The Different Freedive Instructor Courses

Everything you should know about the different Freedive Instructor Courses!

We run the recreational freediving courses of the three globally leading freediving certification organizations. We teach SSI, Molchanovs, and AIDA Freediving Courses.

The organizations SSI and AIDA are the most known and oldest international training agencies for recreational freediving. Molchanovs is relatively new, focuses more on pure and technical freediving, and is building a large global community of freedivers.

At the same time, for the professional levels, we teach SSI Instructor Courses, AIDA Freediving Instructor courses, Molchanovs Instructor Courses, and regularly run remote Instructor Courses. We are ‘romantic’ about AIDA International since they brought freediving to the public with properly structured courses and a complete education system. Still, we tend to focus more on SSI and Molchanovs since they offer more value to their instructors and dive centers.

Before we look into the differences between the organizations SSI, AIDA, and Molchanovs for the professional courses, here is a summary of their history.

The 3 Leading Freediving Agencies we work with;

Now, the Molchanovs Education System is a fast-growing freediving agency. It’s an online community of freedivers who all took a Molchanovs Freediving Course and are now further developing their skills, techniques, and performance via base training programs, training benchmarks, and reward badges. The Molchanovs training programs contain pool, dry, and depth training. They aim at pure and technical freediving and make the freedivers stronger and better regardless of whether they are -10 or -80 meter freedivers.

They aim to add value to their fast-growing community of freedivers and instructors. Some of their training programs are free to freedivers.

The SSI Freediving Courses are professional development programs of a very high level – of a much greater level and more in-depth than any other freediving agency. SSI’s support for dive centers and instructors and the SSI dealer network make SSI a serious option for instructors and dive centers.

Because of this, we also offer the incredible swim teacher programs via Swim Schools International and can you now combine your freediving instructor course with a swim teacher course. Another SSI professional option we now offer is the mermaid instructor courses.

The Motivation to Join an Instructor Course is Different for Everyone!

Maybe you want to take an Instructor Course to gain new knowledge. Perhaps you want to do a course to teach your friends how to freedive. Or perhaps you are done with your life back home, and are you looking for opportunities to change your lifestyle. There are many, many, many reasons why you could take an instructor course. Regardless of your motivation, you will want to take your course in a proper instructor training and development center. We’ll promise when you decide to do a course with us, you will travel to Panglao, train with the other guests, incredible Master freedivers, skilled professionals and very experienced instructors, you will find that special place you are looking for.

Being located on Panglao Island offers excellent opportunities for instructor training and development programs. First of all, Panglao is a luscious green island covered by palm, coconut, and banana trees. Driving around the island on your scooter with shorts and flip-flops almost immediately makes you experience the flip-flop freediver lifestyle. The island has excellent facilities and restaurants and offers cheap but high-quality, long-term-stay housing.

The Filipino people are the nicest people you will ever meet in your life. The Pinoy are friendly, caring, and very welcoming to everyone visiting their beautiful country! Furthermore, the groceries are cheap but very nice, and arranging and extending a Visa is super easy in the Philippines—much easier than in any other Asian country.

The Freedive Academy is located on the North Side of the island—the beautiful, quiet, green, and non-tourist side with year-round near-perfect diving conditions!

The Dive Center and Facilities are Brand-New and Top-Notch – Designed by Freedivers for Freedivers!

Right in the middle of the academy ground, we have a two-lane 25-meter pool with a shallow water static area and sitting area, making the pool perfect for your instructor course. The pool perfectly suits the instructor course pool presentations and dynamic and static training. We’ve built you a lovely shaded outside chill-out area with a beautiful canopy. This pool-side terrace has wall ventilators, nice tropical tunes playing on the speakers, and a big couch where we regularly have people sleeping on – this is how you know you are at a good freediving center – we have people sleeping everywhere :). We use the same area for our stretching sessions and our gym equipment. Although it’s not too much gym equipment, the rowing and cycling machines, the dumbles, the TRX setup, battle ropes, and gym balls make it the perfect environment for your apnea training. Inside the academy, we have the reception with a living room with a seating area, a retail shop, the kitchen and upstairs, a large and dedicated instructor course classroom specifically designed for the long and intense instructor courses. Each of our classrooms is fully equipped with all the possible presentation tools you might need for your classes and presentations.

