What to Expect on a Freediving Course in Dahab

What to expect on a freediving course is the first thing most people want to know. They arrive not quite knowing what they have signed up for. They know they want to try it. They have seen the videos. But what actually happens on the day, hour by hour, pool to open water, is usually a mystery until they show up.

This is what a beginner freediving course looks like at The Gate Freediving in Dahab. No surprises.

What to expect: one day, three phases

The beginner course runs over two and a half days. Each day follows the same shape: theory first, then pool, then open water. That order is deliberate.

Theory is not a formality. It is where you learn why your body behaves the way it does underwater. What happens to your lungs, your heart rate, your ears as you descend. Understanding that makes everything that follows feel less strange and more manageable. We take as long as we need. There is no clock on it.

The pool comes next. This is where the techniques you just learned become physical. Static apnea, finning, duck dives, the basics of equalisation. Our pool is 25 metres and used only by our students. You are not sharing lanes with anyone else.

Open water is the last part of the day. By the time you get there, you already know what you are doing. It is not a jump into the unknown. It is a continuation of something you have already started.

A typical day starts around 8 or 9 in the morning and finishes around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The pace adjusts to whoever is in the group. If something needs more time, it gets more time.

The morning: theory at the centre

Theory happens at The Gate Freediving centre, based at The Gate hotel on Mashraba Street. You will be in a proper classroom, not a beach bar with a whiteboard. Air conditioning, space, equipment on hand.

The topics covered include the physiology of breath-holding, equalisation, safety, the buddy system and an introduction to what you will practise in the water. It flows naturally because each topic connects to the next.

One practical note: do not eat a full breakfast before you dive. A heavy meal means your body is busy digesting when you want it to be relaxed. Coffee raises your heart rate, which does not help. Something small and light is fine if you are hungry. You will eat properly after the pool session.

The pool: where it starts to click

The pool is where most people have their first real freediving moment.

Static apnea usually surprises people the most. You are floating face-down in the water, holding your breath, and at some point you realise you have been under for longer than you thought possible. That gap between what you expected and what you actually managed, that is the moment most people remember. It is quiet. That is the point.

Equalisation also gets its first serious practice here. Most people worry about this beforehand and manage it sooner than they expected. We go through it step by step, in the water, until it feels natural.

If the day includes a double session, lunch happens after the pool. The kitchen at The Gate hotel is right there, and there is always space to sit, have lunch or grab a juice. On open water days there are always restaurants nearby. We work around whatever the group wants.

Open water: more than you expected

Open water sessions are at the Lighthouse, five minutes from the centre. We drive there with the buoy, walk into the water from the shore, swim out a short distance and anchor the line. Every open water dive happens along that line. Shore entry, no boat.

The water in Dahab sits between 22 and 28 degrees depending on the time of year. That matters more than people realise. Cold water triggers a stress response before you have even started. Warm, calm water does the opposite. It is genuinely easier to relax here than in most other places, and relaxation is what freediving depends on.

What surprises people most at this stage is how much they can already do. The pool built the foundation. The open water is where you find out what it is worth. Most students reach depths on their first open water session that they were not expecting.

We almost always work one instructor to one student. When it is busier we keep groups as small as we can. Your instructor knows your name, knows how your morning went, knows where you got stuck and where things clicked.

The facility

The Gate Freediving is based at The Gate hotel on Mashraba Street in Dahab. Theory and pool sessions both happen here at our centre. There is a classroom, equipment storage, the pool, and space to sit, have lunch or grab a juice between sessions.

For open water sessions we drive five minutes to the Lighthouse. We bring the buoy, walk into the water from the shore, swim out a short distance and anchor the line. Theory and pool are at the centre. Open water is a five minute drive. That is the only travel involved.

All equipment is provided. Wetsuit, mask, fins, buoy, line. If you have your own mask, bring it. But you do not need to bring anything. Just yourself, water and sunscreen.

A few practical things

On alcohol the night before: nobody is going to tell you what to do with your evening. But alcohol affects your recovery and your ability to relax. A beer with dinner is not going to ruin anything. Several drinks two nights in a row probably will slow things down. You will feel the difference yourself.

On nerves: almost everyone arrives with some. The most common one is what if I panic underwater. In practice, the course is built so that you never end up deeper than you are ready for. Every step is introduced in a context where you already feel comfortable. The anxiety most people imagine rarely shows up, and when it does the water and the pace of the sessions tend to settle it quickly.

What the course does not prepare you for

The view. Most people spend a moment on the surface at the Lighthouse just looking down before they dive. The visibility in Dahab regularly goes past 30 metres. The water is clear and calm and, for people who have never freedived before, unlike anything they have seen from the surface.

That part is hard to put in a course description. It is also the part most people mention afterwards.

After the course

You leave with your AIDA 2 or SSI Level 1 certification, internationally recognised, valid to dive with a buddy to 20 metres. It does not expire.

Most people leave with more questions than they arrived with. That is usually a good sign. The course answers whether you can freedive. The questions that come after are about where you want to take it.

If you want to keep training, open water sessions at the Lighthouse or the Blue Hole are available to certified divers. The advanced course is there when you are ready. Or you come back next year. That happens a lot.

Any questions about whether the course is right for you, just get in touch. We have probably heard it before and we are happy to talk it through.

See you in the water.

Emilio and Liam

Frequently asked questions