Roatán Hosts 2026 CMAS World Championship Freediving Depth
Roatán, Honduras, is once again in the global spotlight as it hosts the 2026 CMAS World Championship Freediving Depth from August 14 to 27. The international competition brings together elite freedivers for a series of depth disciplines in the Caribbean waters of the Bay Islands. Roatán has already proven to be a world-class stage for the sport: during the 2023 CMAS Freediving Depth World Championship, the island witnessed multiple world-record dives, including Alexey Molchanov’s 136-meter Constant Weight dive.
The 2026 championship has continued that record-breaking legacy. During the Free Immersion (FIM) events in Roatán, Alexey Molchanov reached 133 meters in the men’s competition, while Nataliia Zharkova reached 107 meters in the women’s event. These performances add to Roatán’s growing reputation as a destination capable of hosting some of the world’s most challenging and high-level freediving competitions.
Organized under the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS), the championship showcases some of the world's most demanding freediving disciplines, including Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight and Constant Weight with Bifins. CMAS identifies itself as the international federation responsible for governing competitive freediving and its world and continental championships.
World-Class Freediving in Roatán
The event is being hosted in Roatán, Honduras, a destination internationally recognized for its exceptional Caribbean waters and diving conditions. The 2026 championship follows previous CMAS depth competitions held in Roatán, further strengthening the island's position on the international freediving calendar.
One of the featured disciplines is Free Immersion (FIM), in which athletes descend and return to the surface by pulling themselves along a guide rope, without using fins. The discipline demands exceptional breath-hold capacity, technique, physical conditioning and mental control.
The competition's official CMAS page includes live coverage and results for the different competition days, highlighting the international scale of the event taking place in Roatán.
Roatán as a Global Sports Destination
Hosting an international championship of this level places Roatán on the map as a destination for specialized sports tourism, attracting athletes, coaches, families, media and freediving enthusiasts from around the world.
Beyond the competition itself, events such as the CMAS World Championship provide an opportunity to showcase the natural conditions, professional capabilities and tourism infrastructure that make the Bay Islands an ideal setting for international aquatic sports.
With the championship continuing through August 27, Roatán is welcoming the global freediving community and demonstrating once again why Honduras' Caribbean islands are a remarkable destination for diving, adventure and world-class sporting events.
