FAQ

ABOUT FREEDIVING

  • Freediving is the practice of holding your breath when diving underwater without the use of breathing equipment, such as a scuba tank.  Freediving is a way of life for some, a competitive sport for others, and a hobby for many.  Also known as apnea, breath-hold diving or skin-diving, freediving is used in a whole range of other water sports; spearfishing, underwater hockey, underwater rugby, synchronized swimming, and probably more.  Freediving is actually one of the oldest forms of diving but has been growing steadily in popularity as a sport in recent decades.  Modern day freediving typically includes diving down a line while utilizing long fins, all to enjoy the magical underwater world.

  • Freediving has a range of benefits, not to mention that it is extremely fun and rewarding.  Many people freedive to relieve stress, explore the underwater world, or get closer to marine life.  Freediving is a community based sport; a lot of people freedive to meet new people that enjoy the same things and lifestyle that they do.  

    The physical benefits of freediving are quite profound.  Freediving is therapeutic for the joints, strengthens the respiratory system, and is a great way to burn calories.  Freediving also has a range of competitive applications that can help teach discipline, planning, as well as pushing you to go deeper.

    Benefits of Freediving:  Relieves stress, brings you closer to marine life, boosts adrenaline, improves focus, is therapeutic for the joints, strengthens the lungs, strengthens the muscles, boosts endurance, teaches discipline, pushes you to your limits.

  • Recreational Freediving

    Recreational freediving is freediving for leisure, such as on vacation or training (non-competitively) with a certified buddy.  People freedive recreationally for many reasons: to challenge themselves physically and mentally, to take beautiful underwater photos, to improve their mental health, to explore the underwater world, or to improve their fitness.  The reasons are endless.  But most freedivers will mention the feeling of peace and calm they have when they dive, and how they use it as a form of meditation and feeling connected to their surroundings.

    Applied Freediving

    Applied freediving is freediving with a purpose, such as hunting for seafood, various underwater sports, or performing scientific research.  Freediving can be a part of daily life for some people, like the female “Ama” divers in Japan that collect pearls and seafood, or the Bajau tribes of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, who live at the sea and spearfish.  Freediving encompasses their existence and is part of their way of life.

    Competitive Freediving

    Competitive freedivers are athletes who dedicate their training to participate in competitions.  There are lifestyle sport freedivers who join competitions to challenge themselves and improve their skills, and professional sport freedivers who compete to break national and world records.  All competitive freedivers use advanced techniques and train rigorously in and out of the water with a level of total commitment as a freediving athlete.  Their physical, in-water training is often supplemented with other types of cross-training, mental training, diet, and rest.  The physical limits of the human body are still unknown as freedivers continue to dive deeper and longer, with seemingly no end to their limits in sight.

    Scientific Freediving

    Researchers and students may apply freediving skills to be utilized for underwater research, such as observing subjects, sampling, tagging, deploying and servicing moored instruments, laying transects, researching plankton and out-planting coral.  Freediving can facilitate scientific research where sites and tasks are within a safe breath-hold depth.  Some scientists may use freediving to study corals, sharks and whales.  Scientific freediving adds additional focus on skills required for safely planning and executing dives on a breath-hold to perform tasks at depth.

  • Static Apnea (STA):  This discipline requires the diver to hold their breath for as long as possible while floating face down in confined water.  The diver’s respiratory tracts must be submerged during this activity.

    Dynamic Apnea WITH FINS / BI-FINS (DYNB/DYN):  In confined water, divers will need to swim in a horizontal position underwater to cover the greatest distance possible.  

    Dynamic No-Fins (DNF):  Dynamic No-Fins is performed under the surface of water in a pool.  Freedivers dive horizontally for distance on a single breath without fins, using only arm strokes and frog kicks.

    Free Immersion (FIM):  During this discipline the diver will use the guided rope to propel themselves down as far as they can and then back up to the surface. 

    Constant Weight WITH FINS / BI-FINS (CWT / CWTB):  In this activity divers use control and power to push themselves down as far as they can next to the guided rope.  During this discipline the diver is not allowed to touch the guided rope. This discipline is typically performed in open water.

    Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF):  Constant Weight No-Fins is typically performed in open water.  Freedivers wear a minimal amount of weight and attempt to reach a target depth on a vertical line by swimming with no fins, all on a single breath.

  • Contrary to popular opinion, freediving is not necessarily an extreme sport.  In freediving the goal is to completely relax the body and mind in order to dive to the best of your ability.  It is true that in competitive freediving, divers push themselves to levels that some people can’t even imagine.  But, for the majority of those who enter the world of freediving, the sport is a safe, beautiful and pretty life-changing way to be outside and exploring.  There are a few key rules that need to be followed in order to ensure a safe, fun, rewarding diving experience, and, as with any sport, there are inherent risks involved.  However, it is believed that freediving is a safe sport for all ages.

