In recent years, freediving has become extremely popular in Taiwan, with the number of dive shops and instructors reaching new heights. Freediving accidents have also gradually appeared in the news. Today, from the perspective of a practicing instructor, I want to discuss this issue with everyone: Is freediving dangerous?
What is Freediving
Diving, literally meaning going underwater, is now fundamentally divided into two types based on different descent methods: “freediving” and “scuba diving”.
“Scuba diving” stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Divers carry tanks filled with high-pressure gas underwater, allowing them to breathe and stay underwater for extended periods. Typically, one tank allows a person to dive for about 40-50 minutes, depending on depth and individual oxygen consumption (technique).
The rough definition of “freediving” and its most basic difference from “scuba diving” is that it is activity conducted underwater by holding one’s breath without relying on air supply equipment. Therefore, you could say that before “scuba diving” appeared, almost all diving activities were “freediving,” including our brief breath-holding underwater swimming in pools as children, which also falls under the category of freediving. The origins of freediving should be traced back to diving peoples around the world, such as the coastal Amis people of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes and the Tao people of Lanyu, who are closest to us, and have been using freediving methods for underwater fishing and gathering activities for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Modern forms of freediving cover a wide range, with fishing and gathering still being one type, and also including professional freediving depth competitions, pool competitions, mermaid performances, pure recreational activities, underwater modeling, and so on.
Various forms of freediving
The World’s Second Most Dangerous Extreme Sport?
At some point, Taiwanese media began extensively reporting that Forbes magazine rated freediving as the world’s second most dangerous extreme sport, but I couldn’t find this original article online. Instead, I found a Forbes article from 2002 listing the world’s 5 most dangerous sports, which included scuba diving and cave diving (also conducted with scuba equipment).
I believe that Taiwanese media using such extremely negative and unprofessional methods to grab attention and generate traffic, causing people without understanding of freediving to have only the first impression of “the world’s second most dangerous extreme sport,” is a very bad and unfortunate thing. This doesn’t mean freediving isn’t dangerous, but rather that we should have more knowledge about this sport before labeling it as “dangerous.”
Freediving Accident Records
In competitive freediving, death incidents have almost never occurred. Since the sport’s inception, only 1 person has died in over 80,000 freediving competitions held globally, proving that freediving is actually very safe.
Outside of competitions, more people die from recreational freediving each year. We can hardly get exact figures, but according to the Divers Alert Network – the world’s largest diving insurance company, also known as DAN, which collects freediving accident and death reports and publishes an annual report for 2019. Between 2004 and 2017, there were 955 freediving accidents, indicating that at least 51 freedivers die annually in this sport on average, with an average fatality rate of 73%. Of course, less serious accidents may not have been reported, leading to such a shockingly high apparent fatality rate.
The figure of 51 people dying annually from recreational freediving accidents is certainly underestimated, because many recreational freediving accidents are not reported, and DAN’s data collection capabilities for countries outside their business scope, mainly countries outside Europe and America, are not comprehensive enough in my opinion. From my own experience, about 80% of freediving deaths I hear about in Taiwan are due to spearfishing, and these are usually not classified as recreational freediving accident records.
After looking at the numbers, let’s answer this question again: Is freediving dangerous? I would say yes, but also no.
In countless competitions involving 3-4 minute dives exceeding 100 meters depth, almost no one dies, proving that the danger is not in the sport itself, but in how most people practice it.
Where Do Accidents Come From?
In freediving, I want to roughly divide accidents, or risks, into two types.
The first type relates to the characteristics of the diving sport itself. When we hold our breath to the limit, our body’s blood oxygen concentration continues to drop. When it drops to a certain level (about 40-50%), we enter an unconscious state, commonly known as BO (Blackout). In this state, the body enters its final power-saving stage or survival mode, like when a phone runs out of battery. But BO is not common in freediving, just as you rarely let your phone die completely or run your car out of gas.
BO itself does not cause death. As long as rescue is performed within a short time, the vast majority – over 90% of cases – are not life-threatening. Therefore, whether you experience BO under safe conditions, whether you have a buddy with rescue capabilities nearby, or even a safety team, is crucial for your safety.
The second type is environmental risks. Many people learn freediving because they love the ocean, and the ocean is simultaneously a place that changes rapidly, beautiful yet terrifying. Ocean environment risks include wind, waves, currents, etc. If diving in unsafe weather or unsafe waters, there’s a chance of being swept away by natural forces. Therefore, we need sufficient environmental assessment capabilities to ensure we’re conducting freediving in a safe environment. This is why “hiring a guide” in unfamiliar waters is extremely important.
