AIDA Level 2 FreeDiving Courses in UAE

The AIDA Level II Freediver Course is the foundation freediving course covering the necessary skills and knowledge for a non competitive recreational freediver to safely freedive with or without a guide line. The course is not aiming toward competitive freediving and does not include competition rules and regulations. It is designed to be a freediving beginner’s course for students who are already confident and happy in the water. The purpose of the course is to familiarise you with the skills, knowledge, planning, organisation, safety procedures, techniques, problems, hazards and enjoyment of breath hold freediving. Students will be introduced to the three basic disciplines of freediving:

Static Apnea – breath hold with faced immersed in water;
Dynamic Apnea – breathhold whilst travelling horizontally underwater;
Constant Weight – the diver descends and ascends using fins.

This will be achieved through:

Knowledge Development – this will involve theory sessions and an examination in the classroom;
Confined Water Sessions – this will involve static sessions in a pool to teach breathing, relaxation, finning and safety techniques;
Open Water Sessions – - the student will combine the skills they have learned in the pool sessions with the basic skills of open water freediving such as equalizing, duck diving, vertical swimming and body positioning.

HOW IS THE KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT SESSION TAUGHT?

The knowledge development will take place in a classroom-like environment. It will be a minimum of 2 theory sessions with around 2 hours per session depending on the number of questions you ask. The time to take the exam is NOT included in the minimum theory time mentioned above.

The knowledge development will be conducted using the AIDA Level II Freediver Powerpoint slides. You will be provided with a hand-out of the slides to take away for future reference and to use to prepare for the exam (see below).

THE THEORY SESSIONS INCLUDE:

Introduction to AIDA as an organisation;
Equipment for freediving;
Breathing for freediving;
Depth and pressure - equalisation;
Safety - black out and loss of motor control;
Respect for the aquatic environment;
Freediving and Scuba Diving;
Key rules to remember for freediving safely;
Freediving disciplines.

HOW DO I PASS THE KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT SESSION?

You must pass the AIDA Level II Freediver exam which has a passing score of 75% . Any missed questions will be explained to you and you will sign the bottom of the exam to indicate that this has taken place. If you do not pass the exam on first sitting, you may resit after 24 hours.

STATIC APNEA

This session will be conducted in a swimming pool or similar confined water. After this session you should be able to:

Breath Up - Demonstrate abdominal breathing and appropriate breathing techniques in preparation for breath hold diving;
Recover - Demonstrate appropriate recovery and breathing techniques at the end of a breath hold dive;
Buddy - Demonstrate how to train safely and effectively for static apnea in a swimming pool with a training buddy;
Rescue - Demonstrate the appropriate rescue technique for a static apnea;
Hold your breath for 2 minutes - Perform a static breath hold of at least 2 minutes safely with a training buddy.

HOW DO I PASS THE STATIC APNEA SESSION?

You will have to successfully complete all of the requirements above including at least a 2 minute breath hold.

DYNAMIC APNEA

This session will be conducted in a swimming pool or similar confined water. After this session you should be able to:

Prepare Equipment – Demonstrate how to prepare and put on equipment for pool training;
Be safe - Demonstrate safety techniques for retaining an awareness of body position within the pool and avoidance of other pool users during a pool training session;
Fin - Demonstrate appropriate fining style and technique for a breath hold swimming with fins, with regard to body positioning and movement;
Breath up - Demonstrate appropriate breathing techniques in preparation for a breath hold dive;
Recover - Demonstrate appropriate recovery and breathing techniques at the end of a breath hold dive;
Buddy - Demonstrate how to train safely and effectively for dynamic apnea in a swimming pool as a training buddy;
Rescue - Demonstrate appropriate rescue procedures for a freediver attempting dynamic apnea, who suffers a blackout or loss of motor control on surfacing;
Swim underwater for 40m – Safely demonstrate how to cover a distance of at least 40m underwater.

HOW DO I PASS THE DYNAMIC APNEA SESSION?

You will have to successfully complete all of the requirements above including at least a 40m dynamic apnea swim.

