Move over, yoga. Freediving is attracting a new audience of wellness seekers, including a growing number of women, who are turning to the experience as a tool for managing stress and increasing self-awareness. Sarah Reid takes a deep breath and dives in.
“Drop your shoulders, relax your neck, and enjoy the blue. You’ve got sooo much time.”
I replay freediving instructor Olivia ‘Liv’ Rose’s words in my head like a mantra as I take a deep breath, calmly remove my snorkel from my mouth, and equalize my ears before finning headfirst into Papua New Guinea’s crystalline Bismarck Sea.
With only a hazy view of the submerged World War II aircraft visible from the surface, it’s surreal to see the remarkably well-preserved Japanese Aichi E13A1 ‘Jake’ reconnaissance seaplane come into focus as I dive down to admire the soft corals and tropical fish that have colonized the cockpit, about 39 feet (12 meters) underwater.
Suspended in peaceful silence with the 85-year-old wreck resting on the seabed of the Southwestern Pacific, unencumbered by bulky scuba gear, I feel like I’ve unlocked a new world.
If hypnotic footage of freedivers testing the limits of human biology has been creeping onto your social feeds, you’re not alone. A significant rise in freediving—diving on a single breath—content on social media, along with books such as James Nestor’s Deep (2015) and documentaries like Netflix’s The Deepest Breath (2023) have all contributed to the rising popularity of this niche sport, which had over seven million participants worldwide in 2025, up from 4.6 million in 2021.
“When I started working in emergency, someone told me, ‘When things speed up, slow down’. And now I apply that to freediving.”
- Georgie Davidson, freediving instructor and emergency nurse
Freediving may seem like an extreme sport, but unlike other extreme sports defined by adrenaline, freediving requires you to be as calm as possible to perform. And therein lies its appeal for many. As much a wellness practice as a sport, freediving is increasingly becoming known as a tool for self-awareness and personal growth.
As someone who often feels trapped in fight-or-flight mode, I’m curious if freediving can help me to train my mind to stay calm under pressure in any setting. And I’m all for active learning-based trips—so when an opportunity to join a freediving retreat in Papua New Guinea’s remote New Ireland province came my way, I took the plunge.
Our training with Liv For The Sea’s 30-something Australian co-owners and freediving instructors Georgie Davidson and Liv begins with land-based theory and breathwork at Nusa Island Retreat, our laidback base for the week. The tropical-island setting near Kavieng, the little-visited province’s low-rise capital on the main island’s northern tip, is so idyllic, I feel like we’re in on one of travel’s best-kept secrets.
Lying on yoga mats in a thatched loft decorated with carved wooden masks, we learn to recognize the sensations of the body’s natural urge to breathe when we hold our breath. Liv explains the urge is caused by an accumulation of carbon dioxide rather than a lack of oxygen, and guides us to respond with calmness instead of panic—effectively retraining our emotional reactivity to stressful situations.
Liv, who’s also a scuba instructor and ocean conservation advocate with a background in environmental science and marine tourism, and Georgie, a scuba divemaster and specialist emergency nurse, share nuggets of wisdom as we learn to find comfort in our discomfort. “When I started working in emergency, someone told me, ‘When things speed up, slow down’. And now I apply that to freediving,” Georgie tells me. It’s a good motto for any stressful scenario.
We’re also introduced to an evolutionary survival mechanism called the mammalian dive reflex, a series of physiological reactions triggered by underwater submersion that help to preserve oxygen consumption. I surrender to the science during our static breath-hold training in a turquoise lagoon and blitz the 90-second course requirement—much to my surprise.
Out on the line (a vertical weighted rope hung from a surface buoy) I hit a roadblock: I can’t equalize, which is essential for balancing pressure as you descend. I’m used to equalizing during a scuba dive, but the different technique required for freediving (known as the Frenzel technique) isn’t working for me—my Eustachian tubes, which help balance air pressure, are not playing ball. While not uncommon for beginner freedivers, my Frenzel fail triggers a wave of emotions.
Bobbing in the blue, blinking away tears of frustration as my peers progress to the 39-foot (12-meter) depth required to complete Wave 1 certification (the first level of freediving in the Molchanovs system, one of the four major freediving certification agencies), I focus on my breathing to help relax my nervous system. “Freediving teaches you levels of patience you never thought you had,” Georgie says knowingly. I would come to know this, in my own time.
Like scuba diving, modern freediving has traditionally been male-dominated, but thanks to female pioneers like the late Natalia Molchanova—who earned all of her 42 world records after discovering the sport at 40—that’s changing.
Other beginners also face psychological hurdles during our training. One newly minted mermaid, aged 60, begins the course with a fear of putting her head underwater. Another rookie admits he has never really felt comfortable in the ocean.
Also on my expedition are several more experienced female freedivers who’ve fallen in love with the sport over the years as a healthy low-impact escape from the demands of their busy lives. “Freediving changed my life,” says Belle Guaran, who recently ditched their corporate career with a goal to become the world’s first deaf Molchanovs freediving instructor. “It has helped me to let go of a lot of things I didn’t realize I was holding onto,” she says of her newfound passion.
Humans have been freediving for millennia, and women are particularly good at it. Take the Ama of Japan, who have been freediving for pearls and seafood for over 2,000 years, and the Haenyeo ‘sea women’ of Korea, who possess a genetic physiological advantage for freediving. With a history of abalone diving stretching back some 40,000 years, the Palawa women of Lutruwita/Tasmania could have been the world’s first freedivers.
Like scuba diving, modern freediving has traditionally been male-dominated, but thanks to female pioneers like the late Natalia Molchanova—who earned all of her 42 world records after discovering the sport at 40 and developed the foundational methodology for the Molchanovs training program launched by her son Alexey after her death—that’s changing.
Women now represent 33 percent of participants in global freediving competitions, and female freediver certifications are increasing along with women-owned freediving schools like Liv For The Sea, whose client base is almost exclusively female. Female freedivers are also driving ocean conservation via social and beyond, with South African champion Hanli Prinsloo’s I Am Water Foundation fostering conservation by connecting underprivileged youth to the ocean.
Something finally clicks on our final day in the water and I complete the final certification requirements (including vital safety training, such as always freediving with a buddy) with time left to practice my new skill at the seaplane wreck, one of several in Kavieng Harbor. I’d worked hard on mastering the Frenzel technique in an incredibly supportive environment—but I suspect my success has just as much to do with letting go of my equalization anxiety. Consciously relaxing helps, but trusting my body and breath is key.
“I’m glad I became a freediving instructor because it brings so much joy and awe to people to discover what they can do,” Liv tells us as we celebrate our collective wins over a local mud crab dinner (a New Ireland delicacy) in one of Nusa Island Retreat’s overwater dining huts. She’s not wrong.
With no aspirations to take my own freediving further than fancy snorkeling, I’m thrilled to wrap the retreat with a new way to enjoy the ocean gently, a better relationship with my Eustachian tubes, and some new coping strategies to try as I navigate my busy life above the water.
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The writer traveled with support from Liv For The Sea, Nusa Island Retreat and Air Niugini.
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Sarah Reid is an award-winning travel writer, editor and author with a passion for positive-impact adventures and exploring underrated destinations. Her book credits include The Sustainable Travel Handbook, published by Lonely Planet.
