YOUR SAILING AND SNORKELING ADVENTURE BEGINS HERE! BOOK YOUR TOUR TODAY!

Big Island Snorkling Tours Blog

Before The Snorkel, There was Free Diving

Woman swimming underwater

Join us on the Hoku Nui for the best snorkeling experience in Hawaii.  Our great crew will sail you out to Kealakekua Bay and you can hop into the pristine waters at the most famous snorkeling spot near the Captain Cook Monument.  Our crew will ensure you have a great experience whether you are a first time snorkeler or a seasoned pro.

Before the snorkel, there was free diving which was the old-fashioned way to swim underwater while holding your breath.  Free diving was practiced in ancient cultures to gather food, or hunt for certain items such as pearls and sponges.  Sponges were popular for bathing in early Greece and were mentioned by Homer and Plato.

According to Wikipedia, some activities that surround free-diving are traditional fishing including spearfishing, competitive and non-competitive free-diving, synchronized swimming, free-diving photography, underwater rugby and football.

There are also competitive free diving where participants attempt great depths or compete for length of time or distance on a single breath.  In the early days there were no mechanical devices that enabled people to stay underwater for long periods of time.

Free divers face the same problems with decompression that today’s scuba divers face such as blacking out or decompression sickness.

Pearl divers in the Phillipines often harvested large pearls from the Sulu Archipelago and large pearls were consulted property of the Sultan and selling them would be considered illegal and punishable by death during those early times.  In Japan, the ama divers started diving for pearls 2,000 years ago.

Free divers were also used to salvage whatever they could retrieve from shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. During times of war, free divers would hunt sea beds where underwater barricades could be placed to defend against enemy ships.

Luckily today, we have more devices for everyone to enjoy the magnificent sea life under the pristine waters of the Kona Coast.

 

 

Share:

More Posts

Manago Hotel & Restaurant

The Manago Hotel & Restaurant

Only In Your State on the oldest restaurant in Hawaii, which is in the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook. After your snorkel tour at the

Captain Cook Monument is famous and is located in Kealakekua Bay a famous snorkeling spot on the Big Island.

Ka’awaloa South Kona, Hawaii

Ka’awaloa was once a thriving town on the north side of Kealakekua Bay. During the last part of the 18th century, Hawaiian Royalty resided there

People on the Hoku Nui sailing to snorkel spot

Famous Kealakekua Bay

Hop on the Hoku Nui for a snorkel tour and feel the spirit of aloha with our amazing crew. As a visitor to the Island

Guests on the Hoku Nui

Morning Snorkel Tour

Join us on the luxurious Hoku Nui and sail down the beautiful Kona Coast to Kealakekua Bay to snorkel under the Captain Cook Monument.  The