Question Safe return to the surface from the deep .....

[SinisaMilivojevic]

I have got myself fine fins and now I have a question.

I can reach 20 to 30 meters of depth (in the Mediterranean) and I have a very specific question.

What is the depth from which it is safe to rush to the surface to breath the air ?????

Thanks in advance

 

[adrian.u]

Not sure what you consider might be 'unsafe' about heading from 20-30m depth to the surface - are you thinking about decompression stops as happens for scuba diving? If so, the need for that comes from breathing pressurised gas over a longer period of time - which you're not doing if you hold your breath for only a minute or so.

Consequently, decompression isn't an issue for freediving (unless you're reaching depths like 100m or so, over several dives in a fairly short period of time - and pro freedivers don't really train that way any more, typically only doing a single dive to such depths occasionally, having other ways to train for that instead).

You're more likely to hit issues with narcosis before suffering from decompression issues when freediving - but that'd still be at way deeper than only 30m.


Having said all that, I think there are some potential issues that you should consider...

• first of all, when freediving you wouldn't want to "rush for the surface", since that exertion will likely use up your precious O2 more quickly, leading to the potential for blackout on reaching the surface - ideally you would instead keep a steady, relaxed pace (during both ascent & descent - typical speed is very roughly 1m/s), and learn to stay relaxed as the urge to breathe increases;
• secondly, if you might be starting to get hypoxic when coming up from 30m or so, you should make sure you know how to do recovery breaths to restore your oxygen quickly (you should really practice that anyway, even if you're not that hypoxic from 30m);
• finally, 30m is potentially reaching the residual volume of your lungs - and that can lead to lung/trachea squeeze if you're not careful about how you move while down there.

I'm assuming, of course, that you're doing all this with a buddy who is capable of reaching the same depths as you and knows how to rescue & recover you if you do blackout (and that you also know how to do the same for your buddy if necessary)...

I'd urge you to take a freediving course so you know about how to stay safe while enjoying your freediving.

 

[SinisaMilivojevic]

Not sure what you consider might be 'unsafe' about heading from 20-30m depth to the surface - are you thinking about decompression stops as happens for scuba diving? If so, the need for that comes from breathing pressurised gas over a longer period of time - which you're not doing if you hold your breath for only a minute or so.

Consequently, decompression isn't an issue for freediving (unless you're reaching depths like 100m or so, over several dives in a fairly short period of time - and pro freedivers don't really train that way any more, typically only doing a single dive to such depths occasionally, having other ways to train for that instead).

You're more likely to hit issues with narcosis before suffering from decompression issues when freediving - but that'd still be at way deeper than only 30m.


Having said all that, I think there are some potential issues that you should consider...

• first of all, when freediving you wouldn't want to "rush for the surface", since that exertion will likely use up your precious O2 more quickly, leading to the potential for blackout on reaching the surface - ideally you would instead keep a steady, relaxed pace (during both ascent & descent - typical speed is very roughly 1m/s), and learn to stay relaxed as the urge to breathe increases;
• secondly, if you might be starting to get hypoxic when coming up from 30m or so, you should make sure you know how to do recovery breaths to restore your oxygen quickly (you should really practice that anyway, even if you're not that hypoxic from 30m);
• finally, 30m is potentially reaching the residual volume of your lungs - and that can lead to lung/trachea squeeze if you're not careful about how you move while down there.

I'm assuming, of course, that you're doing all this with a buddy who is capable of reaching the same depths as you and knows how to rescue & recover you if you do blackout (and that you also know how to do the same for your buddy if necessary)...

I'd urge you to take a freediving course so you know about how to stay safe while enjoying your freediving.

Thank you very much .....


You practically answered all my questions ....

I do not know what narcosis is ....... truly .....
By "rush to the surface" , I meant just letting myself surface with very little motion ..... without stopping interim.

I thought I had to stop every 5 meters on my way up, just as on my way down ..... On my way down, I stop every 5 meters in order to balance my pressure with my nose shut ....

I always have some (very little) breath left when I reach surface ....

There is no freediving instructor on my island (Cyprus) .... or very few and far, far away ......

Before I start freediving, I visit a doctor to inspect if my eardrums are 100 % clean (I am 77 years old) ......

Also, once per week, I cleanse all my breathing channels (lungs, bronchea, ears, nose etc ....) with a steam inhaler filled with very warm sage tea ......

You cannot imagine how much that helps !!!!

 

[adrian.u]

I do not know what narcosis is ....... truly .....

Look up "freediving nitrogen narcosis" - but it's not something to worry about until much deeper than 30m.

By "rush to the surface" , I meant just letting myself surface with very little motion ..... without stopping interim.

I thought I had to stop every 5 meters on my way up, just as on my way down ..... On my way down, I stop every 5 meters in order to balance my pressure with my nose shut ....

You don't have to stop on the way up. And there's no need to do any kind of equalisation on the way up since it should happen automatically. (I won't go into the possibility of a 'reverse block' here...)

On the way down it's worth equalising more often than 5m (at least at the start of the dive near surface), but you don't need to stop to do it - just keep your hand pinching your nose the whole time you descend (and keep your elbow tucked in to your chest to improve streamlining).

