Static Apnea Course in Malta and Gozo

A day to learn how to hold your breath longer in a controlled manner

Improve your breath-hold performance

Freediver in the pool with noseclips and googles on ready to start a static apnea course in Malta

Duration: 1 day
Sessions: 1 academic + 1 confined water
Breath-holds: +3 min
Level: Certified Freedivers
Location: Malta & Gozo

130 €

INCLUDES:

Freediving Equipment
Transportation to/from dive site
Pictures
Water & Snacks
Diploma

Group of freedivers in a pool in Gozo celebrating the end of their static apnea course water session

Learn to hold your breath for over 3 minutes through relaxation, mental control, and unique advanced breathing techniques.

Our Static Apnea Course in Malta and Gozo is a specialized 1-day freediving course designed for certified freedivers who want to improve their breath-hold abilities and develop stronger mind/body control.

Static apnea is a pure breath-hold discipline, where relaxation and mental control become key to performance. Through a theory session and confined water training, you will learn our unique breathing, relaxation, and preparation techniques to safely extend your breath holds beyond 3 minutes.

This course will help you better understand your body’s physiological responses to apnea, improve your comfort during contractions, strengthen your mental resilience, and develop greater relaxation underwater.

Held in Malta and Gozo, the Static Apnea Course can be a powerful standalone training or the first day of the Apnea Total Advanced Freediver Course.

Book your Static Course HERE

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Freediver preparing his next static session in pure relaxation in Gozo

WHO IS THE STATIC APNEA FOR?

The Static Apnea course is designed for students ready to challenge their minds whether they are beginner or experienced freedivers and spearfishers aiming to extend their breath hold, prepare mentally for deep dives or develop relaxation skills, or scuba divers seeking to reduce their gas consumption.

You have to be certified as an Apnea Total Freediver (a similar certification level from other freediving organizations is also accepted) in order to join this course.

WHAT WILL YOU ACHIEVE DURING A STATIC?

Thanks to relaxation and breathing techniques unique to Apnea Total, we will introduce you safely to your real potential, you will have a better understanding of your mind and body and will be surprised how easy it is to hold your breath for more than 3 minutes.

The Apnea Static is a fantastic training tool that will benefit your overall freediving experience. By improving your breath hold abilities, you can freedive longer, potentially deeper, in a more relaxed and confident manner.

freedivers in the pool after finishing a static apnea course in Malta

STA COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Static course only takes a day and is divided into a theory session and a confined water session.

During this course, you will learn everything there is to know about this pool discipline: how to get ready, how to position yourself, how to act, how to relax your body and more importantly your mind; you will practice several exercises to get used to new sensations including physiological responses to Static Apnea such as contractions. You will learn the unique breathing and relaxing techniques developed by Apnea Total, the mindfulness to achieve complete relaxation, and rescue skills in case of hypoxic events and we will teach you how to train so you can continue your freediving training.

You will discover what happens to your body when you hold your breath; and how your own body, automatically and naturally, helps you consume less oxygen. Your breath-hold skills will be tested to their limits and you will realize that doing a maximum performance in this discipline is mainly a mental effort.

Our Static course is the first day of the Apnea Total Advanced Freediver Course so at the end of the course you have the option to keep on training to become a certified Advanced Freediver in just 2 more days.

Static Apnea Course Structure

Group of freedivers posing close to freediving buoys after a static apnea course in Gozo

Classroom

Diving Reflex
Description of the discipline and its benefits
Preparation for static apnoea
Apnea Total breathing techniques
Respiratory exercises
Mind relaxation techniques
Body awareness
Training routines to improve your free diving skills

Water Session

Proper position of the body
Relaxation methods
Demonstration of how to perform a Static
Warm-up for maximum breath-holds
Maximum breath hold attempts
Breath-holds of 3 minutes minimum
Practice of safety procedures

Do you have any questions? Get in Touch !

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What our students say about their experience!

See all our reviews

    
 
 
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   Nina Dostal 
 9 October 2026
 
 
  Ich habe bei ApneaTotal meinen Advanced Freediver Kurs gemacht und würde es auf der Stelle wieder hier tun! Meine Instruktorin Reggie war stets bemüht, dass ich mich wohl und sicher fühle. Sie war die ganze Zeit so aufmerksam und hat mir dabei so viele Tipps gegeben, wie ich gewisse Dinge verbessern kann. Außerdem war alles total flexibel und unkompliziert, gleichzeitig hab ich mir so viel von diesem Kurs mitgenommen und so schöne Tauchsessions gehabt. Ich kann ApneaTotal jedem empfehlen, der auf Malta nach einer guten Freediving Schule sucht!
  
 
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   Laurie Tupper 
 6 October 2026
 
 
  Arturo The Man! Incredible last minute organisation of an Advanced Freediver Course for me after my planned school had to cancel last minute. With a few key tips and new pointers I was able to absolutely smash my expectations of what I was capable of before the course. Seems to have great intuition for when to encourage students to push limits and when to slow things down a bit, all with safety as the key priority. Had some equalisation issues on one of my deep diving days so Arturo was patient, kind but firm that it wasn’t the day to push it and bent over backwards to rearrange for another day on my short trip and make sure I could complete my course before leaving Malta. Can’t recommend his coaching enough. Apnea Total also an interesting different association to try out if you have previous experience with a different one (I crossed over from AIDA 2)
  
 
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   FEIFEI WANG (XIAOYUGANFEIFE327) 
 2 October 2026
 
 
  This is a fantastic dive school. The instructors are great fun, highly responsible and patient with students. I had a really good experience.
  
