The interesting rooms in
Brody House were once
artists’ studios
*FOR T&CS SEE P147
Sharm El Sheikh
need to know
(
40
)
Percentage of the Red Sea that’s less than
100m deep
(
22
)
Degrees in Celsius of the average daily
temperature in January
(
2020
)
Year by which the resort aims to be
carbon neutral
easyJet
flies to Sharm El Sheikh from four
destinations. See our insider guide on
page 141. Book online at easyJet.com
easyJet Holidays
Seven nights all-inclusive at the four-star
Falcon Naama Star, departing London
Luton on 27 February, costs from £272pp.
easyJet.com/holidays*
FOUR SEASONS RESORT
A five-star Red Sea diving resort with four
pools, five restaurants, a spa and rooms
with sea views. Book at hotels.easyJet.com
The idea is to pre-stretch the body before the day’s
diving, flexing the chest muscles and strengthening
the diaphragm. Some top freedivers are so yogically
enhanced, they can shove a fist up inside their ribcage.
It looks horrible, but must be an impressive party trick.
After dinner each night, we practise Yoga Nidra
under the stars. A hypnotic half-hour of lying on our
backs on deck, while Farrell’s soothing voice lulls us into
a sleepy semi-coma, is much more my cup of tea.
It works too. Preparing for a dive, or ‘breathing up’ in
choppy water, I find it hard to relax. But after a couple of
Yoga Nidra sessions, it’s much easier to float calmly and
literally let it all wash over me.
Calmness is everything in freediving. The more
relaxed you remain at depth, the lower your heartbeat
and the less oxygen your body burns. Easier said than
done when the pressure of water above you has squeezed
your lungs to the size of oranges and every cell in your
body is screaming hysterically for air.
But by the time the
Mistral
returns to port in Sharm,
most of us have exceeded our expectations. I’ve dived
to a personal-best depth of 20m, while others have
achieved more than 30m or even 40m. We have seen
sharks, turtles and barracuda, swum through
spectacular shoals of fish and danced with dolphins on a
single breath, and we’ve all had the time of our lives. “It’s
an extreme sport that involves no adrenalin,” says
35-year-old environmental consultant Heather Coutts as
we prepare to depart the boat for the final time. “You’re
really testing your limits every time you freedive, yet it’s
the absolute opposite of most extreme sports. That’s what
I find fascinating.”
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F R E E D I V I N G
S H A R M E L S H E I K H
