AIDA LEVEL II

The AIDA Level 2 course is designed for individuals who have completed the beginner level or have basic freediving experience and wish to further develop their skills. The purpose of this course is to improve breath-hold capacity, refine technique, and build confidence in both depth and distance diving.

Students will gain a deeper understanding of freediving theory, including equalization, breathing techniques, and safety procedures. The course also introduces proper buddying and rescue skills, enabling participants to dive more independently while maintaining a high level of safety.

This program focuses on structured training in both confined and open water, helping students safely extend their limits in a controlled and supportive environment.

The knowledge development will take place in a classroom-like environment. It will be a minimum of 2 theory sessions with around 2 hours per session depending on the number of questions you ask. The time to take the exam is NOT included in the minimum theory time mentioned above.

The theory sessions include:

• Introduction to AIDA as an organisation;
• Equipment for freediving;
• Breathing for freediving;
• Depth and pressure - equalisation;
• Safety - black out and loss of motor control;
• Respect for the aquatic environment;
• Freediving and Scuba Diving;
• Key rules to remember for freediving safely;
• Freediving disciplines.

Static APNEA

This session will be conducted in a swimming pool or similar confined water. After this session you should be able to:

• Breath Up - Demonstrate abdominal breathing and appropriate breathing techniques in preparation for breath hold diving;
• Recover - Demonstrate appropriate recovery and breathing techniques at the end of a breath hold dive;
• Buddy - Demonstrate how to train safely and effectively for static apnea in a swimming pool with a training buddy;
• Rescue - Demonstrate the appropriate rescue technique for a static apnea;
• Hold your breath for 2 minutes - Perform a static breath hold of at least 2 minutes safely with a training buddy.

Dynamic APNEA

This session will be conducted in a swimming pool or similar confined water. After this session you should be able to:

• Prepare Equipment – Demonstrate how to prepare and put on equipment for pool training;
• Be safe - Demonstrate safety techniques for retaining an awareness of body position within the pool and avoidance of other pool users during a pool training session;
• Fin - Demonstrate appropriate fining style and technique for a breath hold swimming with fins, with regard to body positioning and movement;
• Breath up - Demonstrate appropriate breathing techniques in preparation for a breath hold dive;
• Recover - Demonstrate appropriate recovery and breathing techniques at the end of a breath hold dive;
• Buddy - Demonstrate how to train safely and effectively for dynamic apnea in a swimming pool as a training buddy;
• Rescue - Demonstrate appropriate rescue procedures for a freediver attempting dynamic apnea, who suffers a blackout or loss of motor control on surfacing;
• Swim underwater for 40m – Safely demonstrate how to cover a distance of at least 40m underwater.

Open Water Dive Sessions

Three dive sessions will be conducted in open water with a fixed line to be used as a point of reference for you. You will be secured to the line via a lanyard. 

In open water the maximum depth of the freedives will be limited to 20 meters and you will learn how to:

• Prepare Equipment - Prepare and don equipment for open water freedive training including how to operate a lanyard.
• Be Safe - Demonstrate an awareness of the safety requirements of freediving in open water as appropriate to the local environment. Demonstrate appropriate weighting for freediving.
• Buddy - Supervise a buddy as they perform a freedive, both at the surface and meeting the buddy on the ascent at a depth of between 5m and 10m.
• Breath Up - Demonstrate how to perform appropriate breathing during recovery from a freedive.
• Pull Down - Demonstrate pull-downs by descending slowly along the line achieving comfortable equalisation of the ears and sinuses. Perform slow pull-downs to obtain a state of mental and physical relaxation to help increase time under the water,
• Duck Dive - Perform effective duck dives.
• Swim Vertically - Undertake vertical swimming along the line with a streamlined body position and efficient finning
• Turn - Perform controlled turns at the end of the descent.
• Rescue - Demonstrate rescue procedures for a freediver who arrives at the surface showing signs of possible loss of motor control. Demonstrate how to perform rescue procedures for a freediver who experiences a problem at 5m. This will include lifting the freediver from 5m to the surface and rescue procedures once on the surface.
• Dive to 16m - Perform an efficient, effective duck dive, remaining oriented to the guide line while descending and ascending with an efficient swimming technique to a depth of at least 16m (maximum 20m) whilst observing buddy and safety procedures.

To enroll in the AIDA Level II Freediver course you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older (16 years with parent or guardian consent);
• Be able to swim at least 200m non stop without fins and at least 300m nonstop with mask, fins and snorkel;

Before commencing any in-water training, the following forms must be completed, (for students aged under 18 years, both must be co-signed by a parent or guardian);

• AIDA Medical Form – this must be completed in full with students marking YES or NO to each of the medical conditions listed. If the student answers YES to any condition, they must seek medical approval before taking part in any in-water activity. The physician must sign the form to indicate this approval. Whether or not the student then is then accepted onto the course is left at the discretion of the instructor;
• AIDA Liability Release Form or local equivalent.