In January, 2016, John received instruction in free diving in Bali at Apnea Bali. After a few days there, he had learned to relax enough to hold his breath for 4 minutes in a swimming pool and to descent 20 meters without compressed air.

During his 2016-2017 winter break, he continued his training on San Cristóbal Island in the Galapagos – described in more detail here.

After a week of kayaking in Ecuador on mountainous tributaries of the Amazon, he went on to Cuba in January of 2017. After 4 days in Havana, he traveled by taxi to Playa Girón on the east side of the Bay of Pigs. His free diving experiences in this region are described here. He found this to be a great place to free dive from shore (or scuba dive, or snorkel on the surface), or in limestone sink-holes just in-land from the shore.

In December of 2017, he did more free diving near Puerto Lopez in the southwest of Ecuador. He connected with the Dive Shop of Ray Aguila, traveling by boat from the beach in Ayangue to Isolote El Pelado. A few meters off shore from this island,  there is a submerged statue of Christ, the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus de la Aguas. It is about 4 meters tall and its base is about 12 meters below the surface – easily accessed by free diving.