FAQ's

We offer different types of courses, workshops & experiences and can even customise courses to your specific needs. If you are unsure, please get in contact!

Here are some general guidelines to help you navigate our courses:

INTRO WORKSHOP
Best suited to those who have little to no ocean experience

The workshop is Ideal for those who want to learn how to snorkel comfortably in the open ocean, to maximise your experience at sea & explore the world of freediving. We touch on the connection between freediving & mental wellbeing and how these principles can be applied to everyday life.

By the end of this workshop you will have a basic understanding of freediving terminology, physiology and understand how your body responds to being submerged underwater. You’ll have the basic skills to enjoy advanced snorkeling and explore the underwater world on one breath.

DISCOVER FREEDIVING EXPERIENCE
In this discovery course, you get your first freediving experience in open water. You will learn how to relax your body and mind, breathe efficiently, and get an introduction to breath-holding and finning. It is the ideal first experience and allows you to keep going with the full beginner freediving course if you are enthusiastic about freediving.

WAVE 1 BEGINNER FREEDIVER
Discover the underwater world in the most natural way by holding your breath. The Molchanovs Beginner Freediver course will take you through a fun & relaxed experience, with a strong focus on making you a safe freediver.

In this course, you will get all the basics of freediving and will become an autonomous freediver able to explore the underwater world comfortably. You will learn how to practice freediving safely, what happens with your body when you hold your breath, how to dive more efficiently, and how to handle freediving mentally, but also any other life situation. By the end of the course, you should be able to dive safely and comfortably between 12 and 20 meters. You will also learn distance disciplines in the pool, with and without fins, focusing on technique and efficiency.

WAVE 2 ADVANCED FREEDIVER
As a Molchanovs Wave 2 Advanced Freediver you will extend your limits further in all disciplines (up to a depth of 30m), and become more proficient in no fin techniques. You will learn the history of freediving, how it all started, where, why and how we got where we are now. You will dive deeper into the physics of freediving, how it affects your body. You will go into detail about depth and distance dives and understand the main differences and adaptations of our bodies.

As you progress with your technique skillset and performance, you also work further on mental training introducing mindfulness techniques tailored to different contexts. Safety is also brought up to a new level with details on blackouts, decompression illness, learning how to avoid them, and mastering advanced rescue techniques.

Freediving is a sport for anyone to get involved in. You don’t need to be an athlete, a scuba diver, or a natural water baby. You will learn the skills to help you build your ocean confidence and freediving skills from zero.

However, there are some minimum requirements for Wave 1 & 2 courses to help keep you safe in the water:

• Our minimum age is 18
• You must be able to swim 200m in water
• There’s a medical form to complete before the course begins to make sure you have no pre-existing serious conditions. If you do have any conditions, we will ask you to get permission from your doctor before freediving
• We can’t let you freedive if you have scuba-dived within the previous 24h

Freediving is growing at a huge rate. It can be hard to choose the best freediving course, as there are so many out there, and each freediving school has its own style.

Here is what you can expect from SALT Escape:

• Truly Beginner-Friendly – We pride ourselves on creating the most approachable, accessible and authentic courses available in South Africa. We know what it’s like to be out of your comfort zone, and so we don’t bullshit you, and we don’t tolerate egos.

• Durban Locals – we’re at the center of the freediving community in the East Coast Suburbs and we will connect you into it. Every student is added to our KZN Freediving WhatsApp Group and welcome to attend our training sessions &  adventure dives.

• Continuing Your Journey – we can help you make freediving a lifestyle. We’re the only freediving school in Durban offering regular training and social dives to keep you wet.

• Get The Shot – We offer professional photo packages for your course.

• The Gear – If you don’t have it, we can provide it! We don’t think it’s fair to ask you to buy fancy gear before your first course!

Here are the values that you’ll find across all courses and training:

• IT’S YOUR OWN JOURNEY – Your strengths, struggles and reasons for freediving are your own, and our courses are environments without judgement or pressure. No assholes here.

• HAPPIER > DEEPER – We want to help you find your ‘happy’ underwater, whatever that means. It’s not always about depth or time.

• SAFETY BEFORE STYLE – Safety is kinda unsexy, but it is VERY important. Our freediving instructors are also first aid trained, and we follow strict standards for keeping our students and team safe.

• OBSERVE & PRESERVE – Freediving in KZN’s beautiful ocean lets us experience nature in a way most people never will. We try to leave it better than we found it.

For depth training and pool training, all divers must have one of the following certifications or equivalent

• Molchanovs W1
• AIDA 2
• PADI Freediver 1
• Pure Apnea Freediver 1

If you want to join pool training but have not yet completed a certification, get in touch and we can talk! The Hurricane Squad is the perfect place to condition your body for Co2 tolerance.

• Mask & snorkel
• Fins (snorkelling/scuba fins are ok, but freediving fins are better)
• Full-body wetsuit – at least 3mm thick; ideally 5mm. If you have a proper freediving wetsuit, 3.5mm+ should be fine!
• Weight belt and weights

If you don’t have it, we’ll provide it. Just let us know what you need and we’ll make a plan.

• We send out forms and access to the Molchanov online system before we start the course. This e-learning needs to be completed before we get in the water!

• Eat a healthy breakfast, but don’t go crazy on food before diving! A banana or peanut butter smoothie is our go to for a quick pre-dive snack.

• Avoid coffee/stimulants before diving – it will make it really hard to hold your breath!

• Browse the blog and get inspired! There are some simple, beginner-level articles on how freediving works and the basics of equalisation.

• Chill and don’t worry about the course! It will be a lot of fun.

We offer private training, experiences and full certification courses for up to 4 people.

We can even tailor the event to your experience and goals.

If you have a group of friends who want to take a course or experience together, drop us an email on INFO@SALTESCAPE.CO.ZA with:

• How many people

• What are some date options

• What type of session or course would you like to book?

Each course has its own cancellation policy which you can find on the booking page for that specific item. If you have already booked, your cancellation policy is in your booking confirmation. Please note, we cannot make changes to this policy and you are required to read and acknowledge the policy before booking.

YEBO!

Lots of our students want to try out a workshop before committing to the full Molchanov Wave 1 Certified Beginner Freediver Course.

If you join a workshop and love it (we think you will), you can book the 3-Day Wave 1 Beginner Freediver course and get a R300 discount!

All certification courses have a minimum age requirement of 18 and over.  Workshops & Discover Freediving Experience is open to ages 16y+