Freediving in Northern Norway's Paradise

Arrival and fish soup

The course starts with Kjetil meeting you at Helligvær express-ferry pier when you arrive from Bodø on the 21:00 or 17:00 boat depending on your travel plan, and driving you up to the house. Warm fish soup is waiting at Mariehuset while Kjetil tells the story of the island and Mariehuset, followed by a good night's sleep before the course begins after breakfast on Friday morning.

Theory, gear and the first dive

After breakfast on Friday we have 3 hours of theory and a gear fitting at the school, a few minutes' walk away. During the theory break we have a packed lunch, head across the road to the friendliest, best-stocked Coop in Norway for snacks and drinks for the weekend if you'd like. All food and non-alcoholic drinks are always included in the course. After the final theory session we take the gear down to the changing rooms and fit it to you. Then comes the course's first dive, a short drive to the north end of the island, to a sheltered, shallow natural harbour with clear water and a sandy bottom for practical training and exercises. We'll go through the basics: safety, breathing, equalisation in practice, buddy rescue, communication in the water, and how to freedive safely in pairs.

After the exercises and the dive we change and take a hot shower at the school, then head home, light the fireplace, and cook dinner together - perhaps with a few freshly caught scallops in the pan as a starter. The sun stays up far into the late hours up here, and you'll have plenty of time in the evenings, together or on your own. If the weather's good, we walk to the top of the island in the evening with tea and dessert, and take in the panorama of the Lofoten wall and the midnight sun. If it's rough, we head into a lavvo, light the stove, and enjoy a homemade dessert and good drinks while the weather rolls past outside.

Theory, open water, underwater hunting and foraging.

Saturday brings porridge and freshly baked bread for breakfast. With tea and coffee on the kettle before the final short theory session at the school, where we'll go through underwater hunting and foraging, among other things. We change at the school and take the boat out to a few amazing dive sites where you go in pairs and get the chance to try underwater hunting with harpoon, scallop foraging, or simply enjoy the incredible nature above and below the surface. We practise safe, responsible underwater hunting and foraging, with respect for the regulations, minimum sizes, local conditions and the life of the sea, so everyone can keep enjoying nature here in the future. Packed lunch, coffee, hot chocolate, tea and snacks come along on the boat.

If the fishing luck doesn't show up underwater, anyone who wants to can borrow a boat, life jackets, a map and fishing gear after dinner to see if the fish bite on a hook under the midnight sun. We also have kayaks and bikes for free exploration. After dinner we gather for a quiz from Friday's and Saturday's material. The winner takes home a signed copy of the book on underwater hunting, "Hold Pusten!".

The final dive and journey home

If you'd rather take a long, slow morning to yourself, or join us for the final dive, it's entirely up to you and how you feel that day. Either way we plan a calm breakfast and take the boat to a beautiful beach a few minutes away, free to dive and explore the area underwater, before we head back to the school, changed and ready by 15:00 for the journey home at 17:10. If you have an earlier flight, bus or train from Bodø, you can also take the first express boat from Helligvær to Bodø at 13:50.