The new surf season in Hawaii is here.  Get ready and start training apnea & surf survival.

Thank God we are finally surfing again!  With the start of new surfing season, one thing comes to mind, it’s going to get big soon!  And the question is, how prepared are you?  With this in mind, Hawaii Eco Divers scheduled another apnea class in October, to accommodate surfers who have already taken the course before and new comers who are willing to take the course for the first time. One thing about this apnea course is that when you take it for the first time, you will always be invited to keep training on all future courses, without having to pay ever again. This course will improve your breath hold training and also make you use your breathing to help control your mind and stay focus when things are about to get serious. Surf rescue skills and CPR training are also part of the course.

Dates of the upcoming apnea & surf survival courses;
October 21st and 22nd, Oahu – Hawaii

For more information on this 2 full day course, email [email protected]

Apnea training for surfers

Apnea & Surf Survival course in Hawaii

APNEA means momentarily suspension of the external breathing, or breath hold practice. During apnea, there is sufficient oxygen in the lungs and in the blood stream, allowing a person to stop breathing for several minutes consciously. Some expert athletes can exceed 5 minutes, while keeping lucid. The Apnea Dive or Free Dive sport consists of several styles of diving. Static Apnea trains the athlete to remain the longest submerged time underwater. Dynamic Apnea trains the diver to go the farthest distance or depth under water and without the aid of equipment for breathing, only with the air reserve in the lungs. Apnea training is a great exercise for surfers! With this in mind, we developed an intensive training to help surfers fully maximize their breathing potential to oxygenate the body and to remain calm in stressful situations underwater.

This course is designed with only one goal in mind; to increase your breath hold ability in tense situations underwater, while remaining calm and in total control of your mind. In this apnea training for surfers, you will learn different techniques of apnea and breathing exercises to fully oxygenate the body, strengthen and increase capacity of the lungs. The class is designed to help you spend more time underwater through lectures, intense breath hold training and multiple breathing and swimming exercises. It’s purpose is to aid surfers in dealing with extreme situations where mind control and calmness are the main factors for your survival.

In addition to apnea theory and breathing techniques to maximize oxygenation and breath hold, we will be emphasizing High Surf Risk Management in order to recognize, minimize or avoid unnecessary risks found in the surf zone. We will also present and work on many “Surf Rescue” scenarios encountered in the sport of surfing and other water activities. We will cover the importance of providing CPR and Rescue Breath skills to unconscious victims.

This is a course that every waterman and woman should take! It will make you and your surfing community safer!

The apnea course for surfers is divided in three parts:

Apnea & Surf Survival theory class

THEORY (4 hours)
We will study in depth the physiology of apnea through academic information. This information is very significant when we push our body to the limit. Understanding what causes our body to black out during breath hold training exercises, and how to identify signs and symptoms of hypoxia is crucial in order to train safely. High surf risk management, emergency action planning, dealing with panic will also be studied in the academic development portion of the course.

Static apnea training in the pool at Hawaii Eco Divers

Swimming Pool (6 hours)
At the pool, before we start the apnea training, we will present some rescues skills in order to train apnea safely with a partner. We will put into practice proper ventilation and breath ups, in order to perform numerous underwater exercises. Each exercise simulate a real situation found in the surfing environment. Surfers will work with a training partner through the entire class.

Rescue & Surf Survival training in the ocean for surfers

Ocean (6 hours)
We will start the second day with CPR training and breathing exercises, followed by a full O2 table apnea practice. This is when people get their personal best (most get 3 minutes, with some people holding for 4 and even 5 minutes). Later, in the water we will present more dynamic apnea and survival skills before we move into the surf rescue part of the course. This is when surfers learn tools that could help them save lives. At the end, we will focus again on the stress apnea exercise simulating a wipe out or a long hold down. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

You will be provided with a self studying manual that must be read entirely prior to the beginning of the class. You must complete the knowledge review and bring the answers to the first day of the training.

These are the main aspects of the training:

• Physiology of Apnea;

• Proper breathing exercises to improve ventilation and strengthening of the lungs;

• Safety;

• Static Apnea;

• Dynamic Apnea;

• Stressed Apnea;

• Risks and dangers of training apnea;

• Surviving a massive wipe out;

• Risk management and emergency action plan;

• Surfing Rescue skills;

• CPR and rescue breath.

Price for the 2 full day Apnea & Surf Survival course is $350.00.

We also offer 1 day private/small group class if you just want to increase your breath hold skills only.

Take a look at the video of a previous apnea & surf Survival course.

Many professional and big waves surfers have already taken this course. To name a few; Nathan Fletcher, Jamie Sterling, Trevor Carlson, Adriano de Souza, Denis Pang, Moniz Brothers, Pedro Calado, Lucas Chianca, Lucas Silveira, Filipe Toledo, Takayuki Wakita and many others professional athletes.

The course is taught by;
Paid Master Diver Trainer, Ricardo Taveira
Rescue Diver & Apnea Instructor
EFR-CPR Instructor at American Heart Association
30 years of surfing experience.

Apnea & Surf Survival training at Hawaii Eco Divers

Apnea & Surf Survival course