Video of BO during competition. BO is not fatal; with immediate rescue, most situations are not dangerous
How to Practice Freediving Safely?
Another way to phrase this question is: How to minimize freediving risks? Such a profound question could take 10 articles to answer completely. Since this article is written for beginners or those who want to but haven’t yet tried freediving, I’ll list the most important points for discussion.
1. Find Reliable Instructors/Dive Shops for Learning
The largest freediving systems like AIDA and Molchanovs have clear safety regulations in their courses, including buddy systems, understanding physical limits, proper equipment operation, safety procedures, rescue capability training, etc. A good instructor will teach you the correct safety concepts and knowledge you need. Beyond the knowledge itself, extensive experience and risk assessment capabilities are needed. Finding good instructors and dive shops is the most important starting point for learning safe freediving.
Because Taiwan’s weather, sea conditions, and training environment are actually less friendly compared to other freediving meccas like the Philippines, Mediterranean countries, Red Sea countries, etc., we often have rough seas and strong currents. Therefore, in my A2 basic course, I’ve planned an extra-curricular chapter outside the AIDA system to teach students how to assess sea conditions and risk evaluation. Throughout the course, whether in academics or sea training, I constantly emphasize “how to conduct safe freediving.”
2. Implement the Freediving Safety Rules You Know
There are many freediving safety rules, and many people forget them immediately after taking courses if they don’t continue practicing. Rather than listing them all – you might as well review your AIDA education manual – I want to highlight the 3 most important points as reminders:
1. Only dive with qualified buddies, never dive alone
Never diving alone is the golden rule of freediving. Many accidents happen due to solo diving. There’s a saying abroad: “Dive alone, die alone,” and I must emphasize this again despite the repetition. A qualified buddy means someone in good physical condition with rescue capabilities, preferably of similar ability level and mutually trustworthy.
2. Wear correct weighting
Wetsuits not only provide thermal protection but also buoyancy. Therefore, we use weight belts and lead weights to set our neutral buoyancy position. We never set our neutral buoyancy position within 10 meters – this is an important way to protect ourselves.
3. Gradual practice and attempts
Freediving is classified as an extreme sport, but most dives don’t require pushing limits. If you can easily dive to 10 meters, you can try 12 meters next time, not jump directly to 20 meters. Whether for depth or dive time, when we only push forward a little bit each time, “limits” become not scary at all.
3. Pre-dive Environment/Risk Assessment
Is the weather (sea conditions) suitable for diving? Is the dive site safe? These are two major questions you must ask yourself before each dive. Having the ability to assess environmental risks requires not only knowledge but also extensive experience!
Never underestimate the power of nature. There are many weather apps, such as Windy and the Central Weather Bureau website that I use most often, where you can check tides, waves, and wind to predict and assess sea conditions before deciding whether to enter the water and choosing dive sites. If you lack this capability, it’s best to ask knowledgeable friends or instructors before diving.
For unfamiliar waters, I strongly recommend hiring local dive shop instructors as “dive guides.” Basic services provided by dive guides, besides the visible surface buoy setup and dive safety, also include weather (sea conditions) assessment, dive site selection, site guidance, equipment checks, etc. These are things you don’t know but are very important. Please note that photography is not the primary duty of dive guides – safety is. If you want to come to Kenting for freediving to see beautiful corals and tropical fish, you’re welcome to hire us at INNERBLUE as your dive guides!
Conclusion
Freediving is a very young sport. From early days with no regulations to recent years with increasingly comprehensive safety regulations, systems, and knowledge, this article shares some of the most important basic principles. I hope more and more people know how to practice freediving safely. However, there are definitely endless ways to reduce risks that could never be fully listed.
In freediving, the danger is not in the sport itself, but in how most people practice it. Whether it’s dangerous depends on whether you have correct safety concepts and knowledge, not your abilities. Finding the right instructor, implementing safety rules, environmental assessment – in my personal view, freediving is even safer than scuba diving because everything is under your control, not determined by technical equipment and gear.
In Taiwan, this “ban-first country” with relatively conservative social attitudes, activities like mountaineering, rock climbing, and surfing are always heavily restricted. But rather than blindly prohibiting, what we need most is “education” – learning the right way, then understanding that “everyone has the right to choose and the obligation to be responsible for their own safety.” I hope this article gives those interested in freediving more correct understanding. If you want to find a place where you can learn freediving very safely and comfortably, you’re welcome to visit us at INNERBLUE Freediving in Kenting. May everyone dive happily, play safely, and enjoy the magic of the ocean and freediving!
Reference article: Is Freediving Safer than Scuba Diving?The Answer is Surprising (indepthmag.com)
