Freediving

Freediving is a form of underwater diving where a person holds their breath (apnea) instead of using breathing apparatus like scuba tanks.

Freedivers rely solely on their ability to hold their breath while swimming underwater, either for recreation, sport, or as part of another activity like Spearfishing.

Disclaimer: None of this is advice. Be safe, know your limits, and never dive alone.

From DeeperBlue.com on YouTube

Equipment

While no equipment is strictly necessary, this is my basic list of gear for ocean-based freediving:

In the Bag:

• Wetsuit: Easier than sunscreen and keeps me warm. Thickness depends on water temp.
• Dive hood: Useful for diving in colder waters and/or to manage long long hair (easily tangles in dive mask)
• Fin Socks/Dive Boots: Keeps fins from cutting into skin while reducing heat lost through feet.
• Gloves: Reduces cut/scrape/puncture risk and reduces heat lost through hands.
• Swim Cap: Optional but seems like it will help to keep a dive hood from pulling on strands of hair.
• Dive mask: Preserves visibility. Seems recommended over swim goggles due to ability to equalize at depth.
• Snorkel: Helps me breathe on the surface while looking down, floating horizontally.
• Weight belt: Used to achieve neutral buoyancy at a target depth, neither floating or sinking.
• Fins: Freediving fins are longer and have more flex than other fins. Helps me cover more distance quickly.
• Dive Knife: Useful to cut loose if snagged in fishing line, kelp, or something else.

Onshore & Wishlist:

• Dive Watch: Useful for noting breath hold and recovery times, plus total time in the water.

Skill Tree

There are a number of skills that contribute to freediving. Here’s my map of the most important and relevant:

Breathing

Various forms of breathwork and breathing technique to set up for a breath hold prior to a dive.

• Lung Stretching — Breath-focused stretching that helps improve the flexibility of the lungs and ribcage.
  • Lung Stretching Exercise — Molchanovs Freediving
• Breathe-up — The breaths leading up to the hold. Seems like some say to avoid hyperventillation, while breathe-ups help to “prime” the body for the dive.
  • The Proper Breathe-up for Freediving — Seaunseen

Breath Hold

Management and control of a breath hold during a dive.

• Apnea Walks — A dry training technique to get used to breath hold while expending energy (similar to finning or moving underwater). Best measured by time, but also by steps, distance, contractions, and so on.
  • How to Apnea Walk — Gert Leroy

Equalization

Methods to equalize cranio-nasal pressure at various depths.

• Frenzel Equalization — An equalization technique done by pinching the nose and pushing the tongue off the roof of the mouth.
  • How to Do Frenzel Equalization — Freediving Central

Dive Conditions

While “good” dive conditions are somewhat subjective, here are the ones I’ve found are helpful to start with:

• Visibility (ideally ≥ 15ft)
• Swell of < 3ft
• Swell period of ≤ 10–15s
• Wind (< 10 knots, ideally offshore or low impact)
• Tide (slack or incoming)
• Water temperature in comfortable range
• Safe water quality
• Fish activity

Terms & Jargon

Just starting to fill this out as I get familiar with the various terms and jargon used by freedivers.

• Apnea
• Breathe Up
• Contractions
• Dry Training
• Dynamic Apnea
• Open Water (OW) — A large body of water (ocean, lake, …) that isn’t a pool.
• Packing
• Static Apnea
• Tables — Breath hold sets with different time intervals
• Tidal Breathing

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Origin: Self

Created: 2025-05-29

Confidence: 4/10