Junior Freediving Classes in Kona, Hawaii

Building Lifelong Ocean Safety
and Responsibility

Empower your child with life-saving skills and a deep respect for the ocean and responsible diving practices through our Junior Freediving Classes in Kona. This two-day course is specifically designed for young ocean enthusiasts ages 12 and up, offering a perfect blend of crucial safety education and engaging diving experiences.

Led by Julia Donath, a former school teacher and Junior Lifeguards Instructor with a huge passion for teaching ocean safety to youth, this course goes beyond basic freediving techniques. We place a strong emphasis on preventing and responding to critical hypoxic incidents like blackouts and near-blackouts, to equip young divers with lifesaving tools and understanding that protects our community from preventable drownings.

Your child will learn essential skills to ensure they come home safely, while also adopting a mindset of respect for the ocean and sense of responsibility to their friends, ‘ohana, & community. This safety education preserves a sense of connection to the ocean that can transform a child’s life forever, while also imparting a sense of awareness and accountability for themselves and others that extends beyond their relationship to the ocean. It’s strongly recommended that at least one parent, guardian, or friend participates in this course with the child to build a safe, properly-trained community of dive buddies for participants following the course. The objective is to ensure that your child is never diving alone, and has a network of safe, responsible, properly-trained dive partners so that they can spearfish, dive, and enjoy the ocean safely and responsibly.

The Junior Freediver & Level 1 curriculum can be combined into one course for participants of varying ages who would like to take the course together.

JUNIOR Freediver

Course at a Glance

Duration: 2 days (15 - 20 hours total)

What Your Child Will Learn & Benefits

Through our Junior Freediving Classes, your child will gain essential skills and knowledge to safely explore the ocean while developing a strong foundation in responsible diving practices.

• Lifesaving freediving safety and understanding of hypoxia, blackouts and near-blackouts
• Prevention, recognition, and response to hypoxic incidents
• Proper, safe use of freediving equipment
• Basic physics and physiology of freediving & how this applies to safety
• Correct, safe breathing techniques for underwater activities
• Confined and open water freediving skills
• Development of responsible diving practices & attitude
• Enhanced ocean awareness and environmental appreciation
• Improved skills for spearfishing and water safety during other activities, such as surfing
• Access to a supportive, properly trained youth freediving community
  

Upcoming Courses

How Our Junior Course Differs from Adult Courses

• Identical to the material taught in a Level 1 course, adapted to be developmentally appropriate for children ages 12-15 years old
• Shallower depth limit (50 ft max depth.)
• Strong emphasis on instilling a mindset of responsibility, accountability, & duty to one’s self, friends, family, & community in choosing to dive safely
• Smaller class size with a higher instructor-to-student ratio (maximum 4:1)
• Content tailored specifically to activities popular among Hawaii’s youth, such as spearfishing
  

Your Instructor

Julia Donath

Your child's freediving journey will be guided by Julia Donath, founder of Jules of the Sea and a certified FII instructor. Julia's experience includes:

• Former school teacher with a passion for ocean education
• Former Junior Lifeguards Instructor
• Extensive background as an ocean lifeguard and surfer
• Founder of Hawaii's first public school freediving safety program
• Environmental Studies graduate from U.C. Santa Barbara

Julia's unique blend of teaching skills, ocean expertise, and youth mentoring experience ensures a safe, fun, and inspiring freediving experience for young divers.

Details

Course Details

• 5 hours of classroom instruction
• 3 hours of confined water training
• 1.5 - 3 hours of open water depth training
• Prerequisites: Competent swimming skills & satisfactory health
  

Price: $500

What's Included & Equipment

• Access a beautiful facility at the Pacific 19 Hotel in downtown Kona
• Potential use of a swimming pool for skills training
• Comprehensive course materials (FII Junior Freediver manual and workbook)
• Instruction guided by the highest industry standards
• Lunch Day 1 of the course
  

Students Need to Bring

• Wetsuit (3mm, 2 piece freediving wetsuit preferred; basic full-length neoprene wetsuit required)
• Mask (low volume freediving mask preferred; basic snorkel or dive mask required)
• Snorkel (the simpler & more flexible the snorkel, the better!)
• Fins (Short snorkel fins or long-blade freediving fins)
• Weight belt
• Sufficient weights
  

Equipment is easily available to rent at affordable rates from local dive shops. Please contact Julia directly for assistance.

Certification

Upon successful completion of all skills, your child can receive the FII Junior Freediver certification.

Join Our Next Course 

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