You travelled to Panglao, dove with us, and you love us – awesome, we love you too! 🙂 And now you want to share your experience with others. Thank you!
But serious now, we sincerely appreciate the love!
Thank you!
We hope to see you back here soon!
Jemmo Pacoma
One of the best if not the best place to freedive.
I did my SSI level one with them back in June 2017 and my level 3 last July, and it feels like coming back home. The center has a very contagious positive atmosphere that you do not want to miss. Everyone is so great from the instructor to the ground crew. At Freedive Academy Panglao you’ll meet freedivers of all level, and everyone is so supportive of each other. The center has the facilities you’ll need for your freediving training. The best part of it is that the centre is only a few minutes away from your depth goal.
Will definitely come back.
Danny B.
We had a really nice time here at Freedive Academy Panglao.
My friend and I did a level 1 course here in August, and first of all, learning to freedive is really something special. The instructor was recommended to me via a mutual friend, and I contacted him via Facebook since their website was still under construction, but he responded to all my messages within the hour.
Lessons where nice, and a lot of fun – on land and in the water. It surprised me how easy it was to hold your breath for minutes when you know how to breathe properly (3:06!). The 3 days we spent at the centre where great! Unfortunately, we did have rain and some waves during the lessons in the water, but that happens – the wrong season I guess…
Additionally, there was some construction going on at the dive resort, and we had moments that the noise outside was quite annoying. But overall; we had a really good time, and I hope to come back to the Philippines one day to do my level 2 with them.
Cyrus Dastoor
Safety, Highly Qualified Staff, and Location, Location, Location.
Can’t recommend this place any more.
They have the single best location for freediving in Bohol (and perhaps Asia).
Highly professional and courteous staff, easily contactable and always willing to help…
Great for ALL levels of freediving – 10meters to 100+
Alison E
Awesome freediving experience!
It is our first time to be on the wonderful island of Panglao. Me and my boyfriend were really amazed by the natural beauty of the island. Since we both love the sea and exciting activities, we decided to try freediving. Thanks to the friendly and very knowledgeable instructors here, our experience was indeed a memorable one. We have learned the basic knowledge of freediving and finished our level 1 course in 3 days. I highly recommend Freedive Academy Panglao to everyone.
Eve Phua
Freedive Academy Panglao has the best location to learn freediving.
It is convenient to train when the sea is pretty much in your backyard. There is a beautiful reef wall with plenty of marine life to explore after training. It is exhilarating to have schools of fish swimming around you when you do your training.
The Instructors and staff at the academy are extremely nice and friendly people, always ready to lend a helping hand (or their personal fins). I did both my Level 1 and level 2 with Nejc. He is very knowledgeable about freediving, and he always related back to the theory when we were doing the practical sessions. It makes understanding the theory easier for me. His patience and encouragement helped me to persevere to the end of the course. He even went out of his way to help me look for other accommodations because I didn’t like the one I was staying at and when I had an ear infection, he got medication from the pharmacy for me. Having a caring instructor like Nejc makes learning to freedive more assuring as I can count on him to cover all the safety aspects and focus on executing my techniques.
If I could, I would return here to continue my freediving lessons because of its location and superb Instructors.
Kristine Tecson
Competent instructors and a fun basic freediving course!
As a beginner, I was a bit terrified of freediving. I had worries before I even started the course and panicked when we finally had to go into the open water.
But thanks to our reliable and (very) supportive instructor, Kuya Edwin, we enjoyed every minute and had fun during our basic freediving course, despite the slightly choppy waters!
My friends and I were complete newbies to freediving. But after just a day of learning breathing techniques and realising just how capable the human body really is, we were able to go into the open water, apply what we learned, and had a blast in the process.
It was amazing how Freedive Academy Panglao encourages you to challenge your understanding of your limitations and break that mould you put yourself into. The initial discomfort that the unknown brings slowly turns into something wonderful that you take with you forever.
My friends and I are already planning to return soon and get our SS1 Level 1 training. We’re excitedly talking about bringing new friends in and sharing the experience with them.
We are particularly grateful for Kuya Edwin! We couldn’t have asked for a better instructor to introduce us to this amazing sport. I personally felt safe from start to finish, and I wonder now why I was so scared in the first place.