We are located about 300 meters from the shore. When we go to the ocean entry via shuttle or scooter, it’s only with a 15-meter swim – we’re literally crossing the famous Napaling shoal of Panglao sardines every day before we reach our first fixed dive lines. We have lines ready for you with depths of -50, -80, and -130 meters for those belonging to the world top. With year-round near-perfect diving conditions, freediving doesn’t get better than this. The water temperature ranges from 26 – 31C, and the visibility is usually around 30 meters and goes up to an easy 40 meters – we even had a few 50-meter days! With excellent year-round diving conditions, we can be very flexible and plan our course schedules wisely. With us, you will get the most out of your course.

This is what it will be like to do a freediving course with us.

How to Choose the Right Freedive Instructor Course for You!

At the Freedive Academy Panglao, we teach SSI Freediving Instructor Courses, Molchanovs Freediving Instructor courses., AIDA Instructor Courses, and we’re regularly teaching Remote Molchanovs Instructor Courses.

To see which instructor course suits your needs, we will first look at the different levels of teaching and how long it takes to become a freediving instructor.

Starting from zero, it takes about 2 to 3 months to become a Freediving Instructor – we recommend doing it in 3 to 4 months minimum – becoming an instructor is fun, but not always easy – it’s hard work. The fastest way to become a Freediving Instructor is with SSI, and this instructor rating is called the Basic Freediving Instructor. Becoming a Basic Instructor is only possible via a one or two-day cross-over from SSI Scuba Instructor. Being an SSI Basic Freediving Instructor is nice when you have your own center and want to introduce people to freediving. Still, as a Basic Instructor, you can only teach SSI Try Freediving and SSI Basic Freediving.

The next fastest option would be SSI Freediving Assistant Instructor. You need an Advanced Freediver certification, 50 logged dive sessions, and join and pass the extensive 10-day instructor course. This instructor level is an excellent option for those with EQ problems or those who are not very experienced freedivers. As a Freediving Assistant Instructor, you can teach Try Freediving, Basic Freediver, and Pool Freediver.

If you also want to teach the full beginner course with open water sessions, you can join the same instructor course and become an SSI Freediving Instructor or Advanced Freediving Instructor, which is the same level as an AIDA Freediving Instructor or Molchanovs Wave 2 Instructor.

We’re based only 300 meters away from the famous Napaling Reef with the massive drop-off and sardines, so we rarely run pool and pool instructor courses like the Freediving Assistant Instructor, but it happens sometimes.

The recreational course you’ll be teaching the most is the beginner freediving course, the Molchanovs Wave 1, AIDA 2, or the SSI Freediver course, and this will also immediately be the most important course you’ll be teaching. This is the student’s first introduction to you, your teaching skills, and your dive center. Only SSI offers the option to become a Level 1 or beginner course Instructor – this is called the SSI Freediving Instructor, which is done via 100 logged sessions and the extensive SSI Instructor Course. We only advise this course when you have difficulty reaching the performance requirements of the SSI Advanced Freediving Instructor, the AIDA Freediving Instructor, and the Molchanovs Wave 2 Instructor course.

Please note: this page is best viewed on a tablet or desktop because of the below table.

We’ve reached the final but most common entry-level instructor course: the SSI Advanced Instructor Course, the Molchanovs Wave 2 Instructor Course, and the AIDA Freediving Instructor Course. The depth requirements are up to -40 meters. The distance disciplines are up to 100 meters dynamic, and all agencies’ breath-hold times are 4 minutes. Overall, the performance requirements will be more challenging, and to reach this performance level, you need to put in the time and energy and do you need to be dedicated. When you start your instructor course via a Zero to Hero Freediving program, we believe that with the proper focus and commitment, we can achieve this level in 3 to 4 months minimum.

We now know that it takes between 1 and 3 months to become a freediving instructor, depending on your actual diving experience. Now that you’re an SSI Advanced Freediving Instructor, AIDA Freediving Instructor, or Molchanovs Wave 2 Instructor, what’s next?

If you are an SSI Advanced Instructor ready to upgrade to Performance Freediving Instructor, you must have 45 specific certifications. From AIDA Instructor to AIDA Master Instructor, you must have at least 50 particular certifications under your name. Molchanovs Instructors need 50 specific certifications to upgrade to Master Instructor. Special rules may apply, but certifications in your name certified under a different agency might count towards your instructor upgrade requirements, too.

