The course covers:

• Intermediate safety and buddy procedures

• Proper ventilation for gas saturation and volume

• Equipment for intermediate freediving

• Psychological aspects of freediving

• Detailed physics and physiology of freediving

• Confined-water static apnea development

• Open-water constant ballast development

• Techniques for intermediate freediving

See the Medical Form.

Is this course for you?

• You have basic experience in scuba, freediving, and/or spearfishing

• You’re interested in freediving in the 25-40 m/80-132 ft range

• You’d like to learn to hold your breath for over three minutes

• You’re not sure of extended freediving physiology or the physics that affect you during your freedives and want to know the details

• You want to learn how to safely deep dive

Skills

If students 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 Intermediate Freediver certification, students must be able to:

• Prepare gear without the instructor's help

• Perform a 3:00 static breath hold in the pool with opportunity to increase to maximum capacity

• Dive with proper technique to at least 25 m/82 ft constant weight and free immersion using the PFI method of entrance and exit with proper recovery breathing

Classroom

• Attend all classroom teaching sessions

• Stretching and equalizing workshops

• CO2 and 02 workshops

• Complete all quizzes and exams

• Complete pre learning quiz before class

• Pass final with 80 percent or more

Watermanship and stamina

• Prepare freediving equipment without instructor assistance

• Proper entry procedure (select best local option)

• 200-meter continuous swim without fins, snorkel, wetsuit, or flotation

• Minimum of ten-minute tread/float

Confined Water

• Minimum of four consecutive static breath-holds with no hypoxic symptoms achieving at least 3 minutes

• Recovery breathing and coaching

• Manage LMCs and blackouts both on the surface and underwater

• Finding a blacked-out diver on surface

• Six negative-pressure dives

Open water

• Recovery breathing and coaching for buddy

• Eight constant ballast dives reaching a minimum 25 m/82 ft using proper entrance and exit

• Emergency rescue and problem management (rescue scenarios), surface and underwater including LMC, blackout at surface and underwater

• Full mask flood and ascent from 10 m/33 ft

• Eight free immersion dives to at least 25 m/82 ft

• Weight belt removal and ascent from 10 m/33 ft

Format/duration

• Classroom sessions

• Two confined-water sessions

• Three open-water sessions

Prerequisites

• Freediver course or equivalent experience with freediving, spearfishing, or scuba diving (general comfort in the water)

• Basic freediving experience and can achieve depths anywhere from 6-30 m/20-99 ft with relative comfort

• You have a breath-hold time of around one minute or longer

• You can make a constant ballast (unassisted freedive) of 6 m/20 ft

• Good health and fitness (see Medical Form)

• 12 years of age with parent/guardian permission

Required equipment

• Mask, snorkel, fins

• Full wetsuit (3 mm for warm water locations; 5-7 mm for cold water locations)

• Rubber weight belt and a small number of weights

• Timing device or freediving computer

Cost

• Personalized instruction from highly trained freediving specialists, including national and world record holders, or their trainers

• A student-to-instructor ratio of no more than six:one

• Student manual or eLearning

• Classroom sessions with detailed knowledge development taught by freediving experts

• Confined water sessions

• Open water sessions

• Hands-on experience with specialty freediving equipment

• Certification card

Registration and payment details

By registering for a course, you will receive:

• Student Starter Kit

• Access to online portal including training tips, email access, and private PFI diving community

• Communication with staff/instructor to answer questions ahead of time

• Access to e-learning/pre-learning course materials

Refund and Cancellation PolicyTerms of Use Privacy Policy