How Deep Can You Freedive?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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For most swimmers, a depth of

20 feet (6.09 metres)

is the most they will free dive. Experienced divers can safely dive to a depth of 40 feet (12.19 metres) when exploring underwater reefs. When free diving the body goes through several changes to help with acclimatisation.

At what depth do you stop floating?

To get to a the point at which the air becomes dense enough not to be buoyant would need extreme pressures, (very) approximately 1000 atm, or

10,000 m

. Keep in mind the ideal gas law fails in those extreme conditions. In comparison, divers top out at 200 m.

Can you free dive 30 feet?

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), a ‘deep dive’ is anything deeper than 60 feet. More commonly,

experienced free-divers will safely reach 30 to 40 feet when exploring reefs

.

How deep can you freedive without getting the bends?

Be it if you dive to

10 meters, or to 50 meters

. Always spend at least 3 times the dive time on the surface between the dives (if the dive is shallower than 30 meters). Freediving is one of the safest activity one can do, if practiced according to the safety standards.

How do freedivers go so deep?

So how is it that freedivers are able to dive so deep and last so long without taking a breath? One reason is

the diving reflex

, an evolutionary adaptation that enables seals and dolphins to dive deep and stay underwater for extended periods by slowing and/or shutting down some physiological functions.

How deep can a human dive in a submarine?

A nuclear submarine can dive to a depth of

about 300m

. This one is larger than the research vessel Atlantis and has a crew of 134. The average depth of the Caribbean Sea is 2,200 meters, or about 1.3 miles. The average depth of the world’s oceans is 3,790 meters, or 12,400 feet, or 2

1



3

miles.

How do freedivers not float?

How deep can humans dive with equipment?

With recreational diving, the answer to the question “how deep can you SCUBA dive?” is

130 feet

. Proper certification is highly recommended for those depths of SCUBA diving. As a basic open water SCUBA diver, the limit for how deep can you dive is 60 feet.

What happens if a human dive too deep?

This

can cause tissue and nerve damage

. In extreme cases, it can cause paralysis or death if the bubbles are in the brain. Nitrogen narcosis. Deep dives can cause so much nitrogen to build up in the brain that you can become confused and act as though you’ve been drinking alcohol.

How long do freedivers hold their breath?

Some free divers, who swim without a snorkel or scuba gear, can hold their breath for

more than 10 minutes

. For some, it’s a recreation while for others it’s a competitive sport.

Can you dive to the Titanic?


You cannot scuba dive to the Titanic due to its depth at 12,500 feet

. Air consumption: one standard tank lasts 15 minutes at 120 feet. Supply for 12,500 feet would be impossible to carry even with a team. The deepest dive on record with special equipment, training and a support team is 1,100 feet.

Can I fly after free diving?


After single no-decompression dives, a minimum pre-flight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested

. After multiple no-decompression dives per day or multiple days of diving, a minimum pre-flight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested.

Can you get the bends in 10 feet of water?

How great is the risk? About 40 percent of the bent divers made a single dive with only one ascent.

The shallowest depth for a single dive producing bends symptoms was ten feet (three meters), with the bottom time unknown

. However, most of the divers made several shallow dives and sometimes multiple ascents.

Can you get decompression sickness freediving?


Decompression sickness (DCS) after freediving is very rare

. Freedivers simply do not on-gas enough nitrogen to provoke DCS. Thus, very few cases of DCS in freedivers have ever been reported, and these have involved repeated deep dives in a short time frame.

Why can freedivers go deeper than scuba?

Freedivers do not inhale pressurized air, but

the final breath we take before a dive still contains nitrogen from the atmosphere, which will still pressurize at depth

. Nitrogen accumulation still happens, just very little compared to scuba divers.

How do freedivers sink?

To sink in freediving, your lungs must be emptied to achieve neutral buoyancy or the level at which you are no longer buoyant enough to float. It can be achieved by

carrying or attaching weights to your body, leading down a rope, and swimming downward

, which is referred to as free falling.

How deep is the world’s deepest pool?

Deep Dive Dubai, located in Dubai’s Nad Al Sheba neighborhood, is now verified by the Guinness World Record as the world’s deepest swimming pool, at a depth of

169.9 feet (60.02 meters)

and holds 14 million liters of water. That, the owners say, is the equivalent of six Olympic-sized swimming pools.

How deep is the Mariana Trench?

It is

11,034 meters (36,201 feet)

deep, which is almost 7 miles. Tell students that if you placed Mount Everest at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the peak would still be 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) below sea level. Show students NOAA’s Mariana Trench animation.

What is crush depth for a human?

Human bone crushes at about 11159 kg per square inch. This means we’d have to dive to about

35.5 km

depth before bone crushes. This is three times as deep as the deepest point in our ocean.

How thick is a submarine hull?

The external hull, which actually forms the shape of submarine, is called the outer hull, casing or light hull. This term is especially appropriate for Russian submarine construction, where the light hull is usually made of steel that is only

2 to 4 millimeters

thick, as it has the same pressure on both sides.

How do I stay at the bottom of my pool?

Why can’t I swim to the bottom of the pool?

What depth do you start to sink?

Neutral buoyancy should be at around 1/3 of the depth of your total dive, but no less than 10m (32ft). Check how to establish your own neutral buoyancy. Freefall should begin

about 5-7m (16-22ft)

after you reach neutral buoyancy, so you are already adequately negatively buoyant before you stop all movement.

How deep can you dive with Trimix?

The commercial diving industry commonly uses heliox in place of trimix. This mixture of helium and oxygen can be used at depths of

up to 984 feet (300 m)

. Any deeper than that requires divers to replace helium with hydrogen.

Kim Nguyen
Author
Kim Nguyen
Kim Nguyen is a fitness expert and personal trainer with over 15 years of experience in the industry. She is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and has trained a variety of clients, from professional athletes to everyday fitness enthusiasts. Kim is passionate about helping people achieve their fitness goals and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.