What is the maximum safe depth for a diver using a snorkel or similar breathing tube?

Answer 1

just depends how long you can hold your breath. Just make sure you can get back up in time.

Answer 2

Depends on if you mean still using a snorkel or not. If not and performing a free dive from the surface, well, the record is over 500 feet. If using a modified snorkel, that's not being supplied with compressed air, the depth is no deeper than 2 1/2 feet if your diaphragm is in tip top strong shape. Your diaphragm is not designed to operate below that depth and you won't be able to draw a single breath. Try it with a garden hose,in a pool, under supervision, you'll see. If the snorkel is supplied with compressed air at a sufficient pressure to overcome ambient water pressure, you can go as deep as you have hose, until about 130 feet, then the air becomes narcotic and you should switch to a different gas mix.

Answer 3

If you want to know how deep you can go and still inhale through a snorkel, the answer is—about 50 cm. This is because of the pressure differential.

Even just a little way below the surface, your chest is being compressed by slightly above 1 atm water pressure (at 50cm, this would be approx. 1.05 atm). The end of your snorkel is open to the air, which has a pressure of... 1 atm. This difference (0.05 atm) is enough to prevent you from inhaling.

I notice increased breathing resistance when I go from a horizontal (i.e. lungs and mouth at the same level) to a vertical (i.e. chest completely submerged, mouth only just below the surface) body position at the water surface.

If you want to know how deep someone can dive while holding their breath, the answer is, it depends how much they've practised.

Professional freedivers in the "Constant weight" category (swimming down and back up with fins, without ditching their weightbelt) have reached depths of around 90 m. In the "No limits" category (riding down on a weighted sled, and coming back up under a balloon), the record is around 160 m.

One guy has actually made it to around 210 m using a novel (and rather unpleasant-sounding) method of pressure equalisation (of his ears and sinuses), but it wasn't done in an official competetion, so it doesn't officially count.

But these people are freaks of nature—very nice freaks, but freaks all the same—and they've done a LOT of training to get to those kinds of depths. For the rest of us mere mortals, I'd say 15 m (50 ft) is a realistic limit—it takes a little while to get down there, and a little while to get back up, and you'll want to have some time to look around—maybe 90–120 s total breathhold time.

But these rules are very important, so apologies for the caps:
NEVER PRACTISE BREATHHOLD DIVING ON YOUR OWN.
You should have a "buddy" who is an equally capable skindiver, so he can come down and rescue you if you get into trouble.
NEVER HYPERVENTILATE BEFORE DIVING.
3–4 deep breaths should be enough, and hold the last one for your dive. Hyperventilation will reduce the urge to breathe, but it will not reduce the need to breathe!

Answer 4

About 3 feet. Beyond that the pressure difference would cause your lungs to collapse if using (actually breathing through) a snorkel.

"The maximum length of the tube is around fifty centimetres (twenty inches). A longer tube would place the lungs in deeper water where the surrounding water pressure is higher and the lungs would be unable to inflate when the diver inhales, because the muscles that expand the lungs are not strong enough to operate against the higher pressure."

Answer 5

Would it not depend on the size of your lungs, if you snorkel you need to suck the air down the tube into your lungs and then blow it out again,if the tube is to long you will be breathing the same air back into your lungs because the air never leaves the tube,in other words no oxygen,just CO2 i think the dispersion factor of the oxygen is to slow if you are active swimmer, therefore in conclusion the length of the tube is somewhat dependent on the volume of the tube which should be less then the volume of your lungs and how active you are going to be,if i think back to those olden day bell top diving suits,those guys had to have their air pump down to them, as far as your lungs collapsing at 3 feet because of pressure difference i think is totally ridiculous , that kind of pressure at that depth is not much to prevent your lungs from expanding and creating a vacuum to suck the air down.

Answer 6

You're only really restricted by how long you can hold your breath while swimming. The snorkel can only be a maximum of about 30cm; if its longer, you can't breathe because of water pressure on your chest.

Answer 7

Assuming you are using fins and can hold your breath for a decent amount of time (45seconds+). I wouldn't go much deeper than 30'. You have to keep in mind that the deeper you go - the more time you have to spend traversing the distance to replenish you air supply and the less time you will have at that given depth to look around.

Answer 8

As long as the diver can take the pain in his ear due to the pressure of the water, he/she can go as far down as he/she feels comfortable.

There is really no maximum safe depth but for most people going down 20ft is very painful because they are not use to feeling that pain and discomfort.

Answer 9

I went snorkeling while i became like 8 and it became exciting!!! yet being the GERM FREAK that i'm now i does not use rented snorkeling kit!!!! you have exciting and in case you circulate circulate snorkeling take infant wipes or something and sparkling off the mouth piece your self!!!! They sparkling it yet in order that which you understand it is sparkling and you sense safer

Answer 10

Normally on the average will be around 7-10 feet ..

Answer 11

as long as you are only using your own breath it doesn't matter, free diving, it is only if you are using pressurised canisters of air that you can end up with the bends if you resurface too quickly