PADI Free Diver Certification - has it ever been considered?

[ewaiea]

I am wondering one thing.....

If you can get a PADI specialty cert called "boat diver" - which in my opinion has got to be completely stupid! Why hasn't PADI ever offered a specialty class which hones the skills touched on in OW certification on snorkeling? Having a Free Diver Specialty would be a really fun class and I'm willing to bet there might be some instructors out there who wouldn't mind teaching it.

Has this type of class ever been considered?
It could cover how to be an effective spotter with other free divers, fin kick techniques, breath hold techniques, physical training and dietary recommendations, and rescue ops like recognizing/mitigating shallow water blackout.

I'm not the type of diver who likes to tote around a million c-cards but I am all about taking specialty certs which teach subject matter that I would find useful. I know you don't have to take a class to learn this stuff, but being able to validate your experience as a free diver with a formal certification would be much more useful than offering a "boat diver" cert or some other cert that really doesn't teach anything extremely useful.

Any advice would be much appreciated...

[Pearldiver07]

That's actually an interesting proposal.

One of our instructors is an avid free-diver. And he does teach it upon request, but doesn't worry about a C-card, since no one is going to restrict the free-diving without the card, it's pretty redundant in that case.

But having the specialty registered would allow a way to find the instructors. That would be the only advantage I could think of.

[Walter]

PADI has a Skin Diving class.

[tflaris]

SSI has a Skin Diver Course.


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[ewaiea]

I know they have a skin diver course but it's mostly aimed at intro to snorkeling as opposed to the finer more advanced points of free diving......that's what I think would make for a great specialty course.

[AndyNZ]

I know they have a skin diver course but it's mostly aimed at intro to snorkeling as opposed to the finer more advanced points of free diving......that's what I think would make for a great specialty course.

Not really, PADI also have snorkelling experience programs that are different.

Like everything PADI does, the skin diver course provides a framework that an instructor needs to adapt to suit the students and the environment they are in.

If someone wanted a skin diver class (from me), I'd quite happily teach "finer points" of free diving. For example, the PADI course is focused on moderate hyperventilation to prolong dive time but it doesn't get explained why. I'd go in to the breathing mechanism and explain why hyperventilation is not such a good idea and do a lot of static apnea exercises before getting in to the dynmic disciplines and actually diving.

This is all doable under PADI standards in the skin diver course.

[ewaiea]

Not really, PADI also have snorkelling experience programs that are different.

Like everything PADI does, the skin diver course provides a framework that an instructor needs to adapt to suit the students and the environment they are in.

If someone wanted a skin diver class (from me), I'd quite happily teach "finer points" of free diving. For example, the PADI course is focused on moderate hyperventilation to prolong dive time but it doesn't get explained why. I'd go in to the breathing mechanism and explain why hyperventilation is not such a good idea and do a lot of static apnea exercises before getting in to the dynmic disciplines and actually diving.

This is all doable under PADI standards in the skin diver course.

Have you ever actually "certified" someone who left the skin diver course with a skin diver c-card?

[TraceMalin]

I believe that Jean-Jacques Mayol (son of Jacques Mayol) taught a PADI distinctive freediving specialty in Key Largo at one point. I think it was through Captain Slate's and I believe it was PADI.

I remember that the course focused mostly on yoga techniques and I believe the dives were very shallow - 25 feet pops to mind. I know he is still teaching, but through what organization, I am not sure.

IANTD and PDIC are two scuba agencies with actual freediving specialties.