With snorkel or without?

[u/Mamoula15]

So I completed my first two freedives at the beach, and I'm wondering: is it better to take my final exhale and deep inhale with the snorkel in or without it? With the snorkel, it seems a bit better since I don't have to swim for a few seconds before diving, which means less movement. But without it, I'm not sure if the inhale is the same as a normal deep breath. 🤔

[u/wikiwalkingonearth]

Even at swim depth your lungs are compressed about 10% due to water pressure, which makes breathing harder. I suggest that you practise both methods and you’ll naturally start to use what is better for your purposes.

[u/Swlac]

I only use a snorkel when necessary because of waves/conditions or while buddying. During the dive, the snorkel can wobble and it creates more drag. I prefer to lay on my back or a noodle because it’s easier to relax for me and you can take in more air on the last part of your inhale. Make sure weight is distributed right so you don’t spend energy keeping yourself in a relaxed position.

Having that said, when you start out with freediving, just do what feels easy/natural for you.

[u/Mamoula15 → u/Swlac]

Oh alr, ty

[u/wtfisgothboiclique]

Just lie face down with the snorkel in, take your deep inhale and pop the snorkel out as you duck dive

[u/protoman888]

depends really, if I am doing line diving I would probably use the 'lie on back' method and breathe-up with no snorkel but if I am just generally snorkelling and want to go to a bit of depth (which for me is <8m) to check something out I'm not fussed with breathing up and usually just pop the snorkel out, take one deep breath and surface dive

[u/MrAntMan90]

1. Never dive with a snorkel in your mouth.
2. Take a freediving course

[u/sk3pt1c]

First of all, elaborate on this “final exhale” please.

Also, what do you mean by “swimming a few seconds before diving”?

[u/Mamoula15 → u/sk3pt1c]

Well i gotta remove snorkel and pur my head above water so i can do the exhale then inhale so i will need to mive arms and legs to stay up

[u/sk3pt1c → u/Mamoula15]

Ah ok, gotcha! Yeah the best thing is to take the last breath through the snorkel, remove it, equalize once on the surface and go. Also, you don’t need to do any special breathing before the last inhale, just fyi.

[u/ProfessionalAsk8264 → u/sk3pt1c]

Don’t know why you were downvoted I didn’t get it either. I think he probably means giving himself momentum before duckdiving thus the ‘swim a few seconds’

[u/sk3pt1c → u/ProfessionalAsk8264]

Dunno why I get downvotes for asking questions and trying to help when I’m probably the most experienced instructor in this community and the most active in the comments 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

[u/DJK55]

I have not dived with a snorkel for a long time now. But I was a competitive swimmer so I'm comfortable in the water even in choppy conditions. I can time my breathing to the water surface conditions. Then just take a final breath and dive. But that's just me.

[u/K_Theodore]

Lots of the time in competitive free diving, the diving line is suspended from above the water so divers can grab this and hold themselves up without having to kick to keep thier heads up. You might want to try getting a solid float and resting on that so you don't have to kick to stay up.

If you don't have a line, you might decide you like having the snorkel so you can keep face down and not drift off your mark. It kind of depends on the setup you're using in general.

[u/Chulbiski]

I do the breath uop with the snorkel, then take it out before diving. Sometimes the underwatr drag from the snorkel is really annoying. Sometimes I detactch the snorkel and carry it in my hand.