sessions by the sea, at the fantastic bay of La Caleta and other locations with greater depths (boats will be used if necessary)

Each course will be organised according to the teaching method of Apnea Academy in order to encourage students to become more aware of their opportunities to enjoy their contact with water and with themselves.

Apnea Life Tenerife believes that freediving is not about numbers, but about emotions.

We will never care about how long you stay underwater, or how many meters deep your best performance will be. Our only concern is for you to make the most of your experience in the water through greater awareness.

By doing so, you will break any records you thought you could achieve by holding your breath – without you even noticing.

But this is our little secret, don’t tell anyone!

Apnea Life Tenerife believes that freediving is not about numbers, but about emotions.
We will never care about how long you stay underwater, or how many meters deep your best performance will be. Our only concern is for you to make the most of your experience in the water through greater awareness..

By doing so, you will break any records you thought you could achieve by holding your breath – without you even noticing.
But this is our little secret, don’t tell anyone!

WHY FREEDIVING IN TENERIFE?

The South West of Tenerife is a small paradise where eternal spring reigns, with daily temperatures that in the colder months of January and February never go down 20-22°C and settle between 25-26°C for the rest of the year. Moreover, the limpid, crystal-clear water of the bay of La Caleta and Costa Adeje, and the good water temperature allow the practice of freediving all year long.

In the bay of La Caleta, ideal for beginners to practice at sea, you gradually find a seabed with a depth of 10-12 meters. A few minutes walking from the bay, you can find one of the top-class sports center Tenerife Top Training, where your training sessions with Apnea Life will take place. A few minutes driving other sea spots with greater depths (25-30 meters) are available, for the practice of more advanced freedivers.

Tenerife is an island surrounded by a wonderful ocean, inhabited by an intense marine life which is able to convey unique emotions. The sea area between the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera is a special area of conservation, inhabited by a wide range of marine mammals, from the common dolphin to the colossal blue whale. During the last Apnea Academy instructor course in October 2019, the group of candidate instructors were lucky enough to see a shoal of dolphins get close to the training ropes underwater. Instinctively, Antonio dived underwater and swam towards them, seeking for interaction. Among the twelve specimens, a couple of them approached a few meters – intrigued – and then went back to follow the trajectory of the group. They are amazing animals, able to transmit a feeling of blissful lightness through their singing and the elegance of their movements.

For us at Apnea Life Tenerife, watching a dolphin swim is a bit like seeing a reflection of that desire for freedom and love which brings our work to life. Love for life, love for ourselves and for other people, love for nature. Love for the sea. And for the sea within us.