Freediving And Spearfishing Course Calendar - Click Here:

Freediving Courses and Spearfishing Courses

Screen Shot 2019-01-03 at 8.27.12 pm.png

Screen Shot 2019-01-03 at 8.30.13 pm.png

The Underwater Academy

We run freediving courses in Sydney, Melbourne and Byron Bay

Built from over 20 years experience across a broad range of diving disciplines, The Underwater Academy offers the highest standard, and most comprehensive apnea based courses available in Australia. Much more than your standard freediving education, our instructors are the best there are in the field and have worked tirelessly to attain an AIDA International accreditation. We pride ourselves in our dedication to the sport, and the lifelong development of safety and teaching techniques. Whether it’s Freediving, Underwater Photography or Spearfishing, our courses are specifically designed for your interests and abilities. Catering from beginners to the most advanced; when it comes to learning about safety, diving deeper, staying longer or training toward your goals, you will be in expert hands.

The best freediving course in Sydney; The best freediving course in Melbourne; The best freediving course in Perth; The best freediving course in Brisbane; that’s what we’re about.

Our Instructors

More than just a freedive instructor

We don't believe that knowledge of the ocean is a substitute for experience in the ocean; which is why our instructors are hand selected from the most experienced pool of tried and tested watermen available (pun well and truly intended). There is no shortcut to becoming an Underwater Academy instructor, because we know that the personal experiences and lessons that each instructor has, makes a invaluable contribution to their teaching prowess.

Lucas Handley

AIDA Instructor Trainer

Lucas Handley has extensive experience in the Freediving, Spearfishing and Underwater Photography worlds. Appearing in internationally acclaimed ocean documentaries, and working for such companies as Discovery Channel, National Geographic and the BBC, his ocean experience is unparalleled. Lucas is the only AIDA International instructor trainer in Australia. He teaches breathology and personal development courses; deep spearfishing and freediving instruction to -40m and beyond. With over twenty years spearfishing experience and 15 years in the guiding world, his personal interest in human physiology and optimisation have led him into developing training programs for world champion athletes and corporate CEO’s alike.

Jarred Grimmond

AIDA instructor

Jarred began freediving over four years ago, and this passion turned into an obsession. After a year and a half of solid training, he was accredited as an AIDA Instructor, and now is our regular task master for squad training. An engineer by trade, he contributed to his AIDA Instructors program with a research assignment calculating theoretical hydrodynamics, thrust and drag on the human body. An expert in streamlining, his enthusiasm as well as his calm and supportive nature make for the perfect instructor.

Jarrod Briffa

Aida Instructor

Jarrod’s passion for the ocean extends back to some of his earliest memories fishing and collecting crabs with his father and grandfather. Jarrod developed an interest for being underwater when he was introduced to spearfishing in Byron Bay back in 2007. In the years since he has explored many reefs and coastlines developing his skills in foraging and spearfishing for sustenance and pleasure. After suffering a pinched nerve in his shoulder in 2015, he was limited in the types of exercise he could do. The only place it felt better was in the water where the force of gravity would ease. So he began training regularly with the Melbourne Freedivers. He has since trained with Viktor Reshetniak at Freedive Gili, Adam Stern and Oli Christen at Freedive Flow, where he recently completed his instructors course. Jarrod loves depth but has spent a lot of time in recent years exploring his breath hold abilities whilst training and competing in the pool disciplines.

Alan Li

AIDa instructor

Alan’s dedication to training has been unparalleled and his cross training knowledge is just as impressive. With a genuine enthusiasm to help others succeed, Alan always puts in the extra effort to make students feel comfortable. Speaking fluent Chinese, he is an invaluable asset when welcoming travellers to Australias oceans.

Freediving, Sydney, Australia, training Freedive, breath-hold, learn to Freedive,

Sam Cox

AIDA assistant instructor

Sam has lived and breathed the spearfishing world for ten years. Managing the Adreno store in Sydney, his knowledge of freediving gear, spearfishing set-up and techniques for successful underwater hunting is unparalleled. Capable and experienced in all environments, sam is the go to guy for spearfishing education. Capable of reaching depths of 30m, equipment in hand, he is an asset to our spearfishing courses and continual promotion of spearfishing safety.

Brayden Grimmond

AIDA Instructor

Easily the most relaxed trainer we have, his easy going demeanour will have you feeling comfortable and relaxed while you explore your limits. While still young, Brayden has dedicated himself to training and deeper Freediving and has spent the last two years training in the pool and assisting our master instructor in Sydney. Having recently re-located to Perth, he’s enjoying building the community of freedivers there, and will be a major asset to our west coast division.

Our Community

We’re big on creating connections between people, places, institutions and our environment, so we’ve worked hard at fostering The Underwater Academy community. Our courses are not JUST designed to teach the mechanics and physical nature of breath-hold, but also act as an invitation to join our growing network of underwater enthusiasts. It is for this reason that we have partnered with Adreno, and you will find our theory sessions taught in a classroom within their walls. With major centres now in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, The Underwater Academy also has chapters in each one of these vibrant coastal cities. The store itself if amazing, with every bit of gear for SCUBA, Freediving, Spearfishing and Underwater Photography. If you’re travelling around Australia and need a dive buddy, new gear, or local knowledge, feel free to reach out to us and we can put you in contact with our groups.

Some of our latest community events included the Clean-up Australia event in Sydney Harbour, where 30-40 of our members suited up and jumped in, in front of the Opera House to do our bit in making Australia Beautiful. In addition to our members weekend dive trips, we’ve also ran Underwater Earth Hour, and organised community consultations that helped promote our ability to contribute to local fisheries research.

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 11.02.49 am.png

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 11.08.05 am.png

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 11.06.57 am.png

Theory Workshops

Our theory lessons are conducted within the walls of Australia's largest Freediving, Spearfishing and diving warehouses Adreno (www.adreno.com.au). As well as being a great meeting place for the extended dive community, the space is filled with the latest in dive technology. If you need anything before hitting the pool or ocean, or you’re feeling like upgrading to some more advanced gear for your deeper dives, it's available at your fingertips. Address: (Sydney; Melbourne; Perth)

Turning theory into practice:

For the static/ breathology part of each course, students are guided through the process in the comfort of a secured pool. We use pools as close as we can to our Adreno classrooms, to minimise travel time, however please be advised there might be a 5 min drive between locations. If you don’t have a car, there is usually someone happy to give you a lift.

Sydney: AllSorts Pool (184 Bourke rd. Alexandria)

Melbourne: Welsey College / Waves Leisure Centre

Partnerships

The Underwater Academy isn’t just about ‘us,’ it’s also about ‘you,’ and for this reason we try to link you with some awesome projects and people to continue your development.

We’re proud to introduce you to the Altitude Performance Centre. The team there have been collaborating with one of our Melbourne based freediving instructors, Jarrod Briffa to create hypoxic training programs.

Check them out, they’ve got a program running soon:

https://www.altitudeperformancecentre.com.au/apc-experience-registration/