When to end the dive ???

[svlucian]

Hello everybody. I just started in freediving, and I'm trying to gather as much information as possible. I've been looking for information about the right moment to end my dive. I do not want to dive very deep, but I want to stay under as much as possible.
I found information about all the possible stuff, less about this subject that I consider very important. How much I can force my body to stay under, and what are the symptoms that is time to go up (or how long can I postpone the ascent after the symptoms appear)?

 

[cdavis]

Hard question, its very individual

Some say start up at the first real contraction. That's quite conservative for most divers and works fine for most. However, some don't get contractions, some get them early, some late, so its not a universal rule. I get very early contractions. If I came up at the first one, I'd seldom get to the bottom.

You will have to play with it. One minute dives( with a decent rest period) are very safe. After that, its individual.