LEARNING TO FREEDIVE

  • The only skill you need in order to start your freediving career is to be a confident swimmer.  We recommend being able to swim at the surface at least 200m continuously with a snorkel or your head above water.  If you can do that, you can easily become a talented freediver!

  • Most people are not very experienced with breath holding before a freediving course.  Many students come into the course only being able to hold their breath for an average of 30 seconds.  During your freediving course(s), you will learn everything you need to know and practice the applied skills to maximize your breath hold.  Most students leave their first freediving course with the ability to hold their breath between 1:30 - 2:30 minutes.

  • Rarely does any medical issues prevent a person from enjoying and enrolling in freediving certification course or training.  We have trained / worked with a variety of people with medical concerns and conditions. We ask that you let us know ahead of time any concerns you have and if need be, we will have a doctor sign off on your PADI Medical Form, AIDA Medical Form, or DAN Medical Form, that you are able to freedive.

  • This is very common for anyone new to freediving.  The discomfort you feel is a normal effect of the water pressure changes on your eardrums.  During your freediving course, you will learn about proper equalization techniques that will help eliminate this problem, allowing you to go deeper more comfortably.

  • Equalization is the most common issue when learning to freedive.  However, with plenty of practice and patience, this is a very simple hurdle to overcome.

    • Student must meet the minimum age requirements. 

    • Students should be comfortable in open water environments and be confident swimmers. 

    • Students will have some e-learning to complete prior to the course.

    • Lastly the student must complete a medical form; if you answer yes to any questions on the form you will need to be examined and signed off by a physician on the medical form.

      • If students are taking a PADI Advanced or PADI Master course, the student must also be actively CPR & First Aid certified.

      • If students are taking a PADI Master course, the student must provide their own gear.

    • Intro to Freediving: Students must be at least 10 years of age (with a parent / guardian signature), or 18 years of age (no parent / guardian signature required).

    • PADI Freediver & Advanced: Students must be at least 15 years of age (with a parent / guardian signature), or 18 years of age (no parent / guardian signature required).

    • PADI Master: Students must be at least 18 years of age.

    • AIDA 2 & 3: Students must be at least 16 years of age (with a parent / guardian signature), or 18 years of age (no parent / guardian signature required).

ABOUT DEPTH WISH

  • Depth Wish is a freediving school run by a water-loving couple, Tanner & Kenzie Pedersen. With Tanner's background in extreme competitive sports and wide variety of skills experience, and Kenzie's in guided outdoor excursions and studies in zoology, geology, and naturalism, the two perfectly blend to create a company that offers underwater experiences unlike any other.

  • Once you train with Depth Wish Freediving, you are plugged into the broader community.  All of our clients get access to our private WhatsApp group chat where you can plan dive days with other certified freedivers, receive special deals on DW products, courses, excursions, and gear. 

    When you take a certification course, you are allowed to come back and repeat the course as many times as you’d for FREE (as long as space is available).  Come as a student and leave as a friend!

    Our instructor, Tanner Pedersen, is one of the most experienced instructors in North America.  He has competed in 8 international competitions, is a certified competition safety diver, and has coached/certified hundreds of clients.  Tanner is always on the cutting edge of freediving information to ensure the most up to date and accurate information.

  • Depth Wish Freediving offers a wide variety of experiences, both above the surface and below:

    • PADI & AIDA certification courses.

    • Intro to Freediving courses.

    • Instructor certification courses.

    • Private training.

    • Monthly, weekly, and daily coaching programs.

    • Dry training programs.

    • Group pool training days.

    • Free community dive days twice a month.

    • Annual host of Deep End Weekend, the U.S.'s largest freediving festival.

    • Local and international trips / excursions.

    • Springs tours.

    • Underwater photoshoots.

    • Sponsorship programs for athletes and events.

    • Affiliate retail with multiple different brands.

    • Our own line of freedive clothing.

    And much more!

OUR COURSES

  • We offer multiple levels of courses through two different agencies; 

    • Through PADI, we offer the: Level 1 Freediver, Level 2 Advanced Freediver, and the Level 3 Master Freediver certification courses. We also offer a PADI Freediving Instructor certification course.

    • Through AIDA, we offer the: AIDA 2 Freediver and AIDA 3 Advanced Freediver certification courses.

    • We also offer Crossover Evaluations for each agency, meaning if you are PADI certified and want to take an AIDA course, or vice versa, we are able to do so.

