5-DAY PADI FREEDIVING INSTRUCTOR PROFESSIONAL COURSE

Plunge into a fun and exciting career as a PADI Freediving Instructor! Not just a freediving instructor course, immerse in the behind the scenes insights and knowledge that will provide you with the tools to go well beyond kicking off a part-time career teaching the world how to freedive.

Course Location: Mornington Peninsula, VIC

Ideal for all certified PADI Master Freedivers (or equivalent recognised certification) interested in beginning a new career as a freediving instructor. 

Learn in a supportive and real way with Marlon Quinn, PADI Freediving Instructor Trainer who turned monthly freediving courses into a fully fledged freediving school, eco tour charter boat business and award-winning tourism operation. Upon successful completion earn a PADI Freediver Instructor Certification.

Meet Your Instructor

Marlon Quinn - PADI Freediver Instructor Trainer

Let the water flow around you and learn to see within on a specialist retreat led by former IT Executive turned Sea Changer, Freediving Instructor Trainer, RIB Pilot and Dolphin & Seal Tour Host, Marlon Quinn.

He himself was not a natural freediver. Having feinted at the pool from cold as a young child. On another occasion being rushed to hospital unable to breathe, feeling as if suffocating. Being crushed to expiration by wayward teens in a game of stacks-on. Surely not the core foundations to holding one’s breath.

As an adult though, he at last found the sea, only to encounter a stingray head-on and retreat with fright. This was the catalyst though, to learn with the world’s best freedivers, the modern gods of the sea, where he found beauty and peace within himself, on one breath, freediving deep into the blue sea. In 2013 Marlon founded the Melbourne Freedivers Club and since 2014 Marlon has evoked the true passion of the water, providing freediving courses across Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. Going on to develop a multi-award winning dolphin & seal tour RIB charter operator and recognised premiere PADI Freediver Centre.

Highlights

This professional PADI Freediving Instructor course guides you towards living a life working in the marine environment and sharing the beauty of the underwater world, all on one breath. Not only will you learn the art of living life as a freediving instructor, but also gain real-world insights from someone who has proven the success of the seachange life and making a career of freediving and eco boat tours. All on an immersive 5-day course for just four guests, held in the centre of wellness and well-being, the Mornington Peninsula.

• Supportive & Stress Free Learning:   Develop step by step with your dedicated instructor and reach for new depths without pressure of performance
• Swim with Dolphins & Seals:    Learn about the life and career of an award-wining seal and dolphin tour operator and live the experience in real time, just as you can in the future
• Breathwork & Balance:    Guided breathwork and meditation sessions to develop a new relationship between you and your breath, breathing and breathhold confidence
• Tourism, Dive and Trade Tools for Every Day:    Adopt the instructor insights and personalised coaching for success as a new instructor and potential freediving school operator
• Hot Springs Water Wellness:    Relax into the soothing waters of the Hot Springs for new water knowledge and ease followed by instructor-led stretching routine
• Refreshing Ourselves:    Light refreshments provided and a late lunch to close the retreat, hosted by your instructor

Skill Level

- Master   (eg certified PADI Master Freediver or AIDA 4* / SSI Level Three / Molchanov Wave 3 or Lap 3 certification).

Health & Hygiene

We are committed to the safety of our guests, tour guides, skippers, and the people in our local communities around Port Phillip Bay and on the Mornington Peninsula. Have confidence that you are supported by an endorsed and recognised COVID Clean Practicing Business under the Australian Tourism Industry Council Quality Tourism Australia program. This provides guests with additional assurance that we have adopted global health and hygiene standards designed to keep your travels as safe as possible.

This endorsement is recognised by the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Safe Travels Stamp, which is the standard regulatory bodies and guests expect for tour operators worldwide.

Program

Get ready to set yourself free with WaterMaarq in the beautiful restorative waters of Mornington Peninsula and southern Port Phillip Bay.

An important place of indigenous, colonial history and unique temperate reef waters and protected marine creatures and bird life. 

