Nov 6, 20225 min read

Deep Sensations Freediving - Tasmania Retreat

Updated: Mar 12, 2023

Curtis Tredway from Deep Sensations Freediving Exploring Tasmania

(Image credits: Curtis Tredway, captured by @brodiewmedia)

At the conclusion of the retreat, the weary Deep Sensations Freediving Team are sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight, exhausted, but sharing heaps of stoke from our freediving expedition of Tasmania.

Tasmania isn't on most freedivers maps.

This is why we made the decision to head there, the most southern part of Australia, to scout out unknown dive sites, explore the countryside, and determine whether Tassy will make a good destination for a Deep Sensations Freediving Retreat.

We didn't plan much for our trip, nor did we know anything about where we were going, the one thing we did know was that we wanted to dive the Giant Kelp Forests.

Giant Kelp Forests - A Rare Underwater Jungle

Sonny, Owner of Freedive Tasmania picked us up, off the shore at Sloping Main Beach – directly in front of our accommodation. Accompanied by man’s best friend, his number one companion, Pumba.

His 30-year-old inflatable vessel, the charming, ‘Red Tongue’, was a former tender for operations in Antarctica. Now, it was helping the Deep Sensations Team conduct our own exploratory adventures.

(Image credit: Pumba, keeping watch from, 'Red Tongue', captured by: @brodiewmedia)

After a quick 20 minute boat ride, we had arrived at our destination, Sloping Main Island.

We were about to do it.

We were about to dive the Giant Kelp Forests of Tasmania.

The Giant Kelp Forests are a declining ecosystem - in the last 10 years, 95% of the kelp forests have been wiped out due to warming waters. Now, there are very few places in the world where you can dive amongst them.

The kelp forests in Tassy are one of the most unique diving experiences, and if they aren't already - you MUST put them on your diving bucket list. The dense kelp grows up to 20m high, and often peaks around October/November each year.

So we had lucked out and accidently timed our trip perfectly.

At the surface, the kelp is nearly impossible to swim through because it is so dense, that you can almost crawl along the surface of the water. Dive down 3 meters, and the canopy clears and the forest opens up.

Diving through the underwater forest is such a breathtaking and surreal experience.

As we were diving our way through this ethereal jungle, Sonny called us over to show us what he had found, and it was an extremely rare site.

We got to watch a Southern Rock Lobster moulting. Very few people have seen this happen, yet alone in the wild, AND Deep Sensation’s Owner, Curtis Tredway, captured the entire experience on his Go Pro Hero 11.

Below, you will be able to watch the full video of the Southern Rock Lobster Moulting.

(Image Credits: Southern Rock Lobster moulting, captured by Curtis Tredway)

Through all of this epic experience, there was nothing we could fault, except for one thing…

The ocean’s taxman came to collect its payment. The price, Curtis’s favourite freediving mask, his Omer Wolf.

Coming up from a dive, trying to help Brodie Whalan get 'the shot', whilst I performed a Dynamic No Fins dive, my snorkel got snagged in the kelp. As I yanked it free, the mask plummeted into the green, leafy abyss.

On the flip side, the kelp forest was home to a marine animal that we weren't expecting to see.

Freediving With Seals - An Unexpected Surprise

(Image credits: An Australian Fur Seal, captured by @brodiewmedia)

Sloping Main Island is home to some of Tasmania's best kelp forest, as well as a small seal colony.

When our boat arrived, the young seal pups and the larger adults showed no interest in us. The seal pups watched us curiously as we explored the kelp forest surrounding their little island. After seeing how much fun we were having in the water, the pups quickly decided to join us.

This isn’t the first time I have dived with seals before. We get them on the South Coast of NSW, especially South of Wollongong.

The nature of these pups was very different. They were extremely friendly and curious. It was quite the spectacle watching the pups dart through the underwater forest, doing their iconic dashes and spins.

The entire 2 hours of our dive, they swam in close proximity to us and didn’t mind our presence in the slightest.

Adventuring Tasmania

(Image credits: Cape Pillar, captured by @brodiewmedia)

Deep Sensations Freediving isn’t just about the freediving. We are an advocate for pursuing deeper and more meaningful experiences. These ‘deeper sensations; are in reference to having a deeper connection with yourself, connecting with a like-minded community, and connecting with nature.

The Deep Sensations Tasmania Retreat, blends everything we are working towards, and as with all of our retreats – it is crucial that we find locations that facilitate this.

For our entire time in Tasmania, we stayed at a beautiful beachfront Air Bnb. Our place was less than 50m to the beach.

Around it was nothing but a few beach shacks, a white sand beach, and protected waters.

We managed to do Wim Hof style and take a cool, icy plunge in the 12’ waters, in nothing but boardshorts, we cooked fresh lobster and abalone that we had caught on our dives, had a beautiful backyard bonfire overlooking the stunning beach, and we were in close proximity to all of the dive sites that we wanted to explore.

When we weren’t diving, and drinking Up and Go’s, we were exploring the incredible landscapes of Tasmania. From the shear cliffs and blowhole at EagleNeck, to exploring Remarkable Cave, scavenging through the rock platforms for mussels, going on a 3hour hike amongst Tasmania’s most rugged terrain and finding other incredible sea caves and a blow hole.

It’s safe to say we ticked just about every box off the checklist for an epic freediving/adventure retreat.

Special Thanks To Freedive Tasmania

(Image credits: Sonny from Freedive Tasmania, captured by @brodiewmedia)

I want to give a big thank you to Sonny, from Freedive Tasmania. After connecting on Instagram, Sonny selflessly offered to take us out on his boat.

Sonny was an exceptional guide. He took us out on his boat, drove 30 minutes just to drop off some weights for us, shared the best dive spots for us to explore on our own, he even managed to collect some fresh abalone and delicious sea plants – which we enjoyed over a family lunch.

Thanks for your generosity and time, mate. We are looking forward to sharing a freshly caught lunch with you again soon.

For anyone wanting to explore Tasmania or learn to freedive over there – you definitely have to hit him up.

Coming Soon - Two Big Announcements

Deep Sensations Freediving: Tasmania Retreat 2023

We are officially opening our Tasmania Retreat to the public. We will be taking 6 qualified divers from the Deep Sensations Freediving community on this epic adventure.

If you are interested, let us know be emailing, curtis@deepsensationsfreediving.com

Deep Sensation Freediving's First Vlog

After a week of some of our best diving experiences ever, we have an abundance of epic footage to share from this trip. So we will be working hard to get this edited and posted on Youtube within the next week.