This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

Where to start in freediving is probably the first question you have when you start your freediving journey. It can often be confusing to unpick the various levels within the multitude of freediving agencies. In addition, if you already have freediving, Scuba or open water swimming experience, you may think that you don’t need to start at the bottom as you know it all already…

Where to start in freediving – Beginners

For a complete beginner it’s easier to work out. You go to a list of courses and start with the first one. However where to start in freediving depends a lot on your confidence level as there are two places to start. You can either start with a Try Freediving Course or straight away with the RAID Freediver Course. If you do the Try Freediving Course then you’ll need to do the RAID course before you can dive in open water or join the open water part of our club. However, taking the RAID Freediver Course means you can right away join our club days and take part in our speciality courses and workshops.

Where to start in freediving – Experienced divers

The tricky part comes when people with no formal freediving qualification but plenty of experience come along and want to take a higher level course or join the club. For insurance, safety and standards reasons, we can’t accept an unqualified freediver on an advanced course or in the club. However it is possible to do a condensed version of the RAID freediver course depending on personal circumstance. The other very important point is that unqualified freedivers often have very unsafe habits and so, without question, they always learn something new on their course!

Another great thing about the RAID course and the way that the Go Freediving Instructors teach is that the everything is tailored (within the depth limits of the course) to your individual ability. So the same course can look very different to a diver who is brand new to freediving and one who has been spearfishing for years.

Where to start in freediving – our handy flow chart!

To help you make sense of all the levels and how they interact, we’ve created this freediving flow chart for you!

Learn to freedive with Go Freediving

Where to start in freediving? You need to start with us! Go Freediving is the longest established, most experienced and friendliest freediving course provider in the UK, led by world class freediving instructor trainer Emma Farrell, and her team of personally trained instructors. No other course provider has such a good instructor to student ratio, safety record and personal touch.

Whether you’re a beginner dipping your toes into the world of freediving, a seasoned pro looking to turn professional, or simply a freediver of any level who wants the best freediving holiday in the world, we’re here for you!

Also check out our online guide, The Beginners Guide to Freediving by clicking here!

Keep in touch with everything Freediving

Subscribe to our mailing list for weekly newsletters with exclusive articles, news, films, offers and more!


And check out Vimeo and You Tube!