Your PFI Intermediate Freediver course will cover topics such as:
- Intermediate safety and buddy procedures
- Proper ventilation for gas saturation and volume
- Equipment for 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
Is this course for you?
- You have basic experience in scuba, freediving, and/or spearfishing
- You’re interested in freediving in the 25-40m/80-132 feet range
- You’d like to learn to hold your breath between 3-5 minutes
- You’re not sure of extended freediving physiology or the physics that affect you during your freedives and want to know the details
Format/Duration
This course is taught by highly trained PFI Instructors at locations all over the world. The PFI Intermediate Freediver course includes, at a minimum:
- Classroom Sessions
- Confined Water sessions
- Open Water sessions
- The schedule and layout/order of these sessions vary slightly by location. The program is typically run over 4 days. Click the link on any particular course to find the exact schedule for that program.
What can you expect to learn?
Some of the skills a student will be able to perform at the end of the PFI Intermediate Freediver course are:
- Adequate safe buddy skills, showing how to perform a rescue to PFI standards
- Prepare gear without the instructor’s help
- Perform a 3:00 static in the pool with opportunity to increase to maximum capacity
- Dive with proper technique to 25 meters constant weight and free immersion using the PFI method of entrance and exit with proper recovery breathing
Prerequisites
- Freediver course or equivalent experience with freediving, spearfishing, or scuba diving (general comfort in the water)
- You have basic freediving experience and can achieve depths anywhere from 6–30m/20–99 feet with relative comfort
- You have a breath-hold time of around one minute or longer
- Good health and fitness—check the PFI Medical Form
- 12 years of age with guardian permission
- Constant Ballast of 6 meters/20 feet
Course Components
Classroom
- Attend all classroom teaching sessions
- Stretching and equalizing workshops
- CO2 and O2 training workshops
- Complete all quizzes in manual
- Complete pre learning quiz before class
- Pass final with 80 percent or more
Watermanship and Stamina
- Swim test
- Survival float
- Snorkel skills
Confined Water
- Minimum of four consecutive static breath-holds without any hypoxic symptoms minimum 3:00
- Recovery breathing and coaching
- Optional: Minimum of three dynamic performances
- Optional: Complete a minimum 50m dynamic apnea
- Negative pressure dives
Open Water
- Recovery breathing and coaching for buddy
- Eight constant ballast dives reaching minimum 25m/82ft using proper entrance and exit
- Emergency rescue and problem management, surface and underwater
- Including LMC, blackout at surface and underwater
- Full mask flood and ascent from 10m/33 feet
- Eight free immersion dives to 25m/82 feet
- Weight belt removal and ascent from 10m/33 feet
Equipment Used:
- Mask, snorkel, fins
- Appropriate exposure protection
- Weight system
- Timing device or freedive computer
How to take this course!
- Available as an Online Course: Start eLearning today!
- To find a local Dive Center: Click here!
- Find your local PFI Instructor: Click here!
- Course Cost: $123.55 USD for eLearning only. Pool and open water training not included. Contact your local dive center for full course cost.
