2021 has been a wonderful year in the underwater world. We’ve had so many adventures that it’s hard to put it all in one blog post, so here is a little summary of the top moments of 2021 with Freefall Academy. Let’s recap!

Gray Whales

It all started with Gray Whale Season in january-march. We went north of La Paz on day trips to do whale watching. Gray Whales are the friendliest whales in the world. On calm days, you can see dozens of them in the shallow water lagoons of Baja Califonia. Spy hopping, breaching, head slapping, lob tailing and slapping, and pectoral slapping! Some days the friedly whales came right to the boat and allowed us to give them a good old cratch!

MOBULAS

Then, in March-May we had the Mobula Ray season! This is one of my favorite times of year because we are often surprised by unexpected visitors. On 2021 mobula season we also watched or swam with: turtles, sharks, dolphins, yellowtail fish and orcas! The mobulas didn’t disappoint, they showed as all their best acrobatic tricks from topside. And underwater they gracefully danced all around us. Imagine freediving and being surrounded by mobulas everywhere you can look. A truly magical experiece.

SAILED ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN

At the end of May, Freefall Academy team took a different path and sailed across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia! The navigation took 18 days from Cabo to Nuku Hiva Island. It was a crew of three: Tyler, Oli and Valentina. The trip was far from easy, we started off by running from two tropical cyclones, then hit inconsistent winds. However, we had glorious days, breathtaking night watches looking at the universe, pods of dolphins riding the waves and uncountable learning lessons. Just this section deserves a blog post itself. You can read a little more about it here if you’re interested.

HUMPBACK WHALE

June to beginning of september we were in French Polynesia. We had many underwater adventures exploring the crystal clear waters of FP. However my favorite one was an encounter with a humpback whale calf, mom and escort. We were on the boat waiting for them to come up to breath, and suddenly the calf came right under the boat. I was in the water next to the boat, it showed us its belly and flipped its tail out of the water. The calf was looking at me and playing with the air in her jaw, making a lot of noice! Then mom and escort came up to breathe, they all showed me some dance moves and then went back down.

orcas!

September to december it’s my favorite season to teach freediving courses and trainings because of the environmental conditions. The 31 st of October I got an Orca report from the captain, so the 1st of nov we went out on a mission. We were lucky to be the first boat who found them. A split pod of 5 orcas, including one mom and calf. We decided to give some space to mom and baby, and we stayed with a very curious young male that kept coming so close to us! A day I will never forget.

CABO PULMO: SHARKS, JACKS AND HUGE GROUPER!

October to beginning of december is the best time of year to go to Cabo Pulmo. This specific day we had an incredible day freediving with the famous school of jacks, as well as freediving with about 6 bull sharks. We were surrounded by a huge school of yellow snapper, then a bull shark gracefully came very close to us to check us out. But the cherry on top was being eye to eye with a Pacific Goliath Grouper that looked as big as the bull sharks! An overfished species that is rare to see, but is now more common to watch in Cabo Pulmo due to its protection as an MPA. They’re usually shy in scuba, but when freediving they come very close!

MARLINS, DOLPHINS AND MORE

Marlin season this year was outstanding! Not only we saw dozens of baitballs being hunted by marlins, but so much more! Mahi mahi, sea lions and wahoo joining the hunt. Superpod of thousands of common dolphins. Bryde’s whale eating the baitballs. Humpack whales dancing with dolphins. 100+ marlins on the same baitball. One of my favorite days out at sea guiding with Nakawe Project, we found a pod of hundreds of Pacific White Sided Dolphins. We spent hours having intimate interactions with them. As we freedived down, the dolphins would follow us and look at us in the eye. They were so curious! I have to admit I had tears of joy. For marlin expeditions, email us.

But what is the common characteristic of every single adventure? We are surrounded by people that love the ocean, like you! Our passion is to share these kind of adventures with people, and make them fall in love with the Ocean. Join us this 2022 and create unforgettable memories with us.

Thank you from Freefall Academy team! We wish you a wonderful 2022 full of magical underwater adventures.

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