–Although many people may think that scuba diving and freediving are similar, one crucial difference is in the experience. As a scuba diver, you are a visitor in the marine world, much like an astronaut on the moon. As a free diver, you become a part of the world that you are visiting, truly seeing the world through the eyes of the beautiful creatures you encounter. Too often we readily believe that learning new skills is something for the young and the fit. This mindset can quickly make us miserable, leaving us wistfully dreaming of the ability to explore new opportunities and fulfill old dreams. But contrary to anything that you might have been told, all you need to learn to freedive is an open mind and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. Don’t believe me? Natalia Molchanova, one of the best freedivers that has ever lived, dominated the competitive freediving into her 50s with 41 world records, 9 of those records after her 50th birthday. I’ve seen grandfathers in their 70s, mothers in their 40s and children of 11 years of age learn how to hold their breath for 3-4 minutes and dive 20 meters after only two days of freediving classes. More than anything, freediving is about  conquering your mind and letting your natural physiology take over as you embrace the freedom of (idk make it poetic or something).– In the PFI freediver course, you will learn the physiology of freediving, how to relax the mind and prepare the body to freedive, and most importantly how to freedive safely.

The benefits of freediving are numerous both below and above the water. freediving vastly improves your comfort/confidence in the water and makes sports such as scuba diving, surfing, spearfishing, etc. Freediving gives you greater freedom of motion while diving, more simplicity, and more time on the water to enjoy marine life. additionally, you will be able to get closer to marine life, in fact, marine life will often come to you (especially very confused male sea turtles). The best way I can describe freediving relative to scuba diving, is as a scuba diver you are a visitor in the marine world and as a freediver you are a part of the marine world in the eyes of marine life.  There are many advantages to being a freediver above water as well. Many freedivers handle altitude very well and have very high PO2 levels especially after using freedive breathing techniques. Freedive breathing techniques also improve usable lung capacity and can be used to reduce stress in everyday life.