Frequently asked questions about freediving

While all three activities involve the ocean and the breath, they are all somehow unique in their own way yet can be very complimentary to each other.

Snorkeling provides you with an unlimited air supply to explore the ocean from the surface while breathing through a snorkel. Scuba diving involves diving with specific equipment that allows you to breathe underwater for a certain amount of time. 

Freediving is diving on a breath-hold and your underwater experience will be defined mostly by how long you can hold your breath for and a few other factors.

The minimum age requirement to enroll in the PADI freediver course, the first level of the PADI freediving programme is 15 years old. The PADI Basic freediver course which is a subset of the freediver course requires a minimum age of 12 years old. There is no maximum age limit as long as a person possesses a good level of fitness.

The only physical requirement needed to enroll in a PADI  freediving course is to be able to swim without time limit 200m non stop with any stroke or swim 300m with mask, snorkel and fins. Swimming is a basic skill that will ensure your safety once in water and will make you feel more comfortable during the course.  

The biggest difficulty that most person face during a freediving course is ear equalization and any problem connected with ears or nasal sinuses may affect your progress or even make diving impossible. For women being pregnant might be an issue for deep diving.

You will have to fill a medical form to see if you do not have any health condition that is not safe for freediving. It’s recommended to consult with your physician before enrolling for a freediving course.

Since the ability to hold the breath for a long time has more to do with a person’s tolerance to high level carbon dioxide, you can still learn how to freedive even if you smoke. Of course if you want to progress and dive deeper, some changes in your lifestyle are recommended. There are freedivers who smoke and freedive easily to 20m and others who gave up smoking once they got hooked on freediving.

For the PADI Basic Freediver course, to be certified you will be required to perform a 90 seconds static apnea and a 25m dynamic apnea.

For the PADI Freediver course, the requirements are the same as above including a dive to 10m deep.

Unfortunately due to each individual’s abilities, I cannot guarantee that you will complete all the performance requirements during a PADI freediver course.

Most persons do not have a problem to complete them in two days. However few people, usually because of ear equalization face some difficulties to complete them in time. The good news is that this is trainable but it can take more than two days to be done.

If you cannot complete one or more of the requirements in time, you will receive a referral form and will have one year to complete the skills to get certified. This can be done anywhere in the world with any PADI freediving instructor.

All necessary equipment will be provided for the duration of the course at no extra fee. You get a 10% discount if you have your own full set of equipment of mask, snorkel, fins and wetsuit.

Usually when people ask me this question, they are comparing what I am charging for a private freediving teaching to what other instructors are charging for a group teaching.

If you do a quick browsing on the internet you will see that my prices are actually if not the cheapest, among the cheapest worldwide for a private freediving course with an experienced instructor.

Actually I am so confident of that fact that, if you were able to find another freediving instructor of the same caliber as myself meaning having 10 years+ of teaching experience, with an understanding of breathing techniques gained not just from a freediving perspective but also from a yogic and wellness background, and who is charging less than I do, I will gladly match the price.

Apart from that and without wanting to cause prejudice to other freediving instructors, I am confident that the value that I bring in my teachings and the quality of my pedagogy are simply incomparable to others.

While it takes only a couple of weeks to become a freediving instructor with any reputed freediving organization, it took me years to acquire the knowledge and polish my pedagogy so that I can help my students reach their goals in less time that I did.

Simply put, you get what you pay for.

The price for the PADI courses and training sessions as listed on the website covers all the expenses. There won’t be any bad surprise.