There’s a certain kind of trip that’s hard to explain to people who weren’t there. You come home with salt in your hair, a fresh certification in your back pocket, and a group chat full of women you now can’t imagine your life without. That’s exactly what we’ve built with our all-girls freediving retreat on Kuata Island, Fiji.
Five days, four nights, and every single instructor, guide and facilitator in the water is a woman. If you’ve been searching for a women’s freediving retreat that goes further than a weekend taster, keep reading.
What is an all-girls freediving retreat?
An all-girls freediving retreat is a multi-day trip where every participant, instructor and guide is a woman. Ours runs across five days on Kuata Island, Fiji, and combines Level 1 and Level 2 freediving certification, mermaid swimming, breathwork, Watsu bodywork and an optional scuba dive with bull sharks.
Why we run this trip as women only
We’ve run plenty of mixed group trips over the years, and they’ve been brilliant. But something different happens when a group of women gets in the water with no one to perform for. The pace changes. Confidence builds faster.
People who’ve never held their breath underwater end up trying things they’d normally talk themselves out of, because the reef feels safe enough to try. So we built this retreat around that feeling: female instructors, female energy, and a program designed to let you go as deep, literally and otherwise, as you want to.
Why we chose Kuata Island for this retreat
We chose Kuata Island for a reason. It’s small, remote, and protected by a local tabu, the traditional Fijian system where a reef area is closed to fishing so it can recover. Communities across Fiji have used tabu areas for generations, and the Marine Conservation Institute notes the country’s locally managed marine network now protects thousands of square kilometres of reef and fishing ground.
Around Kuata, that protection shows. Divers can expect fifteen shark species, seven types of ray, and more than 300 species of fish, with visibility that stretches for days. We’re staying at Barefoot Kuata, an island resort that somehow feels both luxurious and completely unpretentious.
Think open-air bures, a kitchen that consistently overdelivers, and a beach that’s basically your front yard for the week.
What you’ll actually be doing
- Freediving at your pace. We run full Level 1 and Level 2 certifications throughout the retreat, alongside daily line training in visibility up to 30 metres.
- Mermaid swims, tails included, guided by our female instructors through some of the clearest water you’ll ever swim in.
- An underwater photoshoot, because a phone photo from the surface won’t do this trip justice.
- Watsu, guided floating bodywork done in warm water.
- Daily breathwork and sunrise hikes, for the mornings you want to feel grounded before the diving starts.
- Snorkelling and reef diving with black tip and white tip reef sharks, who are far more relaxed than their reputation suggests.
Watsu, short for water shiatsu, is a form of aquatic bodywork developed in California in the 1980s and now overseen internationally by the Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association. One of our own instructors is a certified Watsu practitioner, and we’ve built sessions into the week as a chance to properly switch off after a few days of diving and breathwork.
If you want a head start before you arrive, our Level 1 Wave 1 course in Sydney covers the fundamentals you’ll build on in Fiji, and our Level 2 Wave 2 course is a good option if you’re already certified and want to push your depth before the retreat.
The bucket list moment (entirely optional)
For anyone who wants to push things further, we run an optional scuba dive with bull sharks in the Yasawa Islands. No certification is required; it’s fully guided, and it’s capped at a manageable 12 metres with an instructor beside you the entire time.
Fiji’s waters support one of the most diverse shark and ray populations in the Pacific, though globally these animals are under real pressure. Analysis reported by the Borgen Project put around two thirds of assessed shark and ray species as threatened or near threatened, which is exactly why well-managed encounters like this one matter. It also tends to be the story people tell first when they get home.
What’s included
- Five days and four nights of accommodation, dorm style or private, your call
- Every meal and snack (alcohol not included)
- All the freediving, mermaid and Watsu programming above
- Local boats and a captain for the week
- Instructors who genuinely want to see you succeed underwater, not just supervise you
Trip details
- Dates: 22 to 26 May 2026
- Location: Kuata Island, Fiji
- Price: $2,100 AUD (dorm/shared) or $4,200 AUD (private room)
- Deposit: $500 non-refundable to secure your spot, with a payment plan available
Why I built this retreat
I’ve spent more than 11 years running freediving courses and trips, including a stint as National Geographic’s safety diving consultant on the 2021 documentary series Secrets of the Whales, alongside filmmaker Brian Skerry. In that time I’ve watched thousands of people take their first proper breath-hold, and one pattern keeps showing up.
Confidence in the water tends to arrive faster in an all-women group than a mixed one. That’s not a knock on our mixed trips; we still run plenty of those, and they’re brilliant too. It’s just something I’ve seen often enough across more than a decade of teaching to take seriously.
Building a retreat around an entirely female teaching team, in one of the healthiest reef systems we’ve worked in, was the obvious next step for us.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need freediving experience to join?
No. This trip is designed for every level, from complete beginners chasing their first certification to divers working toward Level 2.
What should I pack?
Bring your own mask, fins and wetsuit if you have them, though rental gear is available. A reef-safe sunscreen, a dry bag and a reusable water bottle are worth packing too.
Is there an age limit?
Yes. Participants need to be at least 18 years old to join this retreat.
Can I join if I’ve never tried mermaid swimming or Watsu before?
Yes. Both are entirely optional add-ons, and no prior experience is needed for either.
Book your spot
This one is genuinely limited in numbers. It’s an intimate group by design, not a marketing line. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to book an all-girls freediving retreat, get certified, meet incredible women and swim with sharks in a mermaid tail (you read that right), this is it. Get in touch to lock in your spot.