Courses, coaching & retreats.

freediving.ie

“Freediving is not a sport, it’s a way to understand who we are.”

Natalia Molchanova

Freediving Ireland / freediving.ie

Freediving Ireland / freediving.ie is Ireland’s first AIDA-registered Freediving school. Headquartered in Dublin, we provide certification courses and coaching at various locations around Ireland.

FAQs

 

What is Freediving?

Freediving is the practice by which human beings awaken and strengthen innate physiological capabilities, which allow us to safely spend more time underwater, on just one breath. Everyone can be taught to freedive safely. In-depth description here : What is Freediving?

Is Freediving dangerous?

Freediving is like any other sport. The safety of the practice is in the hands of the practitioner. At Freediving.ie, we pride ourselves on the teaching and maintenance of the highest safety standards during courses, coaching & retreats.

Do I need to be fit to freedive?

The course entry requirements for AIDA-1 state the student must “Be able to swim at least 100m non-stop” and AIDA-2 state that the student “Can swim at least 200m non-stop without fins or at least 300m non-stop with mask, fins and snorkel.” Effectively, this means that you need to able to swim these distances, and then still have enough energy to engage in training activities in the open water for up to 1.5 hours at a time.

What is AIDA?

AIDA International is one of the largest and most highly regarded Freediving federations, constantly working to provide and improve upon world-class education and safety standards. Courses entitled AIDA-1, AIDA-2, etc. are certification levels associated with different levels of edcuation and requirement achievement in the AIDA certification framework.

Which course is right for me?

It depends. We generally advise to start at the beginning. Freediving does not necessarily benefit from prior scuba diving experience.

  • AIDA-1 “Introduction to Freediving” - This course suitable for complete beginners and will provide you with enough knowledge and experience to know if you would like to take your Freediving education further. AIDA-1 is an experiential course, aiming to produce safe Freediving students with a good understanding of their instinctive equalisation practice, i.e. Valsalva or Frenzel, and guidance on how to migrate to or improve Frenzel equalisation.

  • AIDA-2 “Freediver” - Ideal for students who have completed AIDA-1 with a good appreciation of how to practice Frenzel equalisation. An online “EQ-Check” is available for interested students.

  • ADIA-1&2 Combo - For students who are comfortable swimming in open water with fins and facemask and have a good appreciation of how to practice Frenzel equalisation.

  • AIDA-3 “Advanced Freediver” - For students who have completed AIDA-2 or equivalent.

  • AIDA 2-4 Crossover - Evaluation course for those wishing to transfer to the AIDA system of training from other approved federations.

  • Monofin - For anyone interested in beginning their Monofin journey.

  • AIDA Youth Courses - AIDA Junior, Bronze, Silver & Gold Dolphin - teaches water skills to children from 6 to 15 years old.

Do you offer coaching?

Outside of formal certification courses, Freediving.ie provides the following training and coaching:

How can I work with Freediving Ireland / freediving.ie?

Get in touch! We’re happy to discuss collaborations and bespoke training / coaching scenarios.

Where & when do you teach?

Freediving Courses -

We have partnered with 2 of Ireland’s leading diving schools, Waterworld Dive Centre (Castlegregory, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry) and Scubadive West (Killary Fjord, Connemara, Co. Galway), to provide students with the best environments for learning and practicing the art of freediving. The highest safety standards, warm training rooms, equipment hire, hot showers, canteens and accommodation are available at both locations. We believe for learning to take place effectively, students must be comfortable and stress-free at all times.

We also arrange retreats and coaching at various locations around Ireland including Achill Island (Co. Mayo), Portroe Quarry Dive Centre (Co. Tipperary) & The Markievicz Sports & Fitness Centre (Dublin 2).

The Freediving seaon in Ireland typically runs from April to September. See our calendar of events for course, coaching and retreat dates.

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to the earth. But man only has to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

Jacques Yves Cousteau