Welcome to Asia’s biggest Freediving Event:
The 10th edition of the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup!

When and where will the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup 2026 be organized? 

AIDA Asian Freediving Cup 2026 will take place from 13th to 23rd of July 2026.

All in all there will be eight competition days: Four for men, and four for women. We will also have two spare competition days, in case of unfortunate events such as bad weather.

Program

• 8th of July: Official training (women) 
• 9th of July: Official training (men)
• 10th of July: Rest / Autonomous training
• 11th of July: Official training (women) 
• 12th of July: Official training (men)

• 13th of July: Rest / Autonomous training / Briefing

• 14th of July: Competition day, Women
• 15th of July: Competition day, Men
• 16th of July: Competition day, Women
• 17th of July: Competition day, Men

• 18th of July: Rest / Backup day

• 19th of July: Competition day, Women
• 20th of July: Competition day, Men
• 21st of July: Competition day, Women
• 22nd of July: Competition day, Men

• 23rd of July: Rest / Backup day / Closing party

Location will be Doljo Beach, our starting point will be at Freedive SuperHOME on Panglao Island’s north-west coast. The competition set up will be located a short boat ride from the  shore. Shuttle boats will bring athletes to and from the competition area in regular intervals.

Diveye

This is the 10th time the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup is being organized. We’re excited to mark this milestone by bringing Diveye to Asia for the first time.

This will make it possible for both athletes and spectators to have a closer look at their dives.

Who can join AIDA Asian Freediving Cup?

Freedivers of all levels are welcome to compete. The only prerequisites are:

• Minimum age is 18 years or 16 with parental consent.
• You need to be in good health and present a medical statement, signed by a physician, that says you’re fit to freedive.
• You need to be a member of an AIDA National that corresponds to your passport or national ID card.  If your country doesn’t have an AIDA National, membership of any national organization will do (such as AIDA Philippines).
• You need to be registered as an Athlete on the AIDA website.
• The maximum depth for the competition is 145 meters
• Slots might be limited to 20 athletes per nationality
• We are accepting a total of 100 registrations (50 men, 50 women)

How can I join and how much is it?

The cost for the competition is 56,500 PHP / 960 USD / 6,800 CNY 

This includes four official dives, the closing party including dinner, and souvenirs.

To sign up for the event you can register through the competition website www.asianfreedivingcup.com from the 8th of January at 8pm Philippine time (GMT+8).

The registration form will be available here:
https://gpvdzy.fanqier.cn/f/hifevvs2

The registration will be so that the first half of spots will be on a first-to-register basis. The second half will be picked among the athletes that registered during the next 18 hours, until 9th of January 2pm PH time. We do it like this to give divers that are not able to stay in front of the computer during official registration time a chance to join the competition as well.

After registering online you will receive an invitation to pay the competition fee to reserve your slot. If we do not receive payment until January 31st your registration will expire and we give priority to the next athlete on the waiting list.

Cancellation policy

• Cancellations done on or before February 28 will be refunded full amount.
• Cancellations done between  March 1 and May 12 will be refunded half the registration fee.
• Cancellations done between May 13 and July 12 will be refunded 20% of registration fee.
• There will be no refunds after  July 12.

Registrations can’t be transferred.

Waiting List

We have space for 100 competing athletes. However in the past years the competition was always fully booked within a very short time after the opening of registration.

Once the competition is full we will create a waiting list for any additional inquiries. Once registered athletes cancel or do not pay until the due date of January 31st we will give priority to the next diver on the waiting list.   

The Competition Meeting

There is an event meeting where all competing athletes must be present. It will take place on 13th t of July  at 3pm at Freedive SuperHOME (subject to change).

What you need to bring:

• Passport or national ID card.
• Lanyard including belt for CNF for checking by the judges.
• A medical statement, signed by a physician, that says you’re “fit for Freediving” and is not older than one  year.
  If you have experienced blackout or barotrauma since you got the statement you will need a new one.
• We will take depth announcements from the women for the first diving day.

After completing the registration of all athletes we will give a review of the setup and competition rules before we publish the start list for the first competition day. 

The meeting will finish at around 5pm with a group picture.

Competition format: Three counting dives

There will be four competition days per athlete. Athletes are free to choose any discipline on each competition day. The best results from three disciplines will be taken into account in the overall ranking: FIM, CNF and either of the CWT disciplines (CWT or CWTB).

Scoring will be done as a percentage of world records. For athletes that compete in both CWT and CWTB we will use the dive that gives the highest score of the two.

Tie breaks for overall ranking:
Replace fourth dive, most white cards, least red cards, least yellow cards, score of first dive (then 2nd, 3rd, 4th), earliest date of payment, time of registration.

Tie breaks for discipline awards:
White card on winning dive, least red cards in discipline, least yellow cards in discipline, first date of winning dive, earliest date of payment, time of registration.

Safety during AIDA Asian Freediving Cup

Like every year, safety is our main concern. We want to organize an event that is fun and relaxed but at the same time safe and professional.

Our safety team is trained according to the guidelines of the AIDA Competition Safety Freediver by Vertical Blue Professional Safety Freediver® course.

Here are some of our safety mechanisms:

• Announcements are limited to not more than 5m than the athletes PB in the discipline within the last three months.
• A group of highly experienced Safety Freedivers will provide safety at the appropriate depth for every diver.
• Deep Safety with a DPV (scooter) will meet every diver at depth.
• Every dive will be monitored from the surface by our depth sonar.
• Our highly effective counterweight system gives us the possibility to retrieve divers within a very short time.
• Experienced competition medics will be on standby for every diver.
• Blackout and squeeze policies from AIDA rules will be strictly followed!

In the unlikely event of any diver needing additional care in a hospital we have multiple cars on standby that can reach the nearest clinic within 15 min.

The medical team and organizers have the right to refuse the start of any athlete if diving would pose an obvious risk to the diver’s health or safety.

Water conditions in Panglao

May to July are usually the best months for Freediving in the Philippines. Very little to no wind will make for nice surface conditions.

The water temperature will be 29~30 degrees on the surface. This temperature stays constant until a depth of around 50m. Below that the temperature usually drops by not more than one degree. Below 100m the temperature is usually not less than 26 degrees. The expected visibility is around 30m. 

Dives will be scheduled during times with least current to the best of our ability.

Weather & Force Majeure Refund Clause

We will do our utmost to proceed with the event as planned, and two backup days are scheduled to help ensure completion.

If weather, sea conditions, or force majeure (e.g., storms, government restrictions, safety issues) require schedule changes or cancellation of specific diving days, no refunds will be issued.

By registering, athletes acknowledge that open-water conditions may require adjustments that do not qualify for refunds. 

Prizes and Sponsors

At this point of time we are still working sponsors and support. However we can assure already that there will again be high quality prizes waiting for the top performances. Sponsors will be announced as soon as we can!

Our regular sponsors CETMA Composites and BESTDIVE have already confirmed and will be part of the team once again.

Awards and surprises are waiting during our closing party!