AIDA 3 Advanced Freediver takes recreational breath-hold diving to thirty metres maximum training depth with sharper technique, deeper theory and stronger rescue habits. You need AIDA 2 Freediver or a successful AIDA Crossover Evaluation from another agency at equivalent level. PADI graduates often arrive via Advanced Freediver; SSI students from Advanced Freediver ratings. AIDA 3 adds free-fall, Frenzel equalisation focus and training tables with explicit pressure risk management.
Expect at least three days with six water sessions, four of them open water over at least two days, plus classroom or knowledge review. Performance targets jump to two minutes forty-five seconds static apnea, fifty-five metres dynamic with bifins and twenty-four metres constant weight with bifins, alongside a seventy-five percent theory pass. Your instructor introduces free immersion and constant weight bifins as core disciplines while theory covers barotrauma, lungs at depth, buoyancy, shallow water blackout, mammalian dive response, decompression sickness basics and the freediver code of conduct.
This is where depth feels less like a lottery and more like a coached process, though equalisation still frustrates perfectly fit students on cold mornings. That is normal. Leave a comment when you book with your AIDA 2 date, crossover paperwork and any ear or sinus history so the centre can plan pool refresh time if needed.
AIDA 3 combines written theory with confined and open water performance assessments under instructor supervision.
Quick answers about this qualification. For anything else, use live chat or browse bookable activities below.
Find activitiesIt is AIDA's advanced recreational certification to thirty metres maximum training depth. You refine free-fall, Frenzel equalisation and multiple disciplines while meeting higher static, dynamic and constant weight targets than AIDA 2.
Theory goes deeper into physiology, pressure injury and the freediver code of conduct.
AIDA 2 Freediver or equivalent crossover evaluation. Comfortable recent freediving strongly helps.
Leave a comment when you book with your last certification date and depth experience if you trained with PADI Advanced Freediver or another agency.
Two minutes forty-five seconds static apnea, fifty-five metres dynamic with bifins, twenty-four metres constant weight with bifins, rescue skills and seventy-five percent on the theory exam.
Your instructor builds toward these progressively. Extra sessions are common for equalisation or static progression.
At least three days with six water sessions, four open water over at least two days, plus theory and exam time.
Weather, visibility and group equalisation pace often extend the schedule. That is normal on depth courses.
Free-fall is the phase where negative buoyancy pulls you down the line with minimal finning after a controlled entry. AIDA 3 introduces it as an efficiency tool, not a race to the bottom.
Your instructor coaches when to start free-fall and when to stay positive for safety margins.
PADI Advanced Freediver and AIDA 3 both target deeper recreational freediving with advanced theory and rescue focus. Performance numbers and session structures differ by agency standards.
Cross-agency recognition for buddy diving varies locally. Your AIDA card reflects AIDA assessments regardless of prior PADI training.
Yes, more than AIDA 2. Longer breath-holds, deeper rescues and cold-water equalisation load add up across multiple days.
Good sleep, hydration and honest rest between sessions matter. Tell your instructor if you feel hypoxic fatigue building.
Personal mask, snorkel and fins if you have well-fitting kit. Depth courses often benefit from your own low-volume mask.
Leave a comment when you book about lanyard, wetsuit thickness and nose clip policies at the venue.
Instructors give detailed feedback and often schedule extra pool or open water coaching. Many students certify on extended timelines rather than within the minimum day count.
Partial completion with a retake plan is common. That is not a failure if safety habits stayed solid throughout.
AIDA 4 Master Freediver is the next recreational step toward instructor pathway preparation. Monofin Freediver is a popular parallel specialty.
Some divers pause at AIDA 3 for months of structured training before chasing deeper cards. Both are valid.
adventuro lists AIDA 3 at coastal and inland depth venues. Compare boat access, line setup, kit hire and crossover paperwork support.
Leave a comment when you book with certification copies and recent dive depth so far enough ahead for the centre to prepare.
From $ 546
Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi
From € 540
Lanzarote, Spain
From £ 400
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