To those of you who, like me, had hesitations and fears about freediving, I encourage you to give freediving with Freedive Academy Panglao a try. They’ll help you to open your eyes to the beauty of the ocean depths and make the process very enjoyable, too!
Arthur
A nice freediving experience
I came to Freedive Academy Panglao for new experiences and techniques to progress.
This dive center is really comfortable, and it is also easy to speak, think and share ideas about freediving.
This was a really nice experience, and I suggest to all people to come here.
This picture was a fun dive made with my teacher Nejc. (*image is missing)
Simone Corell
Excellent freediving school
A special thanks to our great teachers, Nejc and Kim! We had good fun, learned a lot & enjoyed the super nice reef and the sardines.
Location is perfect, with a house reef directly nearby dive centre.
We hope to come back soon!
Simone & Bernd
Geoffrey Attard
Perfect place for freediving
This place is perfect to learn freediving from a beginner level to a professional level.
It’s also perfect for already qualified freedivers who want to train. 100m+ available close from the shore, don’t even need a boat and the conditions are always pretty good. The reef is also pretty nice, and I’ve been lucky enough to see whale sharks, pilot whales, dolphins, and even a blue whale since I’m there.
And in bonus, a very friendly team and nice people are living there.
I’ve already spent more than 6 months there, and I’m still not planning to leave.
Lui
Super professional, experienced and lovely team. Great courses and location.
I’m a scuba diving instructor, and last year I decided to try freediving. I took the SSI level 1 with free diving Guru Vincent Sparreboom. Having taught scuba for 4 years it was great to be a student again, learning something new. Vincent’s professionalism, knowledge and experience was astounding. Definitely one of the most professional coaches I’ve ever had over my 20-year diving experience. In the water, we were joined by Edwin and Sebastian who at the time were training to become instructors. Both of these guys were so supportive and encouraging. I felt completely supported and safe throughout the whole experience. Previously when chatting about freediving, I managed to hold my breath for 2 minutes (only once). After Vincent coached us on the breath up and relaxation techniques, I was totally surprised that I managed to hold my breath for over 4 minutes!
After such a great experience, of course, I went back and did my level 2 with Vincent. Once again, the training was superb, and I surpassed everything I had learnt at level 1.
I cannot recommend this place enough.
Thank you, Vincent and Freedive Academy Panglao!
Scott Lambert
Freediving in paradise
If I could give Freedive Academy Panglao more than 5 stars, then I would. This place is magical. It offers freediving students the perfect blend of high calibre instructors, a warm and friendly atmosphere, and an absolutely unforgettable diving location. It does not matter if you are a beginner or a deep diver, this place has something for everyone, and the dive spot is a mere 2 minute swim from shore. In other words, no boat required!
I was lucky enough to complete my SSI freediving level 1 and 2 under my instructor, Kim, whose knowledge, experience, patience, and encouragement I am truly grateful for. I could not have asked for a better introduction to the depth (and breath) of freediving and am already planning my next course at the Academy 🙂
Tessie LaMourea
World class freediving dive center (plus cats)
I have nothing but love for this center. Vincent really created a dive center that feels like a home away from home.
I did my level 2, level 3, and my instructor course at this center over the course of a couple months and I’m so glad I was trained at Freedive Academy Panglao. The training conditions really cannot be better. The water is flat, warm, and inviting every single day, and visibility is easily 15-20 meters. You can swim out to the surface line and have access to as much depth as you want. The thing that makes Freedive Academy Panglao different, though, is the people.
The staff is incredible. I was lucky enough to train with all the English instructors during my stay, and every single one of them made me a better diver (thank you Vincent, Kim, Edwin, and Nejc!). Their coaching helped me set new personal bests, all while making training fun. I was able to train not only with instructors but also with other master divers. Freedive Academy Panglao has a master’s training program with insanely talented divers, and I learned so much from diving with so many people. It doesn’t matter if you’re diving to 10 meters or to 100 meters, everyone was so welcoming and supportive of each other. I looked forward to all my training sessions because I liked the people I trained with.
