The purpose of the PADI Freediver program is to develop the skills and knowledge of freediving in students. Compared with casual skin diving and snorkeling, for the purposes of this program, “freediving” is breathhold diving that involves deeper depths, longer duration, specialized equipment and more extensive physical/mental skills.
Arrival day/ Day before course starts
1700-1800: Orientation, sign up paperwork and schedules discussed.
1000-1300: Knowledge development session
1400-1600: Confined water session in the pool
0900-1000: Confined water session 2 in the pool.
1200-1630: Open water training Freedives
At the end of this session you will now be a fully qualified PADI freediver certified to freedive to a maximum of 16m with a freediving buddy.
Lets take a look at each step in closer detail:
Meet your instructor for 5pm. You will complete signup paperwork and outline your schedule for the coming days. Plus an opportunity to ask any other questions that you may have regarding your freediving experience here at Simple Life Freediving.
We will meet at 10am. In this morning’s session your instructor will give you an academic presentation and you will complete a quick-quiz to make sure you understand the content. We’ll develop your knowledge of freediving prior to getting you into the water in the afternoon. Content of this development session will include safe freediving practises, freediving equipment, effects of pressure, safe buddy system procedures and correct surface protocol plus more.
That afternoon we’ll meet at 2pm. This will be the first of 2 in-water freediving confined sessions. During this session all skills will be performed in the swimming pool against the backdrop of the ocean. Our beachfront resort has a custom-built swimming pool ideal for our freediving training and underwater skills, which will allow you to familiarize yourself with the freediving equipment and help you to gain confidence in a sheltered environment. We will start in shallow water, approx. 1m in depth. Your instructor will demonstrate skills, which you will then demonstrate and repeat back, helping to gain confidence and remain comfortable.
The following day you will meet your instructor at 9am, and head straight back to the swimming pool to resume your confined training. This session usually takes approximately 1 hour, before heading out into the ocean on the afternoon boat for your open water freediving session. We’ll recap some of the previous days skills, plus have the opportunity to brush up any weak areas prior to heading out to the ocean.
The meeting time for this afternoon’s session will be 12pm. This time we will head out on the dive boat and complete the open water segments of the freediver course.
Depth range: 0-16metres/0-53 feet
Open Water depth for passing the freediver programme 10-16 metres/33-53 feet
The following skills are to be performed in your Open Water Session:
1. Correct weighting for open water freediving
2. Execute one or more free immersion dives including:
3. Correctly execute one or more constant weight freedives to 10m/30 ft. or less, including:
4. As a buddy, correctly supervise a freediver who is making a constant weight freedive, including watching the diver for problems during the dive and for a reasonable interval after surfacing.
5. Demonstrate the rescue of a diver simulating Loss of Motor Control at the surface.
6. Correctly execute one or more constant weight freedives to at least 10metres/30 feet with a maximum depth of 16 meters/55 feet, including:
7. As a buddy, correctly supervise a freediver who is making a constant weight freedive, including:
8. Demonstrate the rescue of a diver who simulates blacking out at 5 meters/15 feet.
Once all segments of the PADI freediver programme and performance requirements have been completed, you will be certified as a PADI Freediver with a maximum depth limit of 16m.
Consider this as just the beginning of your exploration to the underwater world and the marvels it holds. Why not wet your thirst and continue your adventure with the PADI Advanced Freediver today!
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Advice on travel to Koh Tao from Bangkok, Koh Samui, Chumphon, Suratthani or the Andaman coast.
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Christopher, Lebanon
Did our open water course with John and it was a breeze, highly recommend
Christine, USA
I have the diving bug !! We were so lucky to have both of these experts teach our group
Jacelyn, Singapore
We definitely have no regret choosing simple life as the starting point of our dive journey. Kudos to all the simple life crew
Kelly, England
Jo was our instructor & was absolutely brilliant! We loved our time with simple life
Joey, USA
I honestly couldn't have had a better experience, in fact none of us could! Changed our lives forever
