Your adventure begins sooner than you think: register for a PFI Freediver Course. Diving Sports in Vancouver offer Freediving courses and Speafishing charters on Vancouver Island. Course Description

This program teaches fundamental freediving techniques. It allows you to comfortably enjoy the aquatic world to depths of up to 20 m/66 ft. You will also practice static apnea. This helps develop your breath-holding abilities and in-water comfort.

Your PFA Freediver course will cover fundamental topics such as:

Essential safety procedures for breath-holding at the Freediver level

Proper breathing techniques for freediving and snorkeling

Confined water skill development

Open water skill development

Equalization for depth diving

Equipment for freediving and snorkeling

The fundamental physics and physiology of freediving; understand what happens to your body at depth

Is this course for you?

You’re interested in learning the fundamental techniques of freediving

You’re new to freediving

You typically dive in the shallows

You want to dive safely

You want to hold your breath longer

You want to dive deeper

Skills

If a student cannot do this, they may receive a certificate reflecting what they can accomplish. Some students take the course for the experience and not the certification. These students often participate in just the confined-water sessions. We are happy to accommodate students who wish to do so; however, we need to know this ahead of time.

To earn PFI Freediver certification, students must be able to:

Demonstrate adequate safe buddy skills, showing how to perform a rescue to PFI standards

Perform a minimum 1:30 static breath hold in the pool with the opportunity to increase to maximum capacity

Dive using proper technique to at least 10 m/33 ft with constant weight and free immersion using the PFI method of entrance and exit with proper recovery breathing

Classroom

Complete the manual or eLearning Program

Pass final with 80 percent or more

Stretching and equalizing workshops

CO2 and O2 workshops

Watermanship and stamina

Prepare freediving equipment without instructor assistance

Proper entry procedure (select best local option)

200 m/655 ft continuous swim without fins, snorkel, wetsuit, or flotation

Minimum of ten-minute tread/float

25 m/82 ft no-mask snorkel swim without surfacing

Snorkel blast clearing

Recovery breathing and coaching

Minimum of four consecutive static breath-holds with no hypoxic symptoms achieving at least 1:30

Recovery breathing and coaching for buddy

Open water

Recovery breathing and coaching (hook breathing)

Six target constant ballast dives reaching minimum 10 m/33 et

Four free immersion dives to a minimum depth of 10 m/33 ft

Emergency rescue and problem management (rescue scenarios)

Managing an LMC and blackout on surface and an underwater blackout

Self-emergency skills such as a mask flood and ascent, and weight belt

Prerequisites

Swimming or snorkeling experience

Good health and fitness

10 years of age with parent/guardian permission

PFI-Medical-Form

Diving-Sports-Waiver

Commitment to Safety and Enjoyment

At Diving Sports we believe in making sure all our students receive the highest quality instruction and customer service. We are in the business of training, mentoring, and supporting students to become safe, skillful and confident divers. We begin by scheduling our courses with the number of classes it typically takes most students to master the knowledge and skills, then adapt and tailor our schedule to fit our individual student’s needs. Our instructors are open and honest about your progress during each part of the course. Students may need to schedule additional pool or ocean training dives prior to certification. This ensures our students complete their courses with all the skills and knowledge they need to be safe and enjoy their future dives and courses. When you take a course with Diving Sports, you are welcomed into a passionate and inclusive community of divers eager to support your diving journey well beyond the duration of your class.