freediving certification?

[messey]

so i just got home from a scuba store while I was there I talked to this one sales dude who turned out to be a certified freediving instructor. He told me that you must be certified to freediving/spearfish in canada and there are laws/regulations for anything to do with holding your breath under water. The store will have a freediving coarse starting december for certifying ppl to 60 feet.

k so i have never heard of having to be certified before and was wondering if any of you had heard about this

vessey

 

[jimdoe2you]

Hahahahaha rofl , ............ask him to define at what depth a person changes from snorkeling to freediving! rofl

If I were you, I would find another dive shop to frequent. If you do go back, also ask him if you need a "Surface Oxygen Consumption Certificate" in order to breath Canadian air!

 

[ADR]

rofl rofl Do the freediving police arrive with flashing lights and sirens at the bottom if you exceed your "qualified" depth?....what a load of rot. If the enthusiasm to educate and train safe freedivers has progressed in Canada to regulating activites to that extent, then I think it has gone too far. I'm not sure that Canadian Will Winrum has any formal credentials for freediving but I am sure he will continue to dive past 80m anyway.

 

[MKDVR]

Freediving isn't free.

 

[island_sands]

What a way to try and sell you a course rofl

 

[samdive]

well of course AIDA has a range of certification courses. At SaltFree we ask all divers to have a minimum of ** Freediver. Most of the pools over here require some kind of official training before you can rent space or practise freediving in them.

AIDA ** is the beginner level course for anyone who is already OK in the water. See if you can find an AIDA Instructor to teach you that - there is a list on AIDA International

Presumably if you have a problem in the water, you'd expect someone to help rescue you/recover your body - so I don't think it's too out of order for them to ask you to have a certification

 

[Erik]

He's a liar...give me his phone # please. If he is a scuba instructor I will report him to his agency.

 

[Fondueset]

Sam - are you saying you support a legal certification requirement for all freedivers?
The guy in that shop is way out of line. I'd definitely stand clear.

 

[laminar]

As a member of the Canadian Reporting Agency of People caught freediving (CRAP), I have to weigh in here with some rules and regulations...

Rule 1411.12.2 Anyone found underwater below sixty feet with be asked to stop. Or we'll say "stop" again.

:duh

 

[caymanmermaid]

OK GUYS- maybe there is no official rule but it is much safer doing a course on freediving to fully understand the risks and precautions needed. My suggestion would be to look into on of Kirk Cracks courses - he has them in the Carib, and Canada, Hawaii once or twice a year.
As for the salesman - hes trying to make a quick buck..

 

[jimdoe2you]

I would have sworn that caymanmermaid is actually Mandy, but I doubt the real Mandy would have spelled her husbands last name wrong! :t

(......or is she just that tricky to throw us off her trail?)

rofl

 

[Fondueset]

Laminar - That must fall under the auspices of the Canadian Reporting Agency of People caught Freediving Enforcement STatute?
(CRAPFEST)

 

[laminar]

Fonduesettee - Freediver Reporting Agency of Canada (FRAC)

Yes, taking a course is a great idea. But there are many accomplished and experienced freedivers who learned from the community or by their own abilities to think ahead. All have their specific advantages and pitfalls.

But imposing a legal requirement to take a breath and dive underwater is simply totalitarian. And, anyway, I'm exempt from FRAC or any such organization because I exhale...tee hee hee. I'm not breath holding per say. I'm blood oxygen diving!

 

[island_sands]

I would have sworn that caymanmermaid is actually Mandy, but I doubt the real Mandy would have spelled her husbands last name wrong! :t

(......or she she just that tricky to throw us off her trail?)

rofl

yeah and i dont think he'd appreciate the meaning of Crack rofl (*)

 

[Paul Kotik]

I know plenty of freedivers who are definitely certifiable.

 

[Bill]

'I know plenty of freedivers who are definitely certifiable'

That goes without saying. The real question is, do you know any that aren't?
Aloha
Bill

 

[feign]

Messey,

Was this in Calgary?

 

[messey]

ya man, it was at "Adventures in Scuba" i have stopped in there a few times before. It was the first time i had seen this dude and he was trying hard to sell me stuff. He new i was a freediver and everything he was trying to sell me was useless. i totaly caught him up asking him where he got his gear and he said florida then i asked him what brands and he just went quit looked around the store and start naming what he saw on the wall. so the guy was a jerk attempting to sell me gear that he knew was no good for what i was doing.

 

[MKDVR]

ya man, it was at "Adventures in Scuba" i have stopped in there a few times before. It was the first time i had seen this dude and he was trying hard to sell me stuff. He new i was a freediver and everything he was trying to sell me was useless. i totaly caught him up asking him where he got his gear and he said florida then i asked him what brands and he just went quit looked around the store and start naming what he saw on the wall. so the guy was a jerk attempting to sell me gear that he knew was no good for what i was doing.

:naughty What an A-hole.

I've always had this idea to go into a new OW type scuba shop and pretend to be interested in taking the OW course. That would be interesting.rofl

 

[feign]

I have only been in "Adventures ..." a couple of times. It seemed geared to the snowbird scuba crowd. I was disturbed when my friend at work told me he was just at that same store a few months ago and outfitted himself and his wife with snorkel gear for their tropical trip. It cost him $500 for mask, fins, snorkel for two, but that free mesh bag it came with was sure sweet :head. I told him he should have come and talked to me and he could have had free gear to take.