SSI Free Diver

The SSI Freediver certification is taught by Julien, E3 instructor and CIP's dedicated freediving specialist. Training takes place in the Parc National des Calanques — the same territory used for all CIP's diving, with its grottos, sea fan walls and clear Mediterranean water providing the open-water component.

The course follows SSI's structure: e-learning first, then sessions in a protected environment to build comfort with equalization, duck diving, fin technique and relaxation, then open-water dives in the Calanques. By the end you hold a certification that authorizes freediving to 20 metres with a buddy in open water anywhere in the world.

Julien describes the approach as familial and relaxed, which fits the general atmosphere CIP projects. The freediving program at the center is actively expanding in 2026 with more fixed dates on the calendar, including specific discovery events and SSI Freediver training sessions.

Freediving at CIP is not an add-on to the scuba program — it sits alongside rebreather and cave diving as a dedicated discipline with its own instructor, its own calendar and its own structure. The Calanques, with their submerged grottos and arches, give a freediver more to explore than a flat sandy bottom would.