Freediving vs Scuba Diving

So you are trying to decide to take up either freediving or scuba diving. The good news is that you are in for a fun time no matter what you choose. There are obvious differences between the two styles and in this article, we break down everything you need to know to make the distinction.

What is the difference between scuba diving and free diving?

The fundamental difference between these two styles of diving is the use of a breathing apparatus (or lack thereof). Scuba diving uses an oxygen tank and other equipment to stay submerged under water for longer periods of time. Freediving, by contrast, uses nothing more than a held breath to stay submerged. As you can imagine, freediving requires frequent trips to the surface for fresh oxygen.

Education

Freediving requires little to no education to engage in. If you have ever held your breath and dove to any depth underwater, you have engaged in freediving. Freediving requires no formal education and no certification to perform on your own. There may be some exceptions to this if you ever engage in any sort of competitive freediving but, for the most part, anyone can do it. Keep in mind, however, even though you can run out today and begin freediving, you would be wise to educate yourself on the risks of this activity.

Scuba diving, on the other hand, requires some degree of knowledge before you can participate. If you have ever been on an excursion that offers scuba diving, you were probably given some sort of instructional course before you were allowed to suit up and go diving. You will also notice that even after you are given the approval from the instructor to embark on your scuba diving expedition, you are still required to stay with your partner or group of partners for safety reasons. Furthermore, an additional certification is required before you can open water dive on your own. With freediving, you don’t experience these needs for education and certification. However, it is recommended that a prospective freediver educate themselves about the effects of freediving on the human body before making it a frequent activity.

Effects on the human body

Whenever you dive below the ocean surface, you are subjecting your body increasing amounts of pressure. Over time, this pressure can have various effects on your body. As you can probably the deeper you dive and the longer you stay submerged, the more intense these effects can be. For this reason, freediving is seen as less physically taxing on the body in comparison to scuba diving.

As you descend into the depths of the water, pressure on your body begins to rise. A diver will initially feel this pressure on in their ears. The increasing water pressure causes a vacuum effect on the eardrum that, when proper equalization isn’t achieved, can result in serious damage to the eardrum. Additionally, the ascent to the surface must be done carefully because the rapid decrease in pressure can also result in eardrum injury due to rapid expansion. This is why you should always descend into the water and ascend to the surface gradually so as to allow your body time to gradually acclimate to the changing pressure.

The lungs also experience strain as pressure increases and decreases. As you descend into greater depths, pressure buildup actually decreases the volume, which your lungs can fill to. As you ascend to the surface, pressure on your lungs decreases and oxygen within your lungs expands. This is yet another reason why you must gradually change your level as you descend in depth and ascend to the surface. Rapid changes in pressure can cause serious damage to your lungs.

Naturally, these negative effects on the body are more profound when scuba diving in comparison to freediving. A freediving person simply isn’t going to reach the intense depths that a scuba diver can reach. As a result, the intensity of the pressure changes isn’t as drastic. This doesn’t mean that freediving is without consequence, however (1).

Anytime you are repeatedly holding your breath for long periods of time, you risk an increased buildup of CO2 in your body. Combine this with changing pressure levels as you continuously dive and resurface and you expose yourself to potential blackouts and decompression sickness. These can be potentially fatal if no one is around to rescue you if you pass out in the water. When freediving, always be sure to take breaks in between dives. Take several minutes to breathe deeply and re-oxygenate your body before holding your breath again (2).

Similarities

Freediving and scuba diving aren’t completely dissimilar. They do share a few things in common. One such similarity is their ultimate goal of observing the ocean from a perspective that cannot be observed from the surface. This is how freediving and scuba diving differ from snorkeling which is can be done completely at the surface of the water while looking down. Freediving and scuba diving both require a diver to submerge themselves and dive to a level well beneath the surface. At these depths, an entire world of aquatic life opens up to the diver.

Additionally, freediving and scuba diving share some similar equipment between them. Both forms of diving will typically employ the use of a mask to see underwater and flippers to propel the diver. By comparison, freedivers often use longer and larger flippers to create greater propulsion through the water. This comes from their need to cover more ground while submerged. Remember, freedivers are on a short timeframe to observe the ocean floor and they need all the assistance they can get to cover as much area as they can in that short amount of time.

If nothing else, freediving and scuba diving are wonderful recreational activities. When done with proper preparation and caution, they can both be very rewarding for the diver. Keep these points in mind and you too will have a wonderful diving experience.