I'm rethinking mine. A buddy wants to go climb Mt Kilimanjaro; but I may opt for a dive trip to the Galapagos instead. Those are currently at the top of my list - but we will see how health, finances and schedule hold up. Congrats of the sailfish - looks like a blast!

@redneckroy : Oh yes. Galapagos is a puddle jump from where we fished in the Pacific. I'd love to free dive there. My Granddaughter and I are talking about getting our SCUBA certs. I'm a little apprehensive as I prefer to free dive while snorkeling. What are your thoughts on SCUBA vs free (other than the obvious depth and amount of time you can stay submerged)? And thank you - it was heavenly

@TheCatsMeow : I wish I had gotten scuba certified years earlier. It really opens a whole new world - on top of eliminating physical exertion from the equation. most of the free diving I have done was still impacted by surf conditions with the surge impacting my mobility and ability to play much - and the deeper free diving - by my ability to hold my breathe - 20-30 ft is my limit pretty much.Scuba really is worth it - but is another expensive hobby....

Thank you for your input. I believe it's never too late to learn something. Anything reallyI was in the hill country recently for a couple of weeks and was going to go by the blue hole but at the time it was closed. Now they only take reservations. It is in Wimberley. Have you been there?

@TheCatsMeow : Depending on your level of ability for freediving, it is leaps of an improvement over SCUBA. Do you use freediving fins, or scuba/snorkling fins? The freediving fins make an incredible difference but require space. Scuba fins are good for shallow waters and small or crowded areas.

There is a significant difference in the fins.
[img]https://readtiger.com/img/wkp/en/Collu_merkez_(14).jpg[/img]

@TheCatsMeow : I have not.diverdude is a professional diver - can answer much more in depth than I can. I just make a couple trips for resort diving every year.

The experience of recreational diving is to visualize the world subsea up close. So the quality seeing is EVERYTHING!
Do not get a large mask and do not get one with clear silicone. You want the lens to be as close to your eyeball as possible without light penetrating in to reflect from different angles. This gives you the cleanest image with the best view while utilizing as little air as possible to compensate pressure. You notice the pressure difference immediately but it requires almost no air to compensate the volume.This mask is perfect! You may opt for a slightly larger lens area but in general this is plenty.
This lens may be a bit to small.
And this is just all around horrible. This is what new people use because they haven't learned to control their breathing or control air compensation.

Also notice that the silicone is clear. Along with the added window. This may seem like a cool gimmick and that is exactly what it is, a gimmick. Don't buy these. The light will reflect and refract and overwhelm your vision. It's a bad experience all around, not to mention the air volume required to compensate. VERY low profile with a large lens and dark silicone. That is what you want. Freediving mask! Unless it's a commercial dive requiring a dive hat I will only use freediving masks. I can share a plethora of equipment suggestions, tricks, etc. I won't charge anything either. I love to hear that people have great experiences. I quit counting my dives somewhere above 600 about 10 years ago. If you have any questions or would just like recommendations or to know some tips to improve your experience I am (no joke) the 2nd best person that I have ever meat for diving instruction. And I have met a LOT. But everyone brings information to the table. Some of my experiences and advice don't work for some people. You'll love it. If you don't then your not with the right crowd of people or you haven't gotten over a hump. I have taken someone that openly admitted to having a phobia of the water and had him SCUBA diving with me in my pool within hours. Seriously anything, just ask.
I'm an open book when it comes to recreational diving. I no longer have a valid instructor license but I can teach you some tricks to make you look like a professional diving almost immediately.

@redneckroy : But your experiences are informational as well.

@DiverDude : yeah - I like a little more bottom time than free diving tolerates - so I suppose to each - their own. Allows me to be pretty lazy as well. interesting comments on the mask - of course I still use one similar to the bottom picture in your graphics, but I probably wouldn't use a strap - except people that dive around me get excited when they think my mask is falling off.... One of my favorite masks was an old rental mask that I "Kept" - all black rubber except the actual lenses.

@redneckroy : If you'd like to increase your bottom time, I can help you with that, if you're interested.
The guy that taught me to freedive learned from Tanya Streeter.
I'm obviously supposed to charge for teaching, but I'm passed that. I just love doing it, and I love seeing other people getting involved in it safely.
Anything that I can do to motivate or encourage, and especially to improve other peoples experiences. I want to see everyone love diving!

@redneckroy : How about a photo of your favorite mask? I'm interested to see it.

@DiverDude : always.....I've found the things that seem to work for me, but always interested in improving the experience.

It would be cool to get a small group of individuals together that would like to learn to freedive. Breathing techniques also improves SCUBA bottom time and the overall diving experience.
You don't even have to dive to benefit from it.

@DiverDude : yep - breathing, relaxing and comfort. I didn't realize how much extra air you went through if you were chilly (even slightly) until a year or two ago. I usually don't have to surface due to air limitations - normally people are waiting on us. I know my breath control still sucks, but always working and improving. Also know it is all relative - pretty easy to be the first off the boat and the last back on - when you are resort diving.I'm at the office today - I will work on a picture of that mask later. Now I want one of the masks you recommended. Still am not too happy with my face comfort.

@DiverDude : I will have to get my daughter to read this, she just did her certification in Austin this weekend, at least almost, on the last five she got a bad headache and had to get out of the water. She was having trouble breathing in the beginning, but it is getting better. I am sure practice will help. Jealous of her certification, I am not a good swimmer so I will not even try.