MACTAN, CEBU—As the Department of Tourism (DOT) positions the country as the Freediving Capital of Asia, famous freediver and Philippine Freediving Ambassador Guillaume Néry will be at the forefront of the charge.
“I feel very proud and very honored to be the ambassador, but it’s also a responsibility. The Philippines is full of treasures, full of incredible marine life and that’s what makes a place attractive for free divers,” said Néry during the Philippine Freediving Expedition press conference last Wednesday in Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.
Néry, arguably the most popular freediver at present, cited the country’s huge potential to be the top destination in the region due to its amicable weather conditions providing warm waters all year round with minimal wind and current, close proximity deep waters, and its people.
“And what makes a place incredible for freediving is also the people. Unique people to support this activity and here you have more and more freediving centers opening all over the Philippines,” added Néry, who teaches and conducts training at the Centre International de Plongee en Apnee, the main freediving club in France.
Philippine-based freediving center with branches in Moalboal, Cebu, Coron and El Nido, Palawan, Siargao, Surigao del Norte, and Hong Kong, Freediving Planet is one of the pioneer freediving centers in the country and is DOT’s partner in arranging the monthlong expedition of Néry.
The expedition that took off with a three-day freediving workshop participated in by locals and foreigners, press conference, yoga session with Néry’s wife Julie Gautier, screening of five Les Films Englouttis films, and meet-and-greet at Mactan, Cebu, will also explore emerging freediving destinations around the country.
Nery will be touring the Barracuda and Kayangan Lake of Coron alongside its famous shipwreck dive sites and Cathedral Cave, conducting marine conservation activities with Sulubaaï Environment Foundation and discovery mermaiding with Odessa Mermaid Academy in El Nido. Another three-day workshop is slated in Moalboal from August 4 to 6 with the final leg at Davao for a freediving interaction with the Badjaos, infamous sea gypsies of the country.
The DOT recognizes the potential for the watersport activity to attract more tourists in the county targeting 10 percent of European divers engaging in freediving as a recreational sport.
“Our National Tourism Development Plan identifies diving as one of our primary tourism products. We feel as we advance we have to come up with specific segments, like advance and beginner dive, underwater macro photography and now freediving, which we can establish and be competitive in the global market,” said DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Development Benito Bengzon Jr., who is also a certified open-water diver.
The DOT and Néry will also explore the possibility of staging a freediving world championship in the next years in its continuing bid to establish the country as a top freediving destination.
“I’m very proud to be the ambassador for Philippine freediving because I really believe that the Philippines can become a central place for the development of freediving, not only in Asia but all over the world,” Néry claimed.