 
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   Lorenzo Zini 
 2 October 2026
 
 
  I took the Discover Spearfishing course, and it was a fantastic day. Both the theory and practical sessions are well-structured, and Arturo is truly an expert. Highly recommended.
  
 
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   Art Is 
 30 September 2026
 
 
  Great experience overall. Went spearfishing for 2 days in a row and I got tons of useful tips on how to approach fish, how to handle the gun etc. Mediterranean is no joke so really need to be on point with the technique. Saw some cool spots as well! Thanks!
  
 
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   Aurélien Malik Benbernou 
 26 September 2026
 
 
  this is exactly what i was looking for . professionalism in a friendly atmosphere .
  
 
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   윤현준 
 21 September 2026
 
 
  이집트에서 아이다2따고 처음하는 프리다이빙이어서 조금 긴장된 상태로 펀다이빙을 나갔는데 Reggie강사님의 긍정적이고 밝은 에너지 덕분에 금방 긴장이 풀릴수 있었습니다. 제 컨디션과 실력에 맞추어 다이빙 깊이나 코스(동굴 통과 등)를 그때그때 바꿔주셔서 더욱 재밌게 다이빙을 즐길 수 있었던 것 같습니다. 물 밖으로 나왔을때 걷기도 힘들 정도로 지쳤지만 얼굴은 웃는 얼굴로 나왔습니다. 몰타 프리다이빙 찾고계시면 강력하게 추천드립니다
  
 
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   Mats 
 19 September 2026
 
 
  I came for the free diving discovery day and then extended it to the full course because I liked it so much and felt so well taken care of.

Reggie is a superb instructor, both in theory as in practical sessions. Absolutely professional and safe at every step.

Highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn freediving!
  
 
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   Stephan Steurer 
 19 September 2026
 
 
  Wir hatten nur einen Tag Zeit und haben uns deshalb für den Discover Course entschieden. Rückblickend die richtige Entscheidung: Der Vormittag bestand aus Theorie und Einweisung, sodass wir die Grundlagen und die Sicherheitsaspekte verstanden hatten, bevor es überhaupt ins Wasser ging. Am Nachmittag folgte die Praxiseinheit in herrlich blauem, klarem Wasser, und wir konnten das Gelernte tatsächlich umgehend und erfolgreich umsetzen.

Dazu trägt vor allem Arturo bei. Mit seiner persönlichen und zugleich professionellen Art motiviert er, nimmt sich Zeit und vermittelt ein Gefühl von Sicherheit und Vertrauen, das bei diesem Vorhaben viel wert ist. Dazu kommt seine lockere, humorvolle Seite, die einem die Anspannung nimmt und dafür sorgt, dass man mit Spaß bei der Sache bleibt. Da die Gruppe klein bleibt, kann er auf jeden Einzelnen individuell eingehen, und wer Spanisch spricht, merkt schnell, wie sehr er sich freut, auch mal auf Spanisch zu erklären.

Für alle mit knappem Zeitbudget, die Freediving ernsthaft ausprobieren wollen: klare Empfehlung. Wir bleiben auf jeden Fall dran und kommen dafür gerne noch einmal nach Gozo zu Apnea Total Malta, so gut hat es uns gefallen.
  
 
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   Eva Pot 
 18 September 2026
 
 
  I had an amazing time doing the introductory spearfishing course and freediving coaching sessions. Safety was the first priority which felt very nice, especially with the spearfishing. I found Arturo’s method of teaching very encouraging and I was able to really improve my technique while having a lot of fun!
  
 
 
  
 
 
   Trustindex rating score: 5.0 of 5, based on 546 reviews

FAQ Static Apnea Course

How long can you hold your breath?

You might be surprised to learn you can hold your breath longer in the water than on land. The mammalian dive reflex, triggered when the face is under the water, set a series of physiological adjustments in the body. Among them the heart rate that slows down to conserve energy and oxygen.

Breath holding sounds simple but Static Apnea is one of the most technical disciplines in breath hold diving. Useless to say competitors in static apnoea have developed specific breathing training techniques, including breathing exercises, stretching and meditative methods to control the CO2 and O2 levels in their blood as well as to expand their lungs volume.

World records for Static Apnea:

Stephane Mifsud, 11:35min in 2009
Heike Schwerdtner 9:07min in 2024

Does Static Training improves freediving?

Do I need equipment for your Static Apnea Course?

Prerequisites for the STATIC

Tell me more about the STATIC: When and how long?

The Static Apnea course can be done independently or as part of our Advanced Freediver Course. In order to continue your freediving education and be certified as an Advanced Freediver, 2 more days are needed upon completion of the Static.

The Static is composed of a classroom session and a confined water session (in a swimming pool) that take place the same day. Our schedule is determined by the bookings we receive so we run the Static Course whenever a freediver is interested (depending on availability).

We include transportation, the freediving gear needed for the in-water practice, water to stay hydrated, snacks as well as pictures of the pool training.

How can I book a Static Apnea Course?

Up to you: you can reach us by e-mail, WhatsApp, Messenger or phone. You can also fill out the form below. Once we agree on dates, a non-refundable deposit is required to confirm your booking.