Daniel’s FII level 2 class in Kona was a life-changing, amazing, experience! Daniel was so professional, patient, and encouraging. We highly recommend taking his course and look forward to advancing further!
Brandi Castillo
Kailua Kona
Daniel's experience as competitive freediver and teacher created an incredible Freediving 1 class. He was respectful, playful, and genuine. He brings a depth to his teaching that I honor and appreciate. Freediving isn't just a sport, it is a lifestyle, a choice to go DEEP inside of yourself, to dissolve walls and expose layers you didn't know you had. I came to his class having an idea about this, and I feel lucky that he expanded on it and shared some of his experiences with us. Mahalo's
Basil Woody
Honolulu, Hi
I took Daniels L1 course to improve my spearfishing. This guy is super knowledgeable in all aspects of freediving and is an excellent and experienced instructor. Can't wait to go back and improve things I need to work on and eventually take the L2 course. Highly recommended.
John Asuncion Ignacio
Honolulu, Hi
The instruction was very in depth (😀) and thorough. The two instructors were knowledgeable, extremely patient and good humored throughout. This course is very intense and will challenge you and test your limits (unless you have a lot of diving experience w/o instruction), but it will also teach you everything you need to know to dive to 66ft and back in a safe manner. Daniel's enthusiasm and expertise will instill in you a passion for free diving.
Kyle Samber
​Yep. Daniel is still frickin awesome. Loved learning physiology of the body. He’s super enthusiastic. He’ll push you to improve but always safely. Great safety scenarios. I was satisfied within the first 2 hours but it got better and better. Highly recommended.
Jane Taylor
Honolulu, Hi
lvl 1: Excellent technical instruction combined with superb personal communication. IMO you need someone to truly coach you and work with you on an individual level to train and push you to accomplish your goals. He adds a calming influence to a well structured curriculum of exercises. Well worth it, Daniel helped me get it done!
Wellington Lee
Legendary instructor, nice guy, and current U.S. record holder (108M). Hard to imagine there could be a better Level 1 (beginner) course than his..
Ian Fitz-Patrick
Honolulu, Hi
Daniel is an amazing instructor and he is alot of fun. He provides the perfect environment where you feel safe and comfortable and can truly focus on your goal.
Jennifer Brant
Kailua Kona, Hawaii
This was the most in depth class that had the biggest impact on my safety. I didn't know how wrong I was on so many simple things. Daniel was a huge help in teach us the rights and wrong. Couldn't ask for a better person teaching. Thanks again brother for everything!!
Tommy Montoya
Honolulu, Hawaii
Dan is a superb instructor. His patience and mastery of freediving give the confidence to achieve more than you otherwise would think possible.
Quinn Riordan
Kailua Kona, Hawaii
Awesome course! Daniel is very thorough, explains things well and is very patient with new students. I hit personal best depths, learnt amazing water safety techniques and my water confidence has definitely increased.
Bret Thompsett
Honolulu, Hawaii
Awesome course! Daniel is very thorough, explains things well and is very patient with new students. I hit personal best depths, learnt amazing water safety techniques and my water confidence has definitely increased.
Copy Of -Bret Thompsett
Honolulu, Hawaii
Class was awesome. Daniel is a great instructor. Very focused on safety and making you feel comfortable.
Alexandros Psomopoulos
Honolulu, Hawaii
Epic course, Daniel was an excellent teacher and made the course very easy to comprehend. I learned a lot about myself that I didn't even know was possible and it was all because of Dan and taking this course. I recommend this course to everyone that wants to be a better diver or spearo.
David Lindahn
Honolulu, Hawaii
To date,
Daniel Koval's freediving course has been the best dive course I have ever taken. He opened his house to us, and made it very comfortable to learn the information on day one. The 3 minute breathold was easy using Daniel's breathing techniques, and his calming meditative cues.
Day 2 was even better. I dove to 66 feet twice, both my deepest dives. Having Daniel there to give me cues underwater really helped my head position and form and was a tremendous help. The rescue techniques were explained in an easy to understand manner, and demonstrated with patience and accuracy.
