snorkeling breath holding

[Dave Kay]

I am looking for some instruction-books, videos, etc.-that cover old fashioned snorkeling to depths of 30-50 feet. I just want to review techniques to stay down longer. Everything I find is on free diving. I am not interested in free diving. I just want to swim to a reef for a couple of minutes and come up. I dont spear fish, Thanks.

 

[Ana]

It may be semantics but snorkeling down to any depth and staying at that depth for some time on one breath is freediving.
Doesn't matter if you are spearfishing, collecting shells, taking photos, or singing a mantra.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

It may be semantics but snorkeling down to any depth and staying at that depth for some time on one breath is freediving.
Doesn't matter if you are spearfishing, collecting shells, taking photos, or singing a mantra.

This. A guy died doing this at the local quarry last year. He had taken no freediving course, showed up and said that he was just going to be snorkeling, and went solo freediving. He was found unresponsive by a scuba diver.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

I am looking for some instruction-books, videos, etc.-that cover old fashioned snorkeling to depths of 30-50 feet. I just want to review techniques to stay down longer. Everything I find is on free diving. I am not interested in free diving. I just want to swim to a reef for a couple of minutes and come up. I dont spear fish, Thanks.

Techniques to stay down longer include hyperventilation and the corresponding need to understand the mechanisms of shallow-water blackout. Diving down to the reef while snorkeling is 100% freediving.

 

[TMHeimer]

For decades I snorkeled down to 8-12'. I hyperventilated all the time-- 3-4 deep breaths. I've recently seen that PADI has stopped using the word and now recommends something like "a couple of deep breaths". Maybe I was just lucky all those years in not blacking out. I don't "officially" recommend it. Then again, we're not talking 50' depth here.

 

[FullThrottle]

I've been lucky for decades. The phenomenon of SWB is something that has not always been well understood, although I remember my Dad telling me when I was 8 or 9 and I was hyperventilating to increase my breath holding that it "could be dangerous", and that was more than 50 years ago. I've been diving up to 40' and have pushed apnea a bit when tickling lobsters, but a little caution and awareness of the potential danger has served me well, even though I've done a lot of solo diving. Pushing apnea at depth is when it becomes dangerous, and that's when you need to have a capable buddy to back you up should you go Tango Uniform, and that's the value of training right there.

 

[Bob DBF]

With the goals you have, you should look into free diving instruction in your area. You need someone that knows what to do when you have your first shallow water blackout.

 

[johndiver999]

I am looking for some instruction-books, videos, etc.-that cover old fashioned snorkeling to depths of 30-50 feet. I just want to review techniques to stay down longer. Everything I find is on free diving. I am not interested in free diving. I just want to swim to a reef for a couple of minutes and come up. I dont spear fish, Thanks.

Freediving to those depths, with the intent to expand your capabilities to dives of a few minutes and without a formal training program is far, far more dangerous than scuba diving without any certification.

Take a good freedive course and you will be surprised about how much there is to it. At the very least, dive with a good buddy and learn how to rescue a samba or blackout.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[Celt]

Patrick McKeown
The Oxygen Advantage: The simple, scientifically proven breathing technique that will revolutionise your health and fitness

4.6 out of 5 stars (345)Reviews

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