Freediving Gear Recommendations

General Freediving Recommendations

We will never require that you buy any specific type of gear. We will make recommendations on what type of gear works best for freediving. You will definitely notice an increase in your performance if you purchase freediving specific gear. Just understand that if you show up in short little snorkeling fins, you should expect to do a lot more work to kick down to 30 feet than someone that is wearing long-blade freediving fins. Certain locations will have rental options available. Call 954-324-4444 to see if your class location has rental options.

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Freediving Mask

You will need a mask for this course. A low volume freediving mask is the best type of mask for freediving. Avoid high volume scuba masks. Currently, the best mask on the market for freediving is the AquaSphera. This is what you will see all the instructors wearing. In South Florida, Austin’s in Miami and Lauderdale Diver in Fort Lauderdale carry this mask.

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Fins

You will need fins for this course. Long-blade freediving fins are highly recommended for the course. Scuba fins, snorkeling fins, and split fins are not ideal for freediving

Freediving fins come in three types: Plastic, Fiberglass, and Carbon fiber.

Plastic fins are fine for this course and are the easiest type to find in a dive shop. Cressi makes several popular freediving fins. They have a 2000 and 3000 series, both are very reasonably priced around $130-$150. They also make one of the better plastic fins on the market, the Gara Professional around $220. Dessault makes a good plastic fin as well in the $150 range. Austin’s in Miami and Lauderdale Diver in Fort Lauderdale, carry a good selection of freediving fins. Any plastic long bladed fin will do well for this course. We will discuss different types of fins in more detail during the course.

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Freediving Wetsuits

You will need a wetsuit for this course, regardless of location and time of year. There are two main reasons for this. During the course we will discuss this in more detail, but you need a wetsuit for its buoyancy in relationship to safety. Secondly, we will spend two to three hours in the pool. I’ve never taught a course where multiple people didn’t get cold during their static apnea session, which drastically reduced their performance. Freediving wetsuits are highly recommended over scuba suits. Freediving suits are more flexible and do a much better job of keeping you warm.

Oceaner makes amazing freediving suits. They are the highest performance freediving suits, but they are not as durable as typical freediving suits. You can buy Oceaner suits at Lauderdale Diver and Austin’s. This is what you will see your instructors wearing. These are typically $430 and up.

More traditional freediving suits are less expensive , in the $200-$350 range, and will still be a huge improvement over scuba suits. These suits are more durable than the Oceaner suits but not as flexible, which reduces their performance. Lauderdale diver and Austin’s carry other types of freediving suits as well. Dessault, Omer, Yazbeck and Picasso make good freediving suits. Dessault is one of the few companies that make suits for women.

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Freediving Snorkels

You will need a snorkel for the course. Any snorkel will work, but we recommend a simple freediving j-tube style snorkel. A good freediving snorkel will curve so its fits around your head, and will not have a purge valve, a ping pong ball, or other attachments at the end of the tube. No fancy snorkels needed.

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Weights & Weight Belts

Almost everyone will need a weight belt and weights. We recommend a rubber weight belt versus a nylon type belt. You don’t want a belt with pouches either. Rubber belts work much better because they compress so they don’t get loose as you descend in the water. The best type of weights are 1 and 2 pound flat weights. They are very streamlined and allow us to fine tune your weighting.