Includes:

• PADI Learning Materials - Instructor Guide, Cue Cards, Freediver e-learning, Exam Fee
• Course Teaching & Theory on-site at Peninsula Hot Springs
• 3 x Confined Water Workshops over 2x Double Sessions
• 3 x Open Water Freediving Training Workshops over 2x Half-Day Dives
• Hot Springs Bathing Experience
• Breathwork & Cold Water Immersion Experience
• Tourism, Trade and Channels Sessions
• Daily healthy snacks during classroom sessions
• Maximum 4 x Candidates

Day 1

• Welcome, Course Orientation and Introductions
• Learning and Instruction
• PADI Freediver Course Overview and Standards
• Teaching Skills and Supervise Freediving
• Pool / Confined Water Workshop 1 + 2

Day 2

• Open Water Boat Freedive Training 1 + 2
• Freedive Physiology and Psychology
• Teaching Skills and Supervise Freediving

Day 3

• Pool / Confined Water Workshop 3 + Review
• Safety and Risk Management
• Protection and Care of Marine Environment
• Organising and Marketing Freediving
• Teaching Skills and Supervise Freediving

Day 4

• Breathwork and Cold Water Immersion Exercise
  
• Teaching Skills and Supervise Freediving
• Dive Retail and Wholesale Industry
• Open Water Boat Freedive Training 3 +  Review

Day 5

• Hot Springs Bathe & Guided Stretching
• Tourism Trade and Channels Session
• Professional Tools for Success
• Retreat Debrief & Closure

Bathing suit, 5mm wetsuit including hood, weightbelt and weights, mask and snorkel, fins, towel(s), neoprene gloves and socks, re-useable water bottle, and, personal sunscreen.

Included Excursion

During this retreat, you will enjoy a bathing experience at the Peninsula Hot Springs, as well as boat trips in the beautiful southern waters of Port Phillip Bay. The boat trips include a specific freediving line-diving session and teaching skills development, plus a fun session to explore the reef, swim with seals and unique temperate fish, and the opportunity to immerse with dolphins.

Location

This wonderful PADI Freediving Instructor Course takes place on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. It's around a 90-minute drive from Melbourne. In modern life the Mornington Peninsula is well known as a centre of well-being, surrounded by the waters of Port Phillip Bay and the Southern Ocean and Bass Strait. An incredible environment it is a destination that favours relaxing activities and immersion in Nature. Renowned for fresh produce farms, marine delicacies and long-established wineries, the Mornington Peninsula provides experiences for the discerning visitor. Historically rich, the region was home to the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation that may have traversed the shores for more than 40,000 years. First Settled by the British in early 1800s, it is an area now recognised for healthy living and protected wildlife including Australian Fur Seals, Bottlenose Dolphins (Burrunan) and Weedy Seadragons.

PADI Freediver Certification

This 5-Day PADI Freediver Instructor Course provides the opportunity for you to develop skills and knowledge within your reach and move towards working as a qualified PADI Freediving instructor, which is available upon successful completion of the course. To satisfactorily enrol in a PADI Freediver certification course you must be at least 18 years old. You need adequate swimming skills and need to be in good physical health. You must hold a recognised PADI Freediver level two certification or recognised equivalent. 

• Caters to advanced and master freedivers
• Minimum age: 18 years
• Learn to freedive 70m length in the pool, to a depth of 30m in the sea and hold your breath for 3:30 comfortably
• Successful completion results in world-recognised PADI Master Freediver level three freediving certification

Course Prerequisites

To enroll in a PADI Freediver Instructor Training Course, a candidate must meet certification and training requirements for one of the following options:

Option 1 – already a PADI Member

• PADI Divemaster or Assistant Instructor
• PADI Master Freediver or qualifying certification
  
• Current Emergency First Response (CPR/first aid) Instructor
  
• Current medical statement signed by a physician within 12 months

• PADI Master Freediver or qualifying certification
• 18 years old or older
  
• Current Emergency First Response (CPR/first aid) Instructor
  
• Current medical statement signed by a physician within 12 months

Terms & Conditions:

• Session fees are non-refundable (unless the session is cancelled by us for unforeseen circumstances), please choose your experience with care. Trip insurance is highly recommended as cover for unforeseen cancellations
• Courses are held on the Mornington Peninsula and visit Fingal, Rosebud and Sorrento VIC during the sessions
• Please arrive at the beginning venue 15 minutes before commencement time to ensure you have enough time to check in and get settled
• Please dress comfortably
• Please bring a bag with your swimmers, 5mm wetsuit, fins, mask, snorkel, weightbelt, a towel and your own re-usable water bottle. Rental equipment is available.
• Guests must be able to swim. Retreats do not cater for people with no swimming ability. The Instructor retains the right to refuse participation in which case your attendance is forfeited
• Guests with back, neck, or heart conditions, those who are pregnant or who have injuries/conditions that may cause a risk to their health are advised not to participate, or do so at their own risk
• A Diver's Medical Statement and Questionnaire must be submitted to attend the course
• A diving medical (AS4005.1) may be required prior to commencement of the course
• All participants under the age of 18 years must have a parent/guardian sign all applicable waiver/medical forms
• Subject to minimum numbers and may be rescheduled if minimum numbers are not met
• The supplier reserves the right to substitute the venue / pool and / or change the day’s itinerary without notice