One of the most professional diving schools in the UAE

I took the RAID Advanced Wreck course here, which was taught by Darryl, the co-owner of Freestyle Divers. You’ll often hear people advise to pick the instructor, not the dive agency – and Darryl is superb. He has a huge amount of diving experience in wreck and cave environments that he was happy to weave in throughout the duration of the course, which as a result went above and beyond the comprehensive syllabus. I also appreciated Darryl’s strong emphasis on dive safety – there are no corners being cut here, class sizes are small and focused, and all of the training dives were carried out with redundant air supply (choice of twinset or pony bottle). 

The dive centre itself is one of my favourite in the UAE, very professional and all of the dive team are helpful and friendly. They are one of the few schools to offer a range of training agencies in addition to PADI, including RAID and UTD (and they can also arrange GUE training), and as a result are very accommodating to all equipment configurations and training backgrounds. You can also drive right up to the boat pontoon to drop your gear off which is very convenient. Special thanks to James and Brian for their assistance on the course. Looking forward to diving with Freestyle Divers more often in the future.

I have been diving with Neil Murphy for the past 10 years in the Musandam. Together we explored new dive sites along the coast and into the straight of Hormuz. From whale sharks, sharks, rays, large schools of fish to the little creatures of the sea like squids, turtles lobsters or seahorses, there is never a dive short of surprises. But moreover Neil is not just an ordinary dive buddy – he listens and watches his surroundings, suavely navigating the waters of the Musandam. He is one of those buddies I want to have with me if a dive gets turbulent ! 

Neil is, without question, the deity of diving in the UAE! A calm, confident and conscientious guide and instructor, who is also friendly and makes diving fun. 

He is great with people of all levels – from beginners to seasoned pros – enabling you to push your own personal boundaries, without compromising on safety. 

So, whether you’re a novice or a natural, you NEED to try diving with Neil; we wouldn’t dive with anyone else. 

Coral Reef Conservation Course

Thank you Freestyle Divers and in particular their Marine Biologist James Campbell for the excellent course! Designing and building the structure, placing it on the bottom of the sea, collecting coral fragments and finally planting them on the nursery, it was all a very rewarding experience and let this be the first of many more to come! I can highly recommend engaging with Freestyle Divers if you want to contribute to the marine biodiversity and conservation around Dibba! #TeamEco

Professional and fun

My family and i spent most of our holiday at Dibba scuba diving at Freestyle Divers. Chris Openshaw is a brilliant dive instructor. He took us through our Advanced Open Water course and his calm, professional manner made us better and more confident divers…thank you.
The scuba rental gear is immaculate and the dive sites we visited kept us curious.
Marine, Darrell and Olga ensured we were well fitted out and young Max kept things lively.

Super passionate, accomodating and professional team and amazing dive experience!

Big thank you to Marine, Darryl, Olga, Chris and the whole team at Freestyle Divers. Especially to Chris who helped my family and I achieve our Advanced Open Water Diver certification. A very experienced and passionate diver with a calm approach made me and my whole family feel safe. Would highly recommend this dive centre to everyone! For those nervous first timers all the way to the most of experienced of divers. Thanks again from the whole Pix family:)

Professional and Fun

I had a fantastic time doing my RAID DRYSUIT Specialty in Freestyle Divers’ Dibba Dive Center in Fujairah. My instructor, Darryl Owen, was super cool and experienced. I really appreciated the level of detail he went through, esp. in regards to the theory part and the dynamics of the drysuit (along with going through all the misconceptions I might have accumulated from my previous diving training and experiences). He ensured that I fine-tune my skills in the pool before we go to the sea dives. It did take longer than I anticipated (3 days all in all), but it was absolutely worth it and very much appreciated.

It helped me feel very comfortable doing the sea dives for the first time in a dry suit. 

All the staff are lovely and professional, prices are fair and well communicated before I even get there.

Great dive shop

completed my Advanced Open Water & Enriched Air certifications with Freestyle this past weekend and had a fantastic experience. Staff/guides are friendly, knowledgeable and patient in their teaching. Not only did they give solid instruction but were also fun people to hang out with on the boat for the day. 

I look forward to returning and diving more with them. Would most certainly recommend – 10 out of 10.

Learning with confidence

I did a Discover Scuba Diving experience with Freestyle Divers in May, and despite having been nervous about scuba, I had such a great time doing this that I went back to do my RAID Open Water 20 course with them. 
The whole team at Freestyle is great – responsive, friendly, and very encouraging. But I simply cannot say enough good things about my instructor, James. He is very patient, has a great way of explaining things so that it feels easy to follow, and most importantly gave me confidence in myself. I felt that I made progress really quickly, and had loads of fun along the way. 
I can’t wait to go back.

Absolutely transformational diving experience!

As a diver for almost 10 years, you get to interact with so many diving centers, some are good some are not so good. But when it come to Freestyle Divers they are running in their own class, the staff are so professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable.
After doing a full day session with focus on breathing I managed to drop 5 kg from my weight belt (from 8kg to 3kg) – for me this was transformational.

What really makes Freestyle Divers stand out is their attitude and approach to training. They don’t rush you through the course to tick the boxes, they make sure divers are getting the right skills in the right way. They get you in neutral buoyancy and good trim from the pool sessions into Open Water, all the way up to endless realistic scenarios in Rescue/Tec courses – no matter how long it takes for the student. The mix of PADI/RAID/UTD/GUE instructors allow them to share skills way beyond the basics of the course. What I value most though is that they teach people to be thinking, respectful and safe divers – the kind of divers they’d like to buddy up with themselves! 😉