If you're holding your breath then you're aiming to get down to your target as quickly as you can while remaining as relaxed as possible (i.e. moving efficiently), so stopping to eq isn't going to help that. (Although, by the time you reach ~25m you're probably freefalling, assuming you're weighted sensibly, so you shouldn't have to move at all to get deeper.)

I always have some (very little) breath left when I reach surface ....

Certainly look up how to do recovery breaths (may also be called "hook breaths").
A freedive course will teach you this, as well as how to relax & prepare your body for a dive, how to take a deeper breath before you set off, and how to relax & move more efficiently during a dive - all of these things mean you have more oxygen available during your dive, as well as when you surface!

There is no freediving instructor on my island (Cyprus) .... or very few and far, far away ......

Seriously...? A few shown below are scuba only, but many are freediving:

(Although there's no need to stay near home to do a freedive course - take a holiday somewhere, and do a course while you're there. )

Before I start freediving, I visit a doctor to inspect if my eardrums are 100 % clean (I am 77 years old) ......

Also, once per week, I cleanse all my breathing channels (lungs, bronchea, ears, nose etc ....) with a steam inhaler filled with very warm sage tea ......

You cannot imagine how much that helps !!!!

The issue with lung squeeze at depth is related to flexibility of your diaphragm/intercostals/chest/thorax/etc. - this is one of the main reasons that deep freedivers regularly perform various stretches. You have to be careful how you move your body once your lungs reach residual volume (which typically happens from around 30m), otherwise your freediving experience can turn bad very quickly.

If you're diving to 30m, and especially if you plan to try going deeper, then it's important for your safety that you take a freedive course (and that you find a buddy who knows how to do blackout rescues - and, for the safety of your buddy, that you also know how to do blackout rescues...)

Hope that helps!

 

[SinisaMilivojevic]

Antony,

Thanks for your help .....

I am going on vacation for 3 (three) weeks on the most beautiful sea and most beautiful area of Cyprus.

With totally, totally transparent sea, very rich marine life and (irrelevant for the diving) incredible nature .....

It is close to that north-western horn, which is near (15 km) from the place on the map named "Poli Crysochous". Heaven on Earth .....

Now .... I live close (30 km) to "Drive and Dive with Mario" place. That is the southern part of Cyprus, where sea is very shallow and covered with black sand .... actually with mud !!!!! There, you can get up to 3 meters of depth after 1.5 km of swimming. To get to 10 meters of depth you have to go 5 kms away, which means only a boat. Even when you get there, you jump into a sea water where you can see something for the first 2 - 3 meters of diving and then you enter murky water where you see literally NOTHING. And no marine life. Trust me, I tried it already .... Not entirely inspiring ..... as you may imagine.

However, only 70 kms away from me is that area named "Marishaa-cy free diving area. So, I will give it a thought !!!!!!! Because there, sea is also nice. Not nearly as nice as where I am going for vacation, but quite nice.

If you are in Europe, consider going there ....... I can provide you with details on how to get there and where to stay ....

Thank you so much again !!!!

With all these answers, I think that you helped me more then what I expected.

I have only one, totally unrelated question. I will take diving videos this September and I wonder if those can be uploaded on this site .....

 

[SDC79]

SinisaMilivojevic

It's not clear from your posts how you're diving, but just in case, in my opinion: diving without a competent buddy is unwise; diving without a buddy to 30m is downright foolhardy.

If you really cannot find an instructor, even taking a basic online course would be sensible. (I didn't think I'd ever recommend that!)

 

[Johan Vandersmissen]

Not sure what you consider might be 'unsafe' about heading from 20-30m depth to the surface - are you thinking about decompression stops as happens for scuba diving? If so, the need for that comes from breathing pressurised gas over a longer period of time - which you're not doing if you hold your breath for only a minute or so.

Consequently, decompression isn't an issue for freediving (unless you're reaching depths like 100m or so, over several dives in a fairly short period of time - and pro freedivers don't really train that way any more, typically only doing a single dive to such depths occasionally, having other ways to train for that instead).

You're more likely to hit issues with narcosis before suffering from decompression issues when freediving - but that'd still be at way deeper than only 30m.


Having said all that, I think there are some potential issues that you should consider...

• first of all, when freediving you wouldn't want to "rush for the surface", since that exertion will likely use up your precious O2 more quickly, leading to the potential for blackout on reaching the surface - ideally you would instead keep a steady, relaxed pace (during both ascent & descent - typical speed is very roughly 1m/s), and learn to stay relaxed as the urge to breathe increases;
• secondly, if you might be starting to get hypoxic when coming up from 30m or so, you should make sure you know how to do recovery breaths to restore your oxygen quickly (you should really practice that anyway, even if you're not that hypoxic from 30m);
• finally, 30m is potentially reaching the residual volume of your lungs - and that can lead to lung/trachea squeeze if you're not careful about how you move while down there.

I'm assuming, of course, that you're doing all this with a buddy who is capable of reaching the same depths as you and knows how to rescue & recover you if you do blackout (and that you also know how to do the same for your buddy if necessary)...

I'd urge you to take a freediving course so you know about how to stay safe while enjoying your freediving.

Please do a freedive course. !!!!!