Three dive sessions will be conducted in open water with a fixed line to be used as a point of reference for you. You will be secured to the line via a lanyard. If these three dive sessions are conducted on one day you will be given adequate time to for debriefing, rest and relaxation and briefing for the second and third session.

In open water the maximum depth of the freedives will be limited to 20 meters and you will learn how to:

Prepare Equipment - Prepare and don equipment for open water freedive training including how to operate a lanyard.
Be Safe - Demonstrate an awareness of the safety requirements of freediving in open water as appropriate to the local environment. Demonstrate appropriate weighting for freediving.
Buddy - Supervise a buddy as they perform a freedive, both at the surface and meeting the buddy on the ascent at a depth of between 5m and 10m.
Breath Up - Demonstrate how to perform appropriate breathing during recovery from a freedive.
Pull Down - Demonstrate pull-downs by descending slowly along the line achieving comfortable equalisation of the ears and sinuses. Perform slow pull-downs to obtain a state of mental and physical relaxation to help increase time under the water,
Duck Dive - Perform effective duck dives.
Swim Vertically - Undertake vertical swimming along the line with a streamlined body position and efficient finning
Turn - Perform controlled turns at the end of the descent.
Rescue - Demonstrate rescue procedures for a freediver who arrives at the surface showing signs of possible loss of motor control. Demonstrate how to perform rescue procedures for a freediver who experiences a problem at 5m. This will include lifting the freediver from 5m to the surface and rescue procedures once on the surface.
Dive to 16m - Perform an efficient, effective duck dive, remaining oriented to the guide line while descending and ascending with an efficient swimming technique to a depth of at least 16m (maximum 20m) whilst observing buddy and safety procedures.

HOW DO I PASS THE OPEN WATER SESSIONS?

You will have to successfully complete all of the requirements outlined in the open water sessions above. However, if you cannot equalise head first, you can complete everything in the course except the 16m dive. You will then be given a completion form for the AIDA Level II Freediver Course and instructions on how you can work on your head down equalisation. You will be certified as an AIDA Level II.

INSTRUCTOR SUPERVISION

The AIDA Level II Freediver course will be conducted by an Active AIDA Instructor with current Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid training (completed within the last two years). The instructor will carry liability insurance for teaching freediving in the UAE.

The maximum student diver-to-instructor ratio in confined water is eight students per instructor (8:1). The maximum student diver-to-instructor ratio for open water training dives is four students per instructor (4:1). This may rise to six students per instructor (6:1) when the instructor is assisted by another freediver qualified to at least AIDA Level IV.

PRICE

The price for the AIDA Level II Freediver Course with Freediving UAE is 2000 AED.

This includes boat hire, pool access, guide line, weights, lanyard, dive centre access and a minimum of 12 hours of instruction by a qualified AIDA instructor. The price also includes processing of the certification (refer to Post Course Certification section below).

The price also includes insurance for the duration of the course.

We require a deposit to confirm the booking.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

To enroll in the AIDA Level II Freediver course you must:

Be 18 years of age or older (16 years with parent or guardian consent);
Be able to swim at least 200m non stop without fins and at least 300m nonstop with mask, fins and snorkel;
Before commencing any in-water training, the following forms must be completed, (for students aged under 18 years, both must be co-signed by a parent or guardian);
AIDA Medical Form – this must be completed in full with students marking YES or NO to each of the medical conditions listed. If the student answers YES to any condition, they must seek medical approval before taking part in any in-water activity. The physician must sign the form to indicate this approval. Whether or not the student then is then accepted onto the course is left at the discretion of the instructor;
AIDA Liability Release Form or local equivalent.

POST COURSE CERTIFICATION

Freedivers who meet all the performance requirements outlined above will be certified as an AIDA Level II Freediver. Freedivers who meet all the performance requirements other than those listed under Open Water Dives may be certified as AIDA Level II Pool Freediver. Students will receive their full certification from AIDA within 2 months. This will be administrated by Freediving UAE.

contactus@freedivinguae.com

+971 50 902 4227

AIDA Level II

COURSE PURPOSE

KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT