I Went Free Diving Among Seals and Shipwrecks Off South Africa's Coast-Here's What It Was Like

"A frisky Cape fur seal swam up to investigate. She wove in and out of the golden-hued kelp, curiously side-eyeing me as she popped up to the surface, then darted right up to me. I saw a flash of teeth, but she wasn't snarling; she was blowing bubbles in my face. I watched her play for a while before the frigid temperature drove me back to our boat."

"Free diving, which involves diving on a single breath without the aid of scuba equipment, has boomed in the last decade. A recent convert, I have found it to be both more relaxing (no heavy, cumbersome tanks needed) and more connected to nature. So I was excited to sign up for a new tour from Ocean Travel, a free-diving outfit in Cape Town."

"I joined Ocean Travel's five-day trip last February, with four other guests, who included a British model and a film producer from Maine. All levels were welcome; one guest had never snorkeled or free dived before, while two were experts. We all stayed at a five-bedroom beachfront house in Kommetjie, a sleepy surf town on the Cape Peninsula about an hour from central Cape Town, where I live."

Crystal-clear Cape Town waters registered 52 degrees as a diver free-dived into kelp forests, encountering a playful Cape fur seal that blew bubbles and investigated closely. Free diving, performed on a single breath without scuba gear, has rapidly grown over the last decade and offers a more relaxed, nature-connected experience. Ocean Travel runs a five-day free-diving tour in Cape Town founded by Hanli Prinsloo and Peter Marshall. The tour welcomed mixed skill levels and accommodated five guests in a five-bedroom beachfront house in Kommetjie. Activities combined guided dives, foraging and sampling of mussels and sea urchins, and cultural learning about early humans at the Cape of Good Hope.

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