Today we’d like to introduce you to Roy Ferreira.
Roy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to Miami in 2003 while I was still in the Navy. I joined a local running club and after a few weeks, one of the guys invited me to go lobstering off of Miami Beach and, of course, I jumped at the opportunity. Other than being scuba certified and having a swimming/water polo background, I really didn’t have any formal training in breath-hold diving, most commonly referred to as “freediving” today. My friends just told me to take a deep breath, look under the rocks for antenna and grab the lobster. After a few hours, I got the hang of it and finally caught my first Florida Spiny Lobster… I was immediately hooked.
Fast forward ten years with the invention of social media and action video cameras, I saw people diving deeper and spearfishing some incredible fish and I wanted to learn more. My wife saw that I was becoming obsessed with the sport and bought me my first freediving certification course and that turned out to be a game-changer. After taking the class, it changed my life and I immediately started dedicating my weekends to freediving, whether it was freediving for lobster, spearfishing, or diving down the line. After sharing my videos of my freediving and spearfishing adventures on social media, I was constantly being asked by friends to teach them how to free dive or how to hold their breath. Eventually, I took the route of training to be an instructor with PADI and in March 2017, I started teaching PADI Freediver courses with Freedive305.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Teaching is not easy, especially with all the variables that come with teaching a freediving course. Even though the core material in my course has not drastically changed from three years ago, the dynamics of each class present different teaching challenges and result in having to learn new ways to explain the material to students. For example, when you talk about a freediving course, most people might think that holding your breath for a couple of minutes is the most challenging part. However, for many instructors, it is teaching the student how to properly and effectively equalize the ears at depth that is the most difficult. After years of trying to understand each students’ difficulties and subsequent research, I’ve learned many different ways to unlock the equalization skills for most students. Having these tools in my back pocket has helped my students meet and exceed their depth goals during the course.
Please tell us about Freedive305.
Freedive305 is focused on unlocking a person’s natural freediving ability. We take casual snorkelers, budding freedivers, new and experienced spearfisherman and give them the knowledge and skills to be both safe and confident divers, as well as a responsible dive buddy.
Our classes are known for being small, no more than a 4 to 1 student to instructor ratio per class. The small classes ensure adequate one on one time with each student and enhance their course experience. But what sets Freedive305 apart is what happens after the class. After the course, most students are asking themselves, “now what?” Since freediving is not a solo sport, we try and build a community to connect divers/spearfisherman with other certified freedivers to dive with after certification. Additionally, we invite certified divers to line diving sessions to hone their skills, as well as meet other divers.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Other than surfing as a teen, my favorite memory from childhood is probably going fishing in the neighborhood lake in Placentia, CA. I could spend hours there catching bluegill, bass, and trout in that tiny lake. Just being in or around the water made me happy!
Pricing:
- Level 1 Freediver Course – $400
Contact Info:
- Address: 2809 SW 27th Ave
Coconut Grove, FL 33133 - Website: freedive305.com
- Phone: 3053493432
- Email: freedive305miami@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/freedive305
- Facebook: facebook.com/freedive305
Image Credit:
IG @jessekittphotography
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