★ AIDA 2 (Open Water Freediver)   ★ The AIDA 2 Open Water freediver course is the follow-on course from our AIDA 1 Introduction to Freediving course. If you’re not comfortable using fins, a mask and a snorkel, then we ask that you complete the AIDA 1 Introduction to Freediving course first, which is designed to introduce you to each element of freediving in a relaxed environment without any skill requirements to pass the course.  The AIDA 2 Open Water Freediver course is broken down into two parts  Part 1 – AIDA 2 Pool (Your booking is for this course)  Part 2 – AIDA 2 Open Water (Is not included in your booking) ★ AIDA 2 Pool ★ This course, part 1 of the AIDA 2 qualification, focuses on the freediving theory and the developing the essential freediving skills necessary for safe underwater exploration. It serves as the foundation for advancing to open-water freediving. The theory elements of the course and the exam can be taken in the comfort of your own home. The physical aspects of the course take place in the safe confines of a swimming pool allowing you to master the core elements of freediving before booking your place on part two of the AIDA 2Open Water Freediver course.  The course includes a comprehensive freediving manual covering: Introduction to Freediving  Freediving Physiology  Breathing for Freedivers (Relaxation, Breath Up, Recovery Breathing) Equalisation Equipment Freediving Safety (Buddying, Risk Reduction) Freediving Disciplines Freediving Technique Once you have completed reading the course manual, your instructor will undertake an online knowledge review with you before the exam to check your understanding of the material. You can then undertake the multiple choice exam online. The theory and exam can be undertaken at a time to suit you before the pool session. During the pool session, you will spend 3 hours in the pool with our instructor covering the following: Breath Holding (Static Apnea) Dynamic Apnea Safe Buddying and Rescues Duck Diving ★ Course Requirements ★ To successfully complete the AIDA 2 Pool course and receive your certification you must comfortably perform a 2:00 minutes static breath-hold and complete a separate swim whilst holding your breath underwater for a minimum of 40m. Once you have completed these requirements on the course you will receive the AIDA 2 Pool Freediver internationally recognised certification from AIDA International and can then book onto an AIDA 2 Open Water Course.   Inclusions What's Included 🧰 Equipment - Fins, mask, snorkel, weight belt and weights, no wetsuit provided.   What you'll need 📋 Other - Swim gear, towel and a 3mm short wetsuit if you have one as you might get cold.

The Introduction to Freediving course is your gateway into the freediving world! The course takes place in the safe confines of a swimming pool allowing you the opportunity to master the basics of freediving before moving to confined and open water. The course includes a freediving manual, theory session and 3 hours in the pool.  You will cover topics that include:  The basics of safety in freediving (Equipment, Buddying)  Breathing for freedivers (Relaxation, Breath Up) Breath Hold, Recovery Breathing Equalisation  Freediving Disciplines  Duck Diving Once you have completed the course you will receive a recognised international freediving qualification from AIDA International. The course takes place at the Dolphin Centre Poole From 1:00-15:30pm  Course Timing The timings for the day will be roughly as follows:  08:30  Meet in reception; please give plenty of time for travel as we will start promptly at 8:30 08:30 - 9:25 Theory Session 9:25 - 09:40 Get changed for the pool sessions 9:45 -11:45 First pool session (25m Main Pool) 12:00 - 13:00 Second pool session (4m deep dive Pool) 13:00 - 13:30 Get showered and changed 13:30 – 15:00 Second Theory Session, debrief and discuss any questions you have   What's Included 🧰 Equipment - Fins, mask, snorkel, weight belt and weights, no wetsuit provided.   What you'll need 📋 Other - Swim gear, towel and a 3mm short wetsuit if you have one as you might get cold.

