Freediving

Around 70% of the planet’s surface is made up of water it is no wonder that freediving is growing in popularity. The question of where to free dive, or perhaps where to get freediving lessons is often asked. We hope this worldwide freediving travel guide will help.

With free dive holidays, underwater courses, and freediving experiences to choose from you are sure to find what you are looking for on AWE365. We even have a great range of accommodation in popular free dive destinations, money saving discounts and inspirational freediving articles.

But what is freediving? At it’s very simplest to free dive is to swim below the surface of water, without the use of breathing apparatus used by scuba divers.

Freediving is similar to, and in many ways has evolved from snorkelling. But the goal is to dive deeper, spending more time beneath the surface rather than on it. Freedivers also hold their breath for much longer than snorkelers typically do, with a big part of training being about pushing depth and duration under to surface.

Another difference to snorkelling is that most free divers do not use a snorkel when below the surface. This is because if they were to black out, or their tongue (which blocks the flow) was to go limp, it would allow water to flow straight into their lungs.

Amazingly the deepest freedive, by Alexey Molchanov in 2023, is 156 meters (512 feet). And the longest free dive breath hold is 24 minutes and 37 seconds by Budimir Šobat. Most freedivers typically hold their breath for around three minutes and dive at 10 to 30 meters (33 to 100 feet).

Want to know where to free dive next? Then use this worldwide freediving travel guide to plan your next trip.