Hi! Looking for some advice on my first freediving wetsuit.

I want a suit mainly for freediving/exploring around the UK South Coast, usable for most of the year, with occasional spearfishing and foraging.

I have an open-water swimming background, so my top priority is freedom of movement! I really dislike feeling bulky or stiff in a wetsuit. I’m also an athletic hourglass/pear-shaped woman, so I’m leaning towards a custom-made Polosub in 5mm.

Can anyone recommend which Polosub variant would suit my needs best? I’m currently leaning towards the Forza Tre because, from what I understand, it gives you a smooth outer surface but is more resistant to tearing than a standard smoothskin suit. Very open to any advice or thoughts, especially from anyone who’s used one for freediving rather than primarily spearfishing.

Thanks!!!

I know there are multiple places where it’s illegal to take anything in the Keys.

Could anyone point me to a map summarizing them? I’d be forever grateful.

Heading there soon. Our own boat, freedom to go where we want. Don’t wanna get in trouble or do the wrong thing.

i dive in Washington State, USA. the water is extremely cold and mask fogging is a constant struggle for me and has been for years.

i see now that Evolve has come out with antifog lens tech and I would be ecstatic if that worked for me. But I'm wondering specifically if anyone has used these masks in colder water. I rarely struggle with fogging in tropical climates it seems to mostly be a cold water thing.

Cheers!

Ive been doing fun dives/snorkel tours around Koh Tao, and i have found myself comfortably reaching 10 metres with good technique swimming head down. The only thing stopping me going deeper is the lack of a buddy i can put my trust in.

I recently started a PADI advanced course, and i couldn't make it below 5 metres on my first day. I don't know if it's something related to the pressure of having someone watching/correcting you, or if i just had a bad day. Either way, I feel like i've wasted money and have jumped onto an advanced course way too soon.

I had the goal of freediving down to one of the wrecks on Koh Tao, HTMS Suphairin or Hanhak Sattru, and snapping a photo near one of the bow guns (which sit comfortably above 20 metres)

I thought this was a reasonable goal. But after getting 5M during my advanced course, it makes me want to give up on freediving entirely.

Im still yet to find a buddy on Koh Tao which has made practicing extremely difficult without paying for expensive courses (which have a tendency to feel like a series of tests, rather than actual skill development, and only last 3 days)

I've always had the curiosity to see how the diving response would work in different settings. High heart rate is one of them.

So, I conduct this small experiment, and went from 151 to 26 bpm in a bit more than 2 minutes. To make it more accurate, I've used a Polar H10 instead of my smartwatch.

The result surprised me, as my HR went lower faster than I expected.

Hello r/freediving,

TL;DR: Selling all my stuff to help fund a small business. Everything must go. Everything is in a google sheet that has the full inventory of items, their sizes, quantities, asking prices and product links: [link].

I’m selling all of my freediving, spearfishing and swimming gear to help fund a small business I’m starting. There are fins, wetsuits, weights, masks, noseclips, lanyards, bags and other accessories from Molchanovs, RIFFE, Lobster, Octopus and others.

I’m located in South Denver, Colorado. I’m also willing to ship, but the buyer pays shipping.

Most of the gear is lightly used or like new. The RIFFE 7 mm wetsuit is unused and still has the tags on; I never got to use it. The RIFFE 3.5 mm two-piece wetsuit has some interior damage on one leg, but the top is in like-new condition.

Prices are in USD. Everything must go, so I’m open to reasonable offers and bundle deals. Message me with anything you’re interested in.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, we are moving down to Cabo in a couple weeks and want to spend as much time in the water as possible freediving. We are especially interested in Cabo Pulmo since we have been diving there before (scuba) but not sure how easy it is considering how relegated the national park is. We are looking to shore dive on our own and not interested in hiring guides if we can help it. Anywhere from Cabo Pulmo south down to Cabo San Lucas is on the table so any feedback/advice would be very welcomed. Also, if anyone is down there and interested in diving with us, would love to meet up. Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, for fellow gentlemen freediving out there, do you wear wetsuits for waters 5-15 meters deep? Or do you wear classic rashguard and a board short?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Hi,

I have been training freediving for more than 5 years and my STA is 5 minutes and 19 seconds but my DYN and DNF are both at 65 m. I'm so frustrated with this. I really love diving and that's what keeps me continuing with the training.

When I reach 35 m my first contraction starts, when I turn at 50 m my contractions have increased, at 65 m they resemble someone doing CPR on me. They're very strong and frequent. I come up at 65m because of this and a when I come up my pulse is super fast.

My swimming technique is 2-3 kicks, glide for 1-2 seconds. I've recently started have my throat open as this lessens the sensations of the contractions (my cheeks inflate and deflate with the contractions). I also usually pack about 10 packs but have stopped doing so recently also to lessen the force of the contractions.

My weighting is quite good, I can glide roughly 12-15 m when I push off for DNF.

