Most nights at the pool, freedivers show up in a wetsuit, a low-volume mask, and a pair of long fins. This Halloween, the Just Diving (全民环潜) community showed up as zombie nurses, witches, gothic brides, a Qing-dynasty hopping vampire, a caped superhero, and one walking scratch-off lottery ticket. Then they took the costumes underwater.
DIVEVOLK joined the party with SeaTouch 4 Max Plus underwater phone housings among the prizes handed out on the night. Here is how the evening looked, on deck and below the surface.
The Just Diving crew lined up poolside before the underwater shoot.
On Deck: A Costume Parade Before the First Breath-Hold
The dry side of the event was pure Halloween. Guests arrived in full make-up: fake blood, painted tears, horns, veils, and enough black tulle to fill a ballroom. The costume list ran from Western horror to Chinese folklore:
- A zombie nurse whose uniform was stitched with doll faces, complete with an oversized prop syringe
- A Qing-dynasty jiangshi, the hopping vampire of Chinese ghost stories, with a yellow paper talisman in hand
- Gothic brides and black swans in corsets, lace, and floor-length trains
- A giant lottery ticket, printed with roses and coin symbols and promising a top prize, worn with a beer bottle balanced on a headband
- Comic-book villains, a caped superhero, a witch with a light-up hat, a karate gi, and a basketball jersey or two
Gothic black swan meets Qing-dynasty jiangshi at the photo wall.
A hallway wall, decorated with a giant spider, became the guest book: everyone signed it with a marker on the way through. Group photos followed, with the whole cast crowded together under the hallway lights before heading to the water.
Below the Surface: Costumes Meet Breath-Hold Diving
The pool itself was dressed for the occasion. Underwater sets turned the deep end into a stage: a golden birdcage, a carved white arch, a tiled-roof pavilion with a balcony rail, and a classical colonnade with a marble-style statue. Freedivers took turns dropping down on a single breath, settling into the set, and holding a pose for the cameras.
Doing this in costume is harder than it looks. Fabric that hangs nicely on land floats, drags, and wraps around legs underwater. Long hair and veils drift across the mask. Every pose has to be found while staying relaxed, neutral, and aware of how much breath is left. The results were worth it: tulle skirts fanned out like jellyfish, capes hovered, and a Joker-and-Harley pair struck poses in front of the white arch.
Photographer TangTang captured some of the night's most striking frames, including the zombie nurse in the birdcage set and the same costume gliding just above the pool floor, with a mirror image in the surface above.
Photo: TangTang
Photo: TangTang
SeaTouch Prizes on the Night
Between the costume parade and the pool session, prizes changed hands, and several guests walked away with a boxed DIVEVOLK SeaTouch 4 Max Plus. For a community that spends its evenings underwater, a full-touchscreen phone housing is a practical prize: it lets you shoot photos and video, switch lenses, and review footage on your own phone through the housing membrane, with no mechanical buttons to learn.
If you are new to touchscreen housings, our comparison of button vs. touchscreen underwater phone housings explains the difference. And for divers who want the newest generation, the SeaTouch 6 Pro brings a sixth-generation touch membrane and a 60-meter rating.
Planning Your Own Costume Freedive
Nights like this one only work when the fun sits on top of solid freediving habits. If your club or pool wants to run a costume session, these are the basics to keep in place:
- Never breath-hold alone. Every diver needs a trained buddy watching from the surface, one up and one down. Costumes and cameras pull attention toward the pose and away from the clock, which is exactly when problems start. DAN's guide to shallow-water blackout explains why the risk exists even in a pool.
- Keep poses short and relaxed. A costume shoot is not a static apnea attempt. Hold a pose for a few seconds, surface, recover, and go again. DAN's article on finding your freediving limits is a good refresher.
- Check the costume for snags. Trim or secure loose straps, ribbons, and long trains, and keep anything away from the mask and nose pocket. Test every costume in shallow water before taking it to the deep end.
- Ask about make-up and props. Fake blood, face paint, and glitter can stain pool surfaces or affect water quality. Clear them with the pool operator first and follow the CDC's healthy swimming guidance, like showering before you get in.
- Give the camera a plan. Shoot wide and close, frame from slightly below to catch reflections on the surface, and use video for poses that only last a second. A Bluetooth external shutter helps the photographer fire without changing grip.
After a pool session, rinse your housing in fresh water to remove chlorine, then soak it before drying. Our housing cleaning steps cover the routine.
Why Community Nights Matter
Freediving is often described as a solo sport, but nights like this show the opposite. A club that dresses up together, signs the same wall, and takes turns being each other's safety buddy is a club people keep coming back to. That is the same spirit DIVEVOLK has seen at larger events like the Greater Bay Area Freediving Series, and in stories like one year of freediving adventures with DIVEVOLK.
Thanks to the Just Diving team and every costumed freediver who made this Halloween one to remember. Running a club of your own? Our guide on how to start a dive club has ideas for building events like this one.
