Freediving is one of the four things we run, alongside fishing and spearfishing charters, whale watching sightseeing and kayaking. This page is about freediving on its own terms. Breath hold diving because you want to be underwater, with nothing to shoot and nothing to bring home. If what you actually want is to hunt, we have two pages for that and this is not one of them. Most of the practical specifics here are still to be confirmed with the captain, and they are marked "to confirm" rather than guessed at.
Take the gun out of freediving and what is left is the part most divers end up caring about anyway. You breathe up on the surface, you drop, you spend a while looking at things, and you come back. A session starts shallow, working on relaxation, on a duck dive that does not thrash, and on equalising early. From there it is finning along a reef edge or hanging on a line, with long rests between dives. It is slower than people expect. Whether we run this as a course or a guided excursion is still being confirmed, as are duration, departure time, price, group size and any depth limit.
We start with breathing because breathing is the sport. Breath hold has far less to do with lung size than with how calm you are. A relaxed diver burns oxygen slowly and an anxious one burns it fast, and that gap is wider than any difference in fitness. So you learn an unhurried breathe up, without hyperventilating. Hyperventilating feels like it helps, but it does not add oxygen, it strips out carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is what tells you to breathe, so all you have done is remove the warning and leave the problem. You also learn recovery breaths and to hold onto something on the surface afterwards instead of swimming off. That is the floor everything else sits on.
Nobody dives alone, including us. Divers work in pairs and only one of a pair is under at a time. The one on the surface watches the whole dive, meets the diver partway up, stays with them while they breathe, and does not start their own dive until the other person is clearly fine. It also means small groups work better, because every diver needs somebody whose only job is watching them.
Shallow water blackout is what hurts freedivers. A diver runs low on oxygen and, on the way up, usually in the last few metres where the pressure drops away, loses consciousness. It is quiet. There is no thrashing and no signal, and it happens to fit, experienced people. The cause is nearly always going deeper or longer than you should because you wanted a number. Depth ambition is the hazard, not the water. We work well inside your limit rather than at it, and a diver who pushes past what they agreed is done for the day. If you came to chase a personal best, you have the wrong operator.
Most people's first ceiling is their ears, not their lungs. Going down you add air to your middle ear and sinuses to keep up with the pressure, and unlike scuba you do it from a shrinking supply. Equalise early, before you feel anything, and keep doing it. If it will not go, come up a little and try again, and if it still will not go, that dive is over. Forcing it is how people damage an ear. Do not dive with a cold, and do not take a decongestant so you can dive anyway, because it can wear off at depth.
We are based in El Pescadero, near Todos Santos on the Pacific side, and we run trips off both coasts, so conditions depend on where the day goes. The Pacific side is open ocean fed by cold upwelling, and long groundswell arrives from far off storms, so the sea can be moving under a windless sky. The Cortez side is warmer, more enclosed and generally flatter. Temperature swings a long way across the year, cool in winter and warm in late summer, and the Pacific runs colder on the same day. Visibility changes hour to hour with wind and plankton, and nobody can promise you a clear day. Mornings are usually calmest, which is why diving here starts early.
It suits people comfortable in open water who want to get better at breath hold and are happy doing very little slowly. Snorkellers tired of being stuck at the surface are the most common good fit. It is not the place to learn to swim or to get over a fear of the sea. Do not book it if you have a heart or lung condition, a current ear or sinus problem, if you are pregnant, or for the day you fly home. Never freedive after scuba diving. Minimum age is still being confirmed.
Freediving and spearfishing are not the same activity and we would rather you booked the right one. If your plan is to take fish, our beginner spearfishing and guided freedive spearfishing pages both exist and cover it properly. This one is for going down because you want to be down there.
Peak months in lagoon. Billfish are released; most of the rest goes in the box.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
