Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer and explorer, once remarked: “From birth, man carries gravity on his shoulders. He is chained to the earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

This view is undoubtedly shared by Frederic Lapierre and Laurie Feist of Victoria, co-owners of East 2 West Freediving Inc., a business that specializes in helping people break free from the confines of dry land and dive beneath the waves.

After Lapierre immigrated from the Maritimes and Feist from Scotland, the couple fell in love with the spectacular marine life off the coast of Vancouver Island. Although both are fully certified and experienced divers, freediving captured their hearts.

“We go out every Sunday and I can tell you we have the best freediving in BC. There is so much life here,” said Lapierre. “We may not have coral reefs, but we have incredible kelp forests – they are just incredible.”

Freediving doesn’t require tons of equipment: divers simply hold their breath and sink beneath the water’s surface for as long as they’re comfortable. For the thousands of participants on Vancouver Island, this is perhaps the most liberating aspect of the activity.

“This means we can walk in and dive into some areas that recreational divers have not seen before. They would have to take a boat to get there,” said Lapierre.

Freediving was never on Feist’s radar when she came to Canada.

“I wanted to dive but didn’t have a drysuit certification,” she said. “Now I do freediving almost exclusively. It’s calmer, freer and the variety of life just below the surface is breathtaking.”

During her visit, Feist also took her 65-year-old mother freediving.

“We went out twice and saw a giant Pacific octopus each time. It was incredible,” she said.

The couple’s love of freediving is also shared by Sara Ellison, an astronomy professor at the University of Victoria.

“I had no idea what was growing just beneath the surface,” Ellison said.

When Ellison first tried freediving, she was surprised by two things – how cold the water was and how much life was teeming just beneath the surface. Ellison later wrote a book about freediving off Vancouver Island.

Although freediving doesn’t require certifications, Feist recommends that anyone considering the activity for the first time take advantage of the free online safety courses the couple offers on their shop’s website.

“Freediving is nowhere near as dangerous as scuba diving and you don’t have to worry about things like decompression sickness, but it’s a good idea to get a little training in before you head out,” said Lapierre. “We offer this information on our website and are always available here in the store to offer advice and support.”

Their shop also offers a full range of freediving equipment, including spearguns and the wacky pole spears abused by contestants on the popular reality show Survivor. For a full selection, visit east2westfreediving.ca.

“I can guarantee you that anyone who tries freediving is at risk of becoming addicted,” Feist said. “There’s a whole new world out there – a world of beauty and freedom.”