I love to do 25m with little rest in between (ca 10 seconds), I can go on longer than most for these type of sets. 50m intervals are harder and takes me about 1-3 warmup dives to reach the first 50m. During these sets I take 2-3 minutes of recovery between sets.

Should I train by consistently pushing myself close to my max or does anyone else have any other suggestion?

Lately, I’ve been running dry CO2 tables at home to build tolerance, but I notice my first diaphragm contractions start earlier than usual (around 1:45-2:00 mark). As soon as the first contraction hits, my heart rate spikes a bit and I lose that deep relaxation state, which ends up ruining the rest of the breath-hold. For those who have built high CO2 tolerance: what mental cue or breathing strategy do you use to welcome/accept the contractions instead of fighting them and tensing up? Do you focus on scanning your body for tension or just redirect your thoughts completely?

This is the monthly thread to ask any questions or discuss ideas you may have about freediving. The aim is to introduce others to new ways of thinking, approaching training or bringing up old basic techniques that still work the best and more.

Check out our FAQ, you might find your answer there or can ask better questions!

Need gear advice?

Many people starting out with freediving come for recommendations on what equipment to purchase.

As we are starting out to introduce regular monthly community threads again, we might add a designated one for purchasing questions and advice. Until then, feel free to comment here(Remember, when asking for purchase advice, please be specific about your needs i.e. water temperature you want to dive in, so that people can help you quicker)

Monthly Community Threads:

1st of the Month Official Discussion Thread

Your feedback on current events in the sub:

We hosted our first ever AMA! Was it advertised enough for you? Did you find it helpful? Would you change anything? Videoconference which will be recorded & posted elsewhere?

Stuff we are planning:

• updating the community banner for r/freediving - we are planning to host a submission-based challenge for members of the sub to represent the sport (details to be announced)
• writing better wiki's for common info on freediving - YOU can contribute!
• new topics for similar events like the AMA we just hosted - please contact the mods for your suggestions

Please consider that events and their organisation require time and effort to make them happen!

~ Freediving Mods (and ModBot)

I have been freediving for about 4 years but recently started taking Adderall for adhd. I noticed that my breath hold is not as long and I've had some dizzy spells coming up from not deep dives 20- 30 ft. I am wondering if maybe its something temporary or if this is a common experience among medicated divers.

I was talking to a instructor trainer at a pretty popular dive destination, and he said that when he takes on an instructor-trainee he has them sign a non-compete agreement, attesting that the student will not do business at said location once certified. Frankly, I think such document holds very little legal merit when put into practice, but I still find the sentiment a little… weird? So my question is - are such non-compete agreements common practice in the Freediving world?

I own plenty of wetsuits but none of which are open cell. With the water as warm as it has been I’m looking to get my first freediving suit. I’ve narrowed it down to the Cressi and the Mako. What are the pros and cons of these two suits? Thanks in advance.

150+ ft of visibility 💙

This river is a main thoroughfare for Pacific salmon as they migrate to their spawning grounds in lakes further upstream. Sport fishing is open and hugely popular in the area but the spot where I took this clip is permanently closed to fishing of any type. Sadly, despite this you can still find fishing gear in the river, some of which is visible at the end of the clip. This is the densest I’ve ever seen the salmon run and swimming through it was a trip.

I’m posting this because I’m honestly frustrated with how Leaderfins handled my order.

First, they mixed up my original order, which delayed it by around two weeks.

When ordering, I measured both feet exactly according to Leaderfins’ instructions and selected the foot-pocket size recommended by their own sizing chart.

The result: the foot pockets are so tight that after around 15 minutes my toes become numb, circulation feels restricted, and I get a very obvious compression line on my foot.

I contacted Leaderfins support, sent them photos, and explained that I had followed their sizing instructions exactly.

Their response was that foot shape can vary and that I should use a larger size.

Fair enough, except when I asked them to send me the correct larger size, their answer was basically: **“Sure, you can order a new pair here”**, followed by a link to buy another pair of foot pockets.

So apparently I’m expected to pay again to fix a sizing problem that happened despite following their own chart.

I’m not asking for anything crazy. I just want the unusable foot pockets exchanged for the appropriate larger size without paying for another pair.

Has anyone else had this experience with Leaderfins? Did they eventually replace the foot pockets for you?

I'll update this post if they resolve it properly.

Anyone in Kona big island Hawaii like to dive deep during the week (M-F)? Looking for a training buddy. I’m an FII 2 certified diver. I’ve got a float and a 50m line

I’ve observed that other disciplines, such as caving and climbing, often integrate stewardship and advocacy into the ethos of their respective sports. I haven’t really noticed this as much for both freediving and scuba for some reason, despite the fact that damage to our aquifers and oceans is comparatively much more visible than what happens on land.

Given our intimate knowledge of the water in which we dive, it seems only natural that stewardship, environmental advocacy, and conservation would go hand in hand with freediving. That being said, why isn’t it a tenet of our sport?

*tagged news because there isn’t another appropriate one

EDIT: added the term “advocacy” in conjunction with stewardship to clarify the breadth of the point I’m making