★ AIDA 2 (Open Water Freediver)   ★ The AIDA 2 Open Water freediver course is the follow-on course from our AIDA 1 Introduction to Freediving course. If you’re not comfortable using fins, a mask and a snorkel, then we ask that you complete the AIDA 1 Introduction to Freediving course first, which is designed to introduce you to each element of freediving in a relaxed environment without any skill requirements to pass the course.  The AIDA 2 Open Water Freediver course is broken down into two parts  Part 1 – AIDA 2 Pool (You need to complete this before booking part 2)  Part 2 – AIDA 2 Open Water (This course) ★ AIDA 2 Open Water ★ This is Part 2 of the AIDA 2* qualification, Part 1 - AIDA 2* Pool is a pre-requisite for this course.  Part 1 focuses on freediving theory and developing the essential freediving skills necessary for safe underwater exploration in a pool environment. It serves as the foundation for this course ensuring that your have the skills required to undertake Part 2 the open-water elements of freediving.  The AIDA 2 Open Water course take place over two days at Vobster Quay in Somerset. Vobster Quay is a freshwater divers paradise with sunken aeroplanes, boats, cars and even a truck to explore.  Over two days you will learn how to: Put on and take off your equipment correctly  Appropriately weight yourself   Prepare for your dive (relaxation, breath up, breath hold)  Pull down the line (Free Immersion)  Duck Dive and fin down the line with correct body position  Improve your equalisation  Perform correct turns at the end of the line  Recovery Breathing  Freedive Safety (Buddying both from surface and 10m, Risk Reduction, Rescues)  Dive to between 12m-20m  Refine your freediving technique ★ Course Requirements ★ To successfully complete the AIDA 2 open water course and receive your certification you must comfortably meet the performance requirements.  Once you have completed these requirements you will receive the AIDA 2* Open Water qualification which is an internationally recognised certification from AIDA International.  If for any reason you are unable to meet some of the requirements, your instructor will provide you feedback and a course completion form, you then have 12 months to meet any requirements. You can book either 121 coaching at with your instructor at Vobster or join a group coaching session to work on the areas you have difficulty with, once you can perform these to the required standard then the instructor will be able to sign off your certification.  Once you have completed these requirements on the course you will receive the AIDA 2 Pool Freediver internationally recognised certification from AIDA International and can then book onto an AIDA 2 Open Water Course.   Inclusions What's Included 🧰 Equipment - All freediving equipment (Wetsuit, Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Weight and Weight Belt)   What you'll need 🧤 Warm Clothing - Bring warm clothing to wear between sessions, a dry robe is ideal but not essential. 🍴 Food 🥤 Drink 📋 Other - Swim Suite, Towel

Perhaps you have never held your breath, or perhaps you can already hold your breath for a long time but your progress has plateaued. This course is for you if you want to progress your breath hold and this program is designed to enhance your ability to hold your breath for extended periods, making your underwater explorations more profound and fulfilling. We’ve combined scientific principles with practical techniques, helping you to understand your body’s natural responses better and train them to reach new depths comfortably and safely. The emphasis of this course is on relaxation enabling you to not only improve your breath hold but create a relaxed diving experience. You will learn to control your mind, decrease your heart rate, and optimally utilise your body’s oxygen stores, unlocking a whole new level of freediving potential. Our techniques will equip you with the skills to venture further and deeper, all while maintaining a state of calm and tranquillity. Your initial booking will be for between 30-60min to discuss your experience, current breath hold, challenges and goals. We will then create a bespoke training plan for you each week for the next four weeks and ask you to provide feedback after each training session to allow us to adjust the next weeks training plan. The course cost covers the four weeks coaching with weekly catchup to review your progress and training metrics.

Are you struggling to equalise between 1-10m?  Is it harder or impossible when upside down, do you have to go down the line feet first? Do you get a muffled hearing or do you feel like you have water in your ears after you dive? If the answer is yes to these then the Freedive Equalisation 121 course is for you! Book a free assessment with one of our instructors to discuss the challenges you are having. Equalisation is the biggest barrier for beginners when learning to dive deeper. We undertook a public study of 47 international freediving instructors and found that for 79% of new students equalisation was the top issue that held them back from passing their course. The problem for many students is that they utilise the Valsalva manoeuvre, which is easy to learn and simply involves blowing air through your nose whilst it is pinched, to achieve this you utilise your breathing muscles to squeeze the air out of your lungs, however this method does not work past certain depths when freediving. The solution is to learn the Frenzel manoeuvre which does not utilise your breathing muscles but rather your mouth, tongue and vocal folds. Learning the Frenzel can be confusing, and often, students come to us after failing to learn it with another instructor or having watched YouTube videos and been left even more confused. We understand the challenges you are going through. We, too, had the same problems when we were learning to freedive. All our instructors have been through intensive specialist equalisation instructor courses over three months, so they are experts in resolving equalisation issues.  The course takes place remotely. Initially, we will meet face to face if you can travel to Dorset or virtually if not. We will discuss your equalisation challenges, followed by assessing how you equalise naturally. After identifying your issues, we will create a bespoke plan for you that includes exercises built up over several weeks to resolve the problems you are having with equalisation. Each week, the exercises progress, building your ability to control the anatomy required for Frenzel. These skills build neurological pathways and muscle memory and are practised out of the water. Once you have mastered these exercises, we simulate head-down diving on land and introduce new exercises enabling you to compress the air in your mouth to equalise and refine your Frenzel. The outcome will be the combination of these skills to perfect your ability to perform the Frenzel manoeuvre.  The course is valid for 2 months from your chosen start date, students who follow the exercise program typically complete the course within 1 month to 2 months, you have the option to extend the course beyond this required period if require.