    • In addition to those, we also offer Emergency First Response courses twice a year, dry training, private training, and private courses for all levels / agencies.  

    Check out our courses under the COURSE tab, or trainings under the TRAINING tab, for more details on each option, or contact us directly to schedule yours!

  • Both agency’s certifications are internationally recognized.  The main difference between the two are course length and course requirements. You can crossover to either agency at any time in the future.

    At Depth Wish we teach our courses in four phases:

    1. We start with E-learning.  Once this is downloaded, you can access you e-learning anywhere, anytime; no internet required!

    2. Next is the classroom. During the classroom portion, we cover the physiology of freediving, history of freediving, safety procedures and protocol, freediving technique, equalization technique, freediving health and wellness, dry training, and much more.

    3. After the classroom, the next phase occurs in a confined water environment such as a swimming pool.  Here we practice different types of apnea (breath holding disciplines), rescue skills, the importance of diving with a buddy, and introducing you to proper water entry.

    4. Lastly, the final phase occurs in open water sessions.  During these, we perfect your duck dive, practice free immersion (pulling yourself down a line) and constant weight bi fin dives (diving down and following the line with bi fins), then we hammer home the rescue techniques and importance of safe diving. We also spend time correcting any technique issues that we see or targeting your specific goals and needs  

  • The student-to-instructor ration is never more than 4:1.  This small ratio learning environment guarantees that students will have a better opportunity to communicate as well as guaranteed one on one diving time with the instructor.

  • Freediving specific gear is recommended but not required to take a course.  Students should have a wetsuit (3-5mm suggested), mask, snorkel, weight belt and fins. This gear can be scuba, surf, or freedive specific gear.

    • For a PADI Level 3 and PADI Instructor courses, students are required to have their own gear, and it must be freediving specific equipment.


  • Yes we do! We have a wide variety of sizes and material options in both men's and women's specific wetsuits, several different types and sizes of fins, low volume masks, and weight belts.

    We do our best to always carry a variety of freediving gear so students may have the opportunity to demo different brands, styles, and materials before purchasing their own freediving gear.

    Rental gear is available for a $25 fee. This fee covers any / all gear you may need for the entire length of your course. A rental contract is required to be signed at the beginning of any course or training session.

  • Our courses are held in and around Gainesville, FL.  The classroom and confined water portions of a course are typically held in Gainesville.  Open water sessions are held in one of the beautiful freshwater springs of North Central Florida surrounding the Gainesville area.  Once you book a course, a team member will reach out to you via email to let you know the exact times and locations of where you will be meeting for each day of your course.

    • Locations may be subject to weather, conditions, and availability.

  • Have no worries!  When you take a course with Depth Wish, regardless if you pass or do not, you can come back and retake the same course for free as many times as you want.*  You have the choice to retake the entire course or just join for the open water dive days.


    At Depth Wish, we don’t want our students to feel pressured to perform within a restricted time frame, so if you don’t pass, reach out to us any time about future course dates; so long as there is room available in the course, you can join again! 

    • This policy excludes any PADI Master and Instructor courses.

  • Yes, there are both online knowledge review to complete before your course, and an in person multiple choice exam at the end of your course.

  • We are happy to get you ready to compete. Please reach out to us directly so that we can bring you up to speed on rules, regulations, and the perfect training program to optimize your performance.

ADDITIONAL FAQ

  • If you are coming in from out of town, we suggested that you stay in the Gainesville area so you have the best opportunity to rest and meet your needs without the stress of traveling to and from meeting locations. Feel free to reach out to us for any suggestions on stays!

  • If you have any specific dates in mind and there is no course listed, reach out to us directly and we can set up a special course date just for you!

  • You can always reschedule a course or training.  However, any courses that canceled or rescheduled within 2 weeks of the scheduled date will be subjected to a $50 rescheduling fee per person. 
    There is no fee for rescheduling before the 2 week window.

  • All courses, experiences, and trainings, once booked, are non-refundable and non-transferrable to another person, training, experience, or course type. 

    However, you can reschedule your course / training / experience as needed. If you are unsure of when you want to reschedule for, we are happy to hold your spot until you are ready. 
    Please review our “WHAT IF I NEED TO RESCHEDULE” question for any potential rescheduling fees.

  • Unfortunately, we are unable to provide transportation or accommodations to students.  However, if you reach out to us, we have many recommendations we would be happy to share with you!

  • Absolutely!  Any form of photography or videography equipment is allowed, but we’ll ask that you wait to use it at times when you’re not actively working on any course skills.  Depth Wish will also be capturing photos and videos during your course.  If you’d like to get copies of any course media (and also get your choice of some professional edits), you can select our “Photo Package” option to add on to your course.