APNEA TOTAL MALTA
Freediving is for EVERYONE
We are Arturo, France and Selma, three sea lovers who have fallen in love with freediving, a sport that allows a sense of absolute freedom and admiration for what one's body can do
Arturo Hernandez
Apnea Total Instructor Trainer
Molchanovs W3 Instructor
Spearfishing Course Director
Born and raised in a small village on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Arturo has lived his entire life in contact with the ocean and he simply can’t stay away from it.
Growing up, he practiced several water sports and got his first taste of freediving through spearfishing when he was a teenager. No need to say he got hooked.
Arturo left Spain to travel through Asia where he enjoyed spearfishing and freediving for several years. His travels brought him to the Apnea Total Headquarters, where he decided to turn his passion into a career becoming a Freediving Instructor. Some years later, in 2015, he became an Instructor Trainer, the highest achievement in freediving education.
Patient and passionate, Arturo teaches freediving as a way to share his love for the ocean. He has taught over 1.000 students of all levels in English, Spanish and Catalan.
In 2017, Arturo decided to go back with France to their beloved Mediterranean Sea and they opened Apnea Total Malta to continue sharing their passion.
In 2019, Arturo single-handedly put together a team of more than 50 freedivers for a movie: One Breath (Один вдох), inspired by the life of Natalia Molchanova. He was the freediving supervisor in charge of safety, he taught actors how to freedive, he coordinated some underwater scenes and helped to scout locations here in Malta. What a challenge, but more importantly what an experience!
France Lemaire
Co-founder
General Manager
Content Writer
France's greatest passion is traveling and it was while on a trip that she fell in love with the underwater world.
She discovered scuba diving in Bonaire and was swept away by this new hobby which led her to Mexico, the Cayman Islands, the Philippines, and Thailand. Thailand was a major turning point, as she was introduced to freediving. She has never dived with a tank since!
France loves freediving for the sense of release and freedom it gives her, and for this very reason, she only practices freediving recreationally. France will not be accompanying you to explore our beautiful Mediterranean, but she will be your point of contact, the one who will arrange your freediving and spearfishing courses and activities, and answer all your questions.
Selma Derouiche
Apnea Total Master Instructor
AIDA3 Instructor
Yoga Instructor
Selma is passionate about everything, but mostly about life and the sea. Being underwater surrounded by fish, large and small, is one of the things she loves most.
She used to enjoy holding her breath in her bath when she was barely 6 years old. It is therefore not surprising that she became a water sports enthusiast. She first discovered scuba diving in the Caribbean. It took little to convince her to live by the ocean, and she became a Dive Master.
But it was when she arrived on Koh Tao, a small island in Thailand, that she found her calling: Freediving. She started her training at the Apnea Total Headquarters, and soon became part of the family, working there for almost three years before heading off to Bali and the Philippines where she became a Master Instructor. She certified over 500 students while in Asia - in English, French and Spanish.
When she is not underwater Selma can be found on a yoga mat, so she naturally became a Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher in 2020 when in India. In 2022, while she was in France, she further stepped into the world of wellness by becoming a Massage Therapist specialised in sports recovery.
The pandemic did not keep her away from the sea, quite the opposite. Without any previous sailing experience, she decided to buy a sailboat with a friend and they successfully sailed for several months in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. What an adventurous life! But, she missed teaching freediving too much and we were more than happy to welcome her back.
A unique and tailored learning experience led by passionate and highly experienced instructors who will share with you the essence of freediving.
“We strongly believe that freediving is for everyone and we aim to always provide the most satisfying experience to our students. Our goal is to share with you a moment you will forever remember.”
Apnea Total Malta was born out of passion; a passion for a sport that leaves no one indifferent. Freediving is a blissful experience. You will feel emotions that only freediving can bring out, you will discover a deep sensation of wellbeing and you will find harmony within and around.
We are a team of dedicated and highly experienced freedivers and instructors. We uphold the highest standards of freediving safety, instruction, and education.
Our goal is to share with our students and friends our knowledge and passion for this sport.
Everyone is different, and so is our way of teaching. We adapt our courses to our students, not the other way around. We tailor our approach and do not focus on numbers or depth but relaxation and executing the techniques the right way. Our students progress faster and quickly reach depths and goals they thought impossible.
We teach according to Apnea Total and Molchanovs Freediving Education System – both created by freedivers for freedivers. Apnea Total Malta is the only freediving school to offer both certifications in Malta.
Custom made for YOU !
We adapt our approach to your specific needs in a relaxed and pleasant way. We aim to cater to your individual goals, explore your potential, and help you exceed your limits.
All levels
We offer courses of all levels, from those with no experience to instructors. Whichever you choose, you will be sure to get a professional and dedicated freediving experience with us.
Efficient, Safe and Enjoyable
We will make you achieve goals you thought impossible by giving you confidence, mental strength, knowledge, skills, will power and techniques to enjoy freediving safely while having fun and enjoying the experience.
What our students say about their experience!
Two amazing and different Educational Systems made from freedivers to freedivers with different approaches.
At first, Apnea Total Malta taught freediving according to the Apnea Total Freediving Education System. We now also teach Molchanovs courses. Regardless of the certification agency, our freediving instructors always dive with each and every freediving student. This increases the freedivers' confidence in their new abilities, thus making faster progress and guarantee everyone’s safety, which is our most important concern.
Apnea Total is one of the oldest and most popular freediving organizations and is dedicated to developing freediving education worldwide. Born in 2004 and continuing to grow today, it believes that freediving is a highly personal sport and the “one size fits all” approach creates limitations to students who may have better progression, experiences and overall performances using a more personalized teaching philosophy.
The Apnea Total Freediving Education System focuses on your performance underwater and the techniques that will make you the best freediver possible, covering all aspects of freediving but without exams making the course unique, easy, enjoyable, very practical and unforgettable.
The Molchanovs Freediving Education System is an in-depth training system suitable for the avid freediver eager to learn everything there is to know about freediving. Molchanovs is intended for elite free divers, i.e. with extensive knowledge of freediving, strong underwater skills, and the desire to keep improving. It goes without saying that the courses offered are intensive.
This comprehensive program also supports individual development beyond the freediving course. Each Molchanovs certified free diver has access to a community of like-minded divers who train together. Besides, the workouts shared are written by the best freedivers in the world.
