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