Bottom line – the instructors are informative, everyone is fantastic to train with, and the location is perfect. As a bonus, after a long training session, you can relax in the hammock or spend some time cuddling with one of the dive center cats (all of them are perfect and adorable and fuzzy). The Freedive Academy Panglao is a world-class freediving center, and they have the best dive center cats. I absolutely adore this place!
Aaron Chiang
The coaches are particularly warm and professional.
There is also many cute kittens.
My stay was way too short. I want to take more lessons with Freedive Academy Panglao.
Victoria Peters
A great Level 3 course!
I had been looking for a place to do my level 3 for a while, and I’m super happy that I choose Freedive Academy Panglao, not only did they get back to my first enquiry email super fast but it is also a great learning environment! I got sick during my course and taking a couple of days off was not only not a problem but also encouraged rather than rushing through to the finish! 🙂
The school is located right by an amazing reef so when diving you usually run into a whole bunch fish which is always amazing. We even did a night snorkelling/diving session around the full moon which was amazing to get to look at the reef with the moonlight.
10/10 would dive here again! 🙂
Mandy Leung
Thanks my teacher Daichi (Chen Dadi) for his caring and sharing, he is super professional and obviously knows a lot about freediving. He helped me to overcome my fears and my limitations. Now freediving becomes my new pursue in life!
David Cabrera
Nice spot! Calm waters and good buddies. It feels like home. Many thanks for all and see you soon 😉
Jupp Alexander
Perfect place to train.
At the beginning of May, I completed my SSI Level 2 freedive at Freedive Academy Panglao with Patrick as my instructor. The location is perfect with a drop right on the doorstep going down to 25m and very quickly to depths for those much more capable than me! The school is relaxed and professional with lots of space. Patrick is a very patient instructor with a huge wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for the sport. When I was struggling with certain aspects, especially my relaxation, it was very useful for him telling me his approach, how he overcame certain problems and discussing different techniques. He has high attention to detail and helps improve even the smallest flaw in technique. He helped me a lot with my body position in freefall and finning technique among many other things. I came out of the course a much better and safer freediver. It was a pleasure being coached learning at Freedive Academy Panglao, and I will definitely come back again. Bring on level 3! See you in the deep blue 🙂
AJ Ignacio
Best trainers, best location. Too bad there were whale sharks, dolphins and pilot whales when we were training on my birthday. 🙂 Sea you guys soon! 🙂
Teagan Kane
SSI Freediving Level 1 and 2
I took the level 1 SSI freediving course to see what it was all about and ended up loving freediving. Patrick was very professional taught a great course. I liked it so much. I took level two. Patrick was patient and taught me not just the course material but other ways to be a better freediver. Vincent, the manager, was very accommodating and helpful. I would really recommend it for any level.
Cara Pang
I came here for a freediving course. Everything was perfect, especially the location which provides easy access and safe entry point to the open sea. The amazing underwater world was just seconds from the shore. The staff and management of Freedive Academy Panglao are friendly, extremely helpful and flexible. Strongly recommended.
Jana Neirynck
Perfect place for freedive training with great conditions and an amazing natural drop-off with lots of marine life! The sunsets here are breathtaking, and I even saw fireflies! Vincent, the owner, is a super nice and warm-hearted person! I definitely recommend Freedive Academy Panglao.
Assaf Reshef
Did my SSI level 1 with Freedive Academy Panglao and had a blast. They made the course super easy and fun and had the patience to answer all my questions. Thanks a lot, everyone, I hope to see you again soon!
Gloria Jiayin Tsai
I recommend everyone to train at the Freedive Academy Panglao. It was the best decision we made in the Philippines. The dive site drop off is stunning, sardine storm at my arms reach, buoy line ready to connect at any moment when you feel like jumping into the water, helpful staff….lovely training buddies. No boat, no waiting. Just jump in, and you are ready to train. My partner and I loved it so much and will come back again, definitely. Muah!
Ngoc Vo
I feel like home being here!
As a freediver, I’d say Freedive Academy Panglao is truly “from freedivers, for freedivers”.
Just a few minutes away from shore/diving platform, you can dive any time of the day as you wish. Some go diving at 6 am, some go diving at 5 pm. We have 25m depth with the spectacular drop-off coral reef which will definitely give you a wow-effect. For advanced freedivers seeking depth, 1-minute swimming out we can have over 80m depth.
