How to Choose a Freediving Instructor: 10 Questions to Ask

The best way to choose a freediving instructor is to ask specific questions before you pay: which agency they teach for and whether their status is current, how many students they take per line, how they set up safety in the water, and what happens if you can’t meet a requirement. A good freediving instructor answers clearly and without pressure. The ten questions below cover what matters, followed by the red flags that should make you walk away.

Why the instructor matters more than the agency

Agencies write standards; instructors deliver them. Two courses with the same name and the same card at the end can be very different experiences. On one, there are three students per line, a lanyard and oxygen on the boat, and an instructor who’ll try several ways of explaining equalisation until one clicks. On the other, eight students share a crowded line while the instructor checks their phone between dives.

The agency comparison is still worth reading, and we’ve set it out in AIDA vs Molchanovs vs PADI vs SSI. But once you’ve narrowed down where and when you can go, the choice that counts is the person.

Doing your homework before you message anyone

A little research narrows the list before you start asking questions. Start with the agency’s own website, since most agencies list their instructors or schools, then look at how each instructor presents their teaching online. Photos and videos say a lot. Are divers on a line with a lanyard? Is someone watching every dive from the surface? Do they talk about relaxation and safety, or mostly about depth numbers?

Freediving communities, online and in person, are another good source. Ask people who have trained with an instructor what the group sizes were like and how problems were handled, and give specific answers more weight than general praise. If an instructor offers a short call or a pool session before the course, take it. Twenty minutes of conversation shows you how they explain things and whether you’d feel comfortable telling them you’re nervous.

Questions about credentials and experience

1. Which agency do you teach for, and is your instructor status active?

Instructors have to keep their status current with their agency, usually by renewing each year and meeting teaching standards. Ask for their name and instructor number and check it through the agency’s online directory or by contacting the agency. A good instructor expects this question.

2. How long have you been teaching, and where?

Local experience counts. An instructor who has worked several seasons in the Andamans knows how the currents behave, what visibility looks like after a storm and which sites stay sheltered on a windy day. Ask how many courses they teach in a year and how much they freedive themselves.

Questions about safety in the water

3. How many students per instructor, and per line?

On a line, an instructor can only properly watch one diver at a time. Smaller groups mean more dives for you and closer supervision. Ask about the open water ratio specifically, and whether an assistant joins larger groups.

4. How do you set up the line and safety system?

Listen for specifics: a buoy with a weighted line, a lanyard connecting you to the line on depth dives, and ideally a counterweight or pulley system that lets the instructor bring a diver up quickly. Ask whether there’s oxygen and a first aid kit on the boat or shore, and what the plan is if someone needs a hospital. Our guide to freediving lanyards explains why that small strap matters so much.

5. Are you insured, and what insurance do I need?

Professional instructors usually carry liability insurance. You need your own travel or dive insurance that covers freediving to the depth of the course. Some travel policies exclude freediving or cap the depth, so read the wording before you buy rather than after an accident.

6. How much rescue practice will I get?

Every course should include rescuing a blacked-out buddy at the surface and from depth, repeated until you can do it calmly. Ask how many times you’ll practise it. If the answer is “once, if we have time”, keep looking. The freediving buddy system only works if both of you know exactly what to do.

Questions about how the course runs

7. What language do you teach in?

Theory covers physiology and safety that you need to understand properly, rather than nod along to. If you’d be more comfortable learning in Hindi, Tamil or another language, ask. It’s also worth asking how they handle questions: some instructors welcome them, while others stick rigidly to the slides.

8. Where are the pool sessions, and what are the sea conditions like?

Find out whether confined-water sessions happen in a pool or in shallow sea water, how deep and how warm it is, and whether you’ll share lanes with a swimming club. For the open water part, ask about typical conditions at that time of year and what happens on a rough day.

9. What happens if I can’t equalise or don’t meet a requirement?

Equalisation problems are common, and some people need more time. Ask whether you can extend the course, come back later to finish, or complete the missing part with another instructor, and what each option costs. Our guide to fixing equalisation problems covers what usually goes wrong.

10. What support do you offer after the course?

The weeks after a course decide whether the skills stick. Ask whether the instructor runs supervised training sessions, keeps a group for finding buddies, or can advise on training at home between trips.

Red flags that should make you walk away

Some answers, or some things you see on the first day, are reasons to leave:

• Encouraging fast breathing or hyperventilation before dives. It’s dangerous, and our post on hyperventilation before freediving explains why.
• Pushing you deeper than you’re comfortable with, or “just one more metre” talk.
• No line, no lanyard for depth training, or no buoy in a busy area.
• Students diving without anyone watching them.
• Large groups on one line with no assistant.
• Brushing off the medical questionnaire or your health concerns.
• No oxygen, no first aid kit and no emergency plan.
• Vague answers about instructor status, insurance or refund terms, or pressure to pay in full immediately.

Safety: If you feel unsafe during a course, say so and stop. You can skip any dive or exercise at any time. A good instructor will respect that without argument, and one who doesn’t has shown you whether to keep training with them.

Before you pay a deposit

Send the same questions to two or three instructors by email or message, and compare the answers side by side. Notice who replies with detail, who asks about your experience and health, and who just sends a price list.

Stay tuned for the freediving.in community, launching soon. For the bigger picture of getting trained at home, see our guide on how to get freediving certified in India.