BigBendFishing.Net

How deep can you spearfish while snorkling? I'm a newby, my wife got me a nice set up. And I can borrow a gun from my buddy I,ll be going with. Thanks.

How well can you hold your breath? It isn't uncommon for experienced free divers to spearfish in up to 100'. I'm not all that athletic anymore, so my max depth is 65', but I can't get more than 10 seconds at that depth. (Working on it though, the only way to improve is to do more freediving.) I prefer not to freedive any deeper than 40', unless we're tag-teaming AJs at the Yamaha.

The good news is that we have tons of beautiful natural bottom in 30' or less around here. Here are some basic freediving tips, off the top of my head:

1) Never freedive after doing scuba. You are greatly at risk for DCS.

2) Weight yourself appropriately. You want to be positively buoyant at the surface, and at 10-15' you want to be either neutral or slightly negatively buoyant.

3) If you aren't using closed-foot fins, then inspect your straps before freediving. If you're negatively buoyant on the bottom, and you have a fin strap break, it can ruin your day.

4) Never freedive alone. Freediving puts you at risk of "shallow water blackout". Make sure there is someone there who can swim to get you out of the water if you black out.

5) Space your dives out a fair amount. Give yourself at least a couple of minutes between descents. This will give your body a chance to outgas some of the accumulated CO2, thus giving you more bottom time and reducing the chances of SWB.

6) ALWAYS CARRY A DIVE KNIFE! There is a lot of discarded monofilament out there, and it's really easy to get tangled in it. Make sure you wear a dive knife that has a line-cutting hook on it, and that it is easily accessible.


Again, these are just some hints off the top of my head.

Thanks

And thanks from me too!