Maybe the most unpredicted part of the class was seeing the giant sunfish (my first time) and taking a quick break to marvel at its beauty and grace. Really cool animal. Daniel stayed longer hours to explain things to the class, and was not in a hurry to leave. He also left his line open for any questions afterwards, which I think is huge. Hopefully I can do the FII 2 class with him, or dive with him in Hawaii someday. I would definitely recommend this class to everyone wanting to freedive. Daniel is an amazing diver, and great teacher.
Diana McNeel
Diana McNeell
Laguna, California
I had an incredible learning experience in this class. I was essentially a newbie to all this. No exposure to SCUBA or Free diving prior to the FII class. The education of the physiological affects of the techniques of breath hold and diving were eye opening. The safety aspect of the course involving how to aid another diver was more than insightful. It definitely has me being much more selective with whom I dive with in the future. If they have not taken this course, I don't know I would dive with them. I need somebody that is qualified to know what is going on in the water, with my body as I dive/recover AND be able to successfully aid me in case a bad situation occurs.
I really appreciated the course process. Textbook, controlled environment in a safe semi-shallow water protected ocean wading pool, then open water. This allowed me to gradually get comfortable with and practice all aspect prior to the final day.
The techniques demonstrated were well structured. I appreciated the tons of real world experience in free diving that Daniel exposed us to in this course. His knowledge of all things free diving, spearfishing, SCUBA and the waters of Hawaii are world class. Dan's commitment to the students was evident. Always letting us know our capabilities are greater than we thought. I personally appreciated that he NEVER compromised on anything related to safety, it was rightfully drilled into our heads. The slightest technique 'miss' by a student had to be repeated until it was sound.
Whitfield was the assistant instructor and no slouch at all. He has years of experience as well. He's very structured and tossed tips our way that were perfect for fine tuning our skills as we practiced and then did the open water portion. He did have a special knack on how to build confidence in the students. I was glad to see that he had extensive backgrounds in freediving, spearfishing and SCUBA.
I'm not the type of person that routinely endorses the resumes of other people. I have probably personally referred 15 people in 25 years of business. I would absolutely put my name behind a recommendation to take this class from Daniel.
Next time I plan on being in Hawaii, I'll let you guys know. And yes, once I get this down a bit more, spearfishing class (another easy excuse for a trip to the islands).
Best Regards
Rich Haggerty
Rich Haggerty
Honolulu, Hawaii
I just completed the Fii Level 1 Freediver course with Daniel Koval in Honolulu, HI and I just wanted to write to say that it was a fantastic class. Growing up in Hawaii I came to the class with an acceptable level of comfort in the ocean, however this class completely met my expectations and provided me with safety tools, techniques, and knowledge about the ocean and the human body that I was hoping to get out of this class. I also was able to reach some physical goals that I did not have confidence I would at the start of the class, but thanks to Daniel I was able to prove myself wrong. Again, I would just like to commend Daniel's ability as an instructor for the Fii Level 1 and hope others choose to benefit from such a class that teaches more than just freediving lessons, but important life saving lessons as well.
Mahalo!
Jennifer Elfalan
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Jennifer Elfalan
Honolulu, Hawaii
Thank you all for sharing this life changing experience with me.
After Scuba diving for over 30 years and being a divemaster, I thought I could also freedive.
I even attempted to join the Fathomiers (LA Freediving and Spearfishing club).
Very quickly I discovered that not only was I uncompetitive, was unaware of what Shallow Water Black out was even about.
Looking back, I was taking a huge gamble with my life.
Daniel,
You have brought me to a "Life Changing Event".
Words cannot express my gratitude for you patience and perseverance to help me to to reach my goals.
But, I remind myself of the safety that you have ingrained in me, and will continue to study to perfect my skills.
I will even make Jesse practice the "Dozy Doe" on every dive [: > )
After taking some time to perfect my skills, I will return for Fii 2.
Most likely in Hawaii.
I hope you all have the personal sense of accomplishment that I am experiencing.
For those that have not reached your goal yet, keep working on what you have learned.
Thank god for Daniel's gift of instructing and patience.
I can not say enough about his professional level and ability to encourage others to be better than they thought they could be.
I can now call myself a Freediver!
Aloha Brudda
Thank you,
Joe Monaco
Joe Monaco
Honolulu, Hawaii