Now that you’re an SSI Performance Instructor, you can apply to join an SSI Instructor Trainer Seminar – the final step with SSI. With AIDA, you can apply for Instructor Trainer status with AIDA International, and with Molchanovs, there are quite a few more options. Once you’ve reached the right experience and certification levels, you can become a Molchanovs Wave 3 Instructor Trainer. Another option is Wave 4 Instructor and Wave 4 Instructor Trainer, which are the competitive Molchanovs levels.

The sum up the career roadmaps of each agency. SSI is more about dive professional development. AIDA is more accessible, whereas Molchanovs is more performance-driven and technical.

The Skills Requirements for the AIDA, SSI, and Molchanovs Instructor Courses!

Each Instructor Course has an academic part containing theory sessions, presentations, and exams and a pool and ocean part with different teaching presentations, skills, and performance requirements. The actual course content and structure are different for each agency. For example, with SSI, you get quite a few presentations and classroom sessions. The SSI courses are developed to prepare you to work as a full-time and high-level professional in the dive industry. The instructor courses from AIDA and Molchanovs are quite similar. AIDA focuses more on the science of freediving, and Molchanovs focuses more on teaching the skills properly since Molchanovs aims to develop more all-around technical freedivers.

Please note: This page is best viewed on a tablet or desktop because of the tables below.

When Should You Choose a Certain Instructor Agency?

Suppose you want to become a freediving instructor to gain additional technical knowledge of freediving. In that case, doing the SSI Instructor course should not be your first option, but are you better off with AIDA or Molchanovs. If you want to change your lifestyle, move to a tropical island, and work for a dive center, SSI, AIDA, and Molchanovs are all great options. SSI will turn you into the best dive professional possible. With AIDA and Molchanovs, you don’t need to be affiliated with a dive center, meaning you can teach and travel more independently. Let’s look at the differences between the different freediving agencies when you would work as a freediving instructor.

Being an SSI Freediving Instructor vs. an AIDA or Molchanovs

The SSI Instructor Course is the most difficult and challenging of the three agencies. You will have a lot of homework and exams during the course, and you will need to present quite a few presentations. With well over 50 years of scuba experience, SSI knows how to prepare someone to work as a full-time dive instructor in the industry, and they do this better than any other agency.

Conclusion: Although starting the SSI instructor course is expensive, SSI has the largest global dealer network of dive centers. Almost all countries have an SSI office to support their instructors and dive centers quickly and effectively. All of this makes SSI the perfect choice for starting dive centers or instructors looking to work for a dive center. With the SSI Instructor Course, you become a freediving instructor of the highest level.

With SSI, there are much more quality checks in place than with the other agencies. This means that the level of teaching is ‘always’ guaranteed and that the skill level of students, Instructors, and Instructor Trainers is usually very high. 

Being an AIDA Freediving Instructor vs. an SSI or Molchanovs Instructor

AIDA is the most traditional of the three freediving agencies we discuss here. Of these three agencies, AIDA is the most experienced in competitions, which is immediately what they have going for them. With a rich history in freediving, run by mostly volunteers, the students, instructors, and people involved are always very loyal to this non-profit organization. AIDA has the ‘name,’ conducts a lot of research related to freediving, and is often directly associated with freediving as a whole.

AIDA is an organization run by volunteers, which is nice, but it also makes its support slow and ineffective – although now the first paid customer support jobs are fulfilled, and this helps a lot already. Their study materials are still offered via a somewhat boring and outdated PDF file without a mobile app or other modern media. And despite all their experience and history, there hasn’t been much development in their courses, materials, and organization.

Conclusion: AIDA and SSI have been competing in the market for a long time. One of the most significant advantages of AIDA was that you could teach anywhere as an independent instructor, but this is now possible with Molchanovs, too, so this might not be an argument to choose AIDA anymore.   

Teaching AIDA courses is much cheaper than teaching for other agencies like SSI and Molchanovs, making it an excellent option for the budget-conscious instructor. The lack of No Fins in the course curriculum also motivates many people to opt for an AIDA course.

AIDA is the global leader in freediving competitions while also offering great competition specialties like competitor, judge, competition safety, and deep safety. This makes AIDA always the go-to party for competitive freedivers.

You might get more value from the other agencies, but being an AIDA instructor is nice. They are the symbol of modern freediving, and as an AIDA Instructor, you join a group of people who love pure freediving.

