Everything began when I secretly returned the fish my father caught to where they truly belonged — the sea.
Born in Istanbul in 1979, Adnan Yanbay is a true man of the sea. His connection with water was shaped by Istanbul’s coastal neighborhoods, the powerful currents of the Bosphorus, and the depths surrounding the Princes’ Islands. Rooted in his Black Sea heritage, this instinctive bond with the sea began at a very early age and has shaped the course of his life ever since.
During his years as a competitive volleyball player with Arçelik Sports Club, where he earned multiple Turkish Championship titles, Adnan developed the discipline, body awareness and performance mindset of a high-level athlete. These foundations would later become central to his structured and detail-oriented approach to diving and freediving.
A Journey Shaped by the World’s Oceans
Adnan was introduced to scuba diving during his university years, and what began as an interest quickly became a way of life.
His path eventually led him to some of the world’s most renowned diving destinations. In Koh Tao, Thailand, he spent four years working as a dive school director and instructor. It was there that he began exploring more deeply the relationship between yoga, meditation, breathing and performance underwater.
His journey continued through Indonesia and Egypt. Across more than 25 years in diving and freediving, these experiences developed his understanding of technique, physiology, mental preparation, training systems and professional diving operations.
After years of living, teaching and diving around the world, Adnan eventually brought his experience back to Türkiye.
There was never a perfectly mapped-out plan.
Much of the journey followed a philosophy he still carries with him today:
Architect of Competitive Freediving Performance
Adnan approaches freediving not simply as a recreational activity, but as a performance sport that requires technique, physiological understanding, mental control and uncompromising safety.
- Competitive Freediving Coach: Coach to Turkish national record holders including Yasemin Ulucan, Görkem Gedik and Yağmur Ergün, and many other national-level athletes. Technical coaching and mental performance support during training camps in Kaş, helping them build safer and more sustainable performance.
- Training Science: A structured approach to physiology, high-level equalization, breath control, efficiency and progression.
Safety First: Safety Chief at CMAS Competitions in Kaş
For Adnan, safety is not a rule added on top of freediving; it is the foundation every dive is built on. He serves as Safety Chief at the CMAS freediving competitions held in Kaş and is the organizer of the Kaş Open CMAS Cup. At competitions and record attempts, every dive depends on preparation, timing and a safety team that knows exactly what to do.
- Every session supervised: One-up/one-down buddy system, a trained buddy watching every dive and at least 30 seconds of surface watch after each one.
- Progression without pressure: Depth and time grow step by step; no hyperventilation, no forced equalization, no chasing numbers.
- Rescue and first aid: Rescue skills are part of every course. Adnan has issued 34 SSI React Right certifications (first aid, CPR, AED and oxygen) and trained 3 React Right instructors.
- Safety in instructor training: As an SSI Instructor Trainer, he teaches new instructors how to supervise, rescue and run safe depth sessions.
Life Aquatic: “Small Is Beautiful”
Bringing his global experience back to Türkiye, Adnan founded Life Aquatic in Kaş. Guided by the philosophy “Small is beautiful,” he rejected mass training models in favor of a boutique, high-quality, athlete-centered school built around small groups, individual attention and meaningful time in the water.
Today, Life Aquatic is more than a freediving school. It is a place where beginners take their first steps into the underwater world, experienced freedivers refine their technique, instructors develop their teaching skills, and competitive athletes come to train.
Technical Excellence & Instructor Training
Today, Adnan is an SSI Freediving Instructor Trainer, combining years of teaching experience with a strong focus on instructor development, coaching and technical education.
His work is highly individual. Whether he is guiding someone entering the sea for the first time or an experienced athlete preparing for greater depths, the process begins with the same question: What does this diver actually need?
From there, training becomes a combination of technique, physiology, repetition, awareness and experience.
For Adnan, freediving has never been only about depth. It is about becoming comfortable where instinct once told us not to go, understanding the body rather than fighting it, and rediscovering a sense of freedom beneath the surface.
We are here to explore new experiences in the depths of the sea through freediving.