Freediving

Freediving is not scuba with a smaller kit bag

A freediver's gear list looks a lot like a scuba diver's until you pick the items up. Masks are lower in volume, because every puff of air you spend equalising the space inside comes out of the breath you are holding. Fins are longer and softer so that one kick carries further. Snorkels are plain tubes, because a purge valve is one more thing to flood. None of this is scuba equipment rebadged.

That distinction matters when you are choosing. A mask that feels fine on a relaxed reef dive can be tiring at depth on one breath, and a stiff scuba fin burns energy you cannot spare. If you do both disciplines seriously, expect to end up owning two of most things rather than compromising on one.

Masks and snorkels

Low-volume masks

The Aqualung Sphera X is the specialist here, built around a distortion-free panoramic lens and a skirt shaped for apnea rather than adapted from a scuba mask. Beuchat's freediving line runs alongside it: the Mundial, the Shark, the GP1, the Super Compensator and the Strato Rubber. Fourth Element's Aquanaut masks and the TUSA freediving mask fill out the range, and Beuchat's Maxlux S is stocked for divers who want one mask that works on the surface and underneath it.

Snorkels

Keep this simple. The Beuchat SPY is a plain, low-drag snorkel meant to be cleared with a short push of air rather than a purge. Fourth Element's Float Snorkel is the other option on the rack. Both are the sort you can leave clipped to a mask strap through a session without them catching on everything.

Fins, suits and weight

Long-blade fins

The fin range is small and deliberate: the Beuchat Mundial One and the Mundial One-50. Long blades load and release across a whole kick cycle instead of chopping at the water, which is why they feel strange if you have only used scuba fins. Give the technique a few sessions before you judge them.

Wetsuits

This is the deepest part of the collection. Beuchat's Espadon, Espadon Elite and Espadon Prestige run as jackets, long johns and waist cuts, with the Redrock, the Bifo and the Rocksea Trigocamo Wide alongside them, plus the Espadon Pro pant. Fourth Element brings the RF1 one-piece, the RF2 hooded jacket and leggings, the RF vests and the Surface Suit. Women's cuts are stocked throughout, including the Beuchat Athena long john and the women's ZENTO.

Weight

Freedivers carry weight differently to scuba divers, usually around the waist so the hips stay free to move. The Beuchat Marseillaise is a rubber freediving belt that stays where you put it as the suit compresses on the way down, rather than riding up towards the ribs. Lumb Bros coated lead is here for building a belt up to the weight you actually need.

Computers, packages and getting advice

Computers that follow you between disciplines

Several of the computers on this page switch out of scuba and into apnea. The Suunto D5 and the Suunto D6i both list a freedive mode among their dive modes, and the Garmin Descent Mk3i covers apnea alongside its recreational and technical modes. The Suunto Vyper Novo and Zoop Novo are here too for divers who cross between disciplines. Check the mode list on the product page if a freedive mode is the deciding factor for you.

If you would rather not build a kit piece by piece

The Beuchat Freediving Package puts the Mundial One fins, the Shark mask and the SPY snorkel together as one buy. We contact you after you order to arrange sizes and colours, which is worth taking your time over, because a freediving mask that leaks turns a good session into a short one. The Fourth Element Ocean Debris Bag is on this page as well, for the divers who never come back up empty-handed.