Being a Molchanovs Instructor vs. an SSI or AIDA Instructor

What Molchanovs has accomplished since 2018, when the updated training system was launched, is truly incredible. Molchanovs teaches all-around and technical freediving in all disciplines. Add to that a great online community with lots of free training drills offered by some of the best freedivers in the world, and then you have a recipe for success for (independent) instructors and dive centers.

With the Molchanovs instructor course, you learn how to teach technical freediving – not so much about what it takes to become a skilled dive professional as where SSI readies you for the industry and makes you a top-level dive professional. The instructor course is fun and informative from beginning to end.

Conclusion: Molchanovs is the new kid on the block. Email support can be slow, and their online booking and registration system is somewhat unreliable.

Just like AIDA, you can work anywhere in the world as an independent instructor, but unlike AIDA, the Molchanovs organization is a for-profit organization, and since it’s a new commercial agency, rules, regulations, and pricing changes regularly.

Certification fees for SSI and Molchanovs are higher than AIDA, but it’s slightly cheaper to become a Molchanovs instructor than an SSI Instructor.

Molchanovs focuses on improving student skills and high technical levels via skills review and training. The materials are presented by some of the best freedivers in the world. We believe that Molchanovs is changing the industry with its most in-depth education system, having more pool levels, and the possibility of online teaching, and we are very excited about this development!

It’s Clear Why We Choose SSI, AIDA, and Molchanovs

With SSI, you get true professionalism, AIDA history, and academic research; with Molchanovs, you get a complete overhaul of the education system. All three agencies offer technical and high-level skills—you can not go wrong with any of them!

We at the Freedive Academy want to teach, train, and develop highly skilled instructors with a high level of skills in all freediving disciplines. SSI Freediving and Molchanovs or AIDA are the perfect combination for this.

Here is a quick overview of all the SSI Freediving Instructor Courses, the Molchanovs Instructor Courses, and the AIDA Instructor Courses we can teach.

Please note that almost all of the above options can be packaged into a combo package like the Beginner to Instructor Freediving programs (Zero to Hero) and the Freediving Internships or combined with a freedive training package. If you are interested in doing an instructor course, instructor crossover, or remote instructor course, please get in touch with us so we can package your courses.

The Most Important SSI, AIDA, and Molchanovs Instructor Courses!

You now know you want to become an SSI, AIDA, or Molchanovs freediving instructor, but how or where do you start?

When you are not an instructor, you must start with the regular Freedive Instructor Training Course (FITC) from either Molchanovs, AIDA, or SSI. The SSI FITC has different options. In the same course, you can become an SSI Freediving Instructor (Level 1) or SSI Advanced Freediving Instructor (Level 2) – the entire course is the same but with different performance requirements and presentations.

Crossing over as a freediving instructor from another agency is possible with AIDA, Molchanovs, and the SSI Advanced Freediving Instructor course. With some agencies like PADI, it’s also possible to cross over to SSI, AIDA, and Molchanovs Pool Instructor, but this is not recommended since you won’t have many teaching possibilities. In the case of the Pool Instructor, we highly recommend completing the normal recreational levels and proceeding with the standard and full instructor course.

After the regular instructor courses, you can upgrade to the Master Instructor level via an upgrade course, usually in only a few days. With Molchanovs, you can even do this online. As a Master Instructor for any other agency, you can cross over to the Molchanovs Wave 3, AIDA Master Instructor, and SSI Performance Instructor levels.

SSI has 3 Main Instructor Levels.

Below is an overview of the different levels, prerequisites, and what you must do to qualify for a certain level.

We run the SSI Freediving Instructor courses pretty much every two months. We usually teach them in English, but Dutch is also possible. If you prefer another language, please contact us since we also regularly work with translators.

If you want a quick reply, please use the short form on this page.

For more detailed information about Courses, Accommodation, Prices, etc. Please follow the below links.

For more detailed information, please fill in this form.

The Ins and Outs of the Molchanovs Instructor Courses!

You can become a Molchanovs Instructor via a full course, cross-over, or remote instructor course!

The Molchanovs freediving courses are about pure freediving, high-level skills and performance freediving. Molchanovs is changing the industry by teaching all freediving disciplines, offering their freedivers free and paid training programs and a completely new and updated education system.