Inside the resort, if you don’t want to dive, you can swim, yoga, dry training, or just chill out on the hammock any time of the day.
The school provides all freediving gears you need and all high-end equipment.
Any instructors at the school, especially Vincent, is super helpful and friendly. He is always willing to explain and share his passion and knowledge of freediving.
The school really makes people feel like home here.
Maria Antonia Vergara
Best freedive spot!
I went to Freedive Academy Panglao to train for three weeks and ended up doing my SSI L2 with Vincent while there. They have THE best spot, amazing underwater scenery makes it super easy to relax and enjoy each dive, super comfortable close to shore and very organised shop. Will definitely head back soon!
Norman Gem Ellasos
Free diving training and holiday
It was a pleasure to have been under the tutelage of Vincent to further improve my freediving skills – it was a very rare opportunity to have received personal instructions and functional wisdom of this specialised craft. My interest is in spearfishing; My ears gave in at the middle of the training and made it to 20 meters only with 10 more meters shy of fulfilling my personal depth goal to bag level 3- it went downhill after that. Nevertheless, there a lot of advance takeaways that I ran away with. Most notably, the advanced equalisation techniques he shared to me. In addition to this, I considered myself lucky to receive yogic asanas and meditational pointers to improve my technique further. He’s a professional instructor of the trade, and a yoga guru all rolled into one!
Namaste.
Mercy Adaptar
A great place to be and greater people to be with. 🙂 😉
One of the best locations for training serious freediving that every freediver would dream of!
It is a very good place to chase depths in a very convenient manner as the place is just nearby a drop off cliff. No need for boats and tiring swimming as after a more or less 10 meters swim, you`re at an awesome training ground. 🙂
Also, it is not just a good place for depths but also for fun diving. The cliff has its own very beautiful reef and colourful coral which is the habitat of a different variety of marine life from amazing sardines, to yellowfin jackfish, beautiful scorpionfish, etc. If you get lucky, from time to time, you get to see mantas, whale sharks and some serious whales passing by the area!
But what makes me even more happy about this place is the amazing owner, the professional and knowledgeable instructors, and the super friendly staff that make you feel home away from home. They make you feel like you are part of a family. The owner and the instructors are very high skilled and definitely know what they are talking about and make sure you are safe. Safety is their top priority. 🙂
Kudos to everybody, especially to Vincent, who bestowed his knowledge when he taught me my Level 1 course. Hope to train with you guys again and looking forward to my Level 2 course soon!
Alius Dominauskas
Must go place in Panglao. I learned so much cool stuff. I learned to stay underwater for 3 minutes in a day. It was very professional and fun.
Nejc Likar
Panglao – best freediving experience.
Unique freediving location and the best staff made my home and family for the past months. It was hard to leave but easy to think of soon return! I wish you all the best and thank you!
Shigeru Higaki
Amazing Environment and Instructor
Obviously, they are extremely geographically well-positioned, as you can see their website etc.
My room was just located 100m away from the point where we can go 100m depth.
Wake up and change, walk to the shore, and you cantor up the buoy just a few kicks away from the shore.
My amazing instructor Nejc just accompanied me for a week and pushed my PB down over 10m.
Muchas gracias amigos!!!
On Land In Sea
Amazing dive spot for freediving! The staff at Freedive Academy Panglao are all great people from different walks of life. It was a memorable experience filled with exciting adventures and infinite possibilities. Cheers to more dives!
Aileen Chang
I’m so happy and thank Nejc and Edge a lot for my 3 days.
I have passed the SSI level 1 course, and now I also want to do the next one when I get back.🙃
Nejc is so nice and patient.
I didn´t really understand at first, but he tried to explain everything to me, even with DRAWINGS.
It was so sweet and cute, but you will understand soon.😂
I really recommend Freedive Academy Panglao!
Gordz Gojunco
Awesome instructors, really knowledgeable and passionate about freediving. Good coaches and mentors. Perfect facility and location for training and learning! You guys rock! Keep it up. Can’t wait for the next trip.