Open water teaching with Molchanovs starts with the Molchanovs Wave 2 course – pool teaching begins with the Lap 2 Instructor Course. Molchanovs doesn’t train Wave 1 or Lap 1 Instructors since Molchanovs believes their Instructors need to have a high level of skills and experience and have to pass at least the Wave 2 or Lap 2 requirements to be able to teach freediving.

After being a Molchanovs instructor for a year, have 50 specific certifications you can become a Wave 3 instructor via an (online) upgrade or via cross-over from another agency’s master-level instructor level.

You can become a Molchanovs Freediving Instructor by joining the FITC (Freediving Instructor Training Course). You can also become a Molchanovs Instructor via cross-over from another agency. On this page, you can find a complete overview of all freediving organisations and their levels.

Open Water Teaching Starts with the Molchanovs Wave 2 Instructor Level

You can either do the full course, the combo package or a cross-over! The Molchanovs Wave 2 course is the first open water freediving course available via a full course or a cross-over package. To cross over towards Molchanovs, ensure you have the right certification level.

We run the Molchanovs Freediving Instructor courses pretty much every month. We usually teach them in English, but Dutch is also possible. If you prefer another language, please contact us since we also regularly work with translators.

If you want a quick reply, please use the short form on this page.

For more detailed information about Courses, Accommodation, Prices, etc. Please follow the below links.

For more detailed information, please fill in this form.

What you need to know about the AIDA Freediving Instructor Course!

You can Become an AIDA Instructor via a Full Course or Instructor Cross Over!

AIDA has an incredibly rich history in freediving, is the leader in competitive freediving, and is the most academic and research-based agency of all. You will also experience this in the Freediving Instructor Training Course (FITC) via more extensive and educational presentations.

Join the AIDA FITC to become an AIDA Freediving Instructor or pool Instructor. We always suggest aiming for the open water instructor level instead of becoming a Pool Instructor. Crossing over from another agency for open water and pool freediving instructors is also possible.

To upgrade from AIDA Freediving Instructor to Master Instructor, you have to apply.

If you have issued 50 certifications, of which at least 20 are AIDA 2 and 10 are AIDA 3, you can apply for the Master Instructor status by messaging the AIDA Education Committee.

We run AIDA Freediving Instructor courses every couple of months. We usually teach them in English, but Dutch is also possible. If you prefer another language, please get in touch with us since we also regularly work with translators.

If you want a quick reply, please use the short form on this page.

For more detailed information about Courses, Accommodation, Prices, etc. Please follow the below links.

For more detailed information, please fill in this form.

Doing More than ‘Just’ a Freedive Instructor Course.

An Instructor Course can be much more than just 10 or 13 days of Studying!

You now know about our freediving center in the Philippines, our facilities, the fully equipped classrooms, and our own private two-lane 25-meter pool. You now know about the freedive instructor courses we teach here in Panglao. That we run them every other month, dive from shore without a boat, and you might even have read about all the things you can do in Panglao. We offer so much more than ‘just’ a Freediving Instructor Course.

Panglao Island is a beautiful green island in the heart of the Philippines. And thanks to the geographical location and the unique location of the academy, we can offer fantastic, near-perfect freediving conditions year-round. Add to that the life on the island, great restaurants and bars, cheap but very lovely grocery shopping, lots of activities for your days off, and excellent and affordable long-term housing, and then you realize that Panglao is perfect for a long-term stay. And because the Freedive Academy Panglao can offer so much more than ‘just’ an instructor course, many of our visitors decide to stay here for a more extended period and combine their Instructor Course with training or one of our other programs. Have a look, and see what fits you!

Join us with one of the following Freedive Instructor Development programs.

The Freedive Academy Panglao Instructor Course Schedule

We run Freedive Instructor courses every month now!

You must schedule your trip to Panglao wisely. The start of your Zero to Hero freediving program should be planned around your instructor course, just like we do with the freediving internships. If you do ‘only’ an instructor course with us, arriving in Panglao the day before your course starts is possible, but it makes the instructor course very challenging.

Please feel free to contact us anytime with any scheduling questions you may have.

If you want a quick reply, please use the short form on this page.

For more detailed information about Courses, Accommodation, Prices, etc. Please follow the below links. We look forward to meeting you here in Panglao – you’ll love the freediving family! 🙂

For more detailed information, please fill in this form.