Guide
Garmin freediving: turn your Fenix into a freediving computer
A lot of Garmin watches already have the hardware to read depth. What they are missing is the software a freediver needs — surface-rest safety, live depth on the wrist, a real dive log. Here is what the stock watch gives you, what it does not, and how inDepth Apnea Blue closes the gap.
Which Garmin watches already read depth
The Garmin Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus, Fenix 7 and Fenix 8 all carry a barometric pressure sensor, and Garmin's Connect IQ platform exposes that pressure to third-party apps. That is the raw material for freediving depth — but how far the reading actually rises depends on the watch, and on a firmware clamp that is not obvious from the spec sheet.
- Fenix 5 and Fenix 5 Plus — the Connect IQ depth reading keeps rising past ~3 m, field-verified to 30 m and uncapped (the reading keeps rising). These watches can drive depth-based surface-rest models.
- Fenix 8 — a real dive computer with a dedicated 40 m-rated depth sensor. The Connect IQ reading is unclamped (verified unclamped to ~8.4 m in a pressure chamber on a Fenix 8 Solar 47 mm, with no sign of a ceiling), so the full surface-rest model set is available.
- Fenix 7 — supported, but Garmin firmware clamps the Connect IQ barometer reading to roughly 3 m. A real dive stops reading long before you reach the bottom. This is inferred from the clamp measured on Garmin's dedicated dive computers, not dive-tested on a Fenix 7 itself.
The short version: if you want a third-party app to read real freediving depth on a Garmin, the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus and Fenix 8 families are the watches that give it to you. The Fenix 7 is still fully supported for the rest of the feature set — only the depth-driven surface-rest models are limited by that Connect IQ clamp. See the full measured Connect IQ depth table for every watch, including the Descent Mk2 and Mk3.
What the stock watch is missing for freediving
Garmin's built-in apnea activity records a dive and writes it to Garmin Connect afterwards. But it does not give a freediver the things that matter during a session in the water:
- Live depth on the wrist. The stock Fenix apnea activity does not show depth live, and is not built for the repeated bounce dives of a freediving session.
- Surface-rest guidance. After each dive, your body needs time to off-gas nitrogen and re-oxygenate before the next descent. The stock watch does not tell you how long — it is left to you to time it yourself.
- Hang detection. Freedives have a free-fall phase and a powered ascent; the watch has to tell a real dive apart from a swim-down, and it has to know when you are hanging at a target depth.
- A dive log on the wrist. Per-dive depth, time and surface interval, summarised on the watch and synced to your phone — not just a single activity entry in Garmin Connect.
How inDepth Apnea Blue closes the gap
inDepth Apnea Blue is a Connect IQ app that runs on the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus, Fenix 7 and Fenix 8. It installs through Garmin Connect IQ — no new hardware, no replacing the watch you already own. It adds the things the stock watch leaves out:
- Live depth, mid-dive profiles and hang detection — depth shown on the wrist during the dive, with per-dive profiles afterwards and automatic detection of hang phases.
- Surface-rest models — after each dive, the watch shows a recommended surface interval and counts it down on the surface screen. On the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus and Fenix 8 it offers the full set (2×, 3×, Adaptive (AIDA), Taravana, Molchanovs and Manual). On the Fenix 7 the depth-driven models are hidden because the Connect IQ depth reading cannot drive them, so the menu offers 2×, 3× and Manual only. See the surface intervals guide for what each model does.
- A dive log — every session syncs to the inDepth phone app, with per-dive depth, time, surface interval and heart rate, plus marked spots on a satellite map when GPS is on.
- Depth alarms — a configurable depth alarm with a ceiling that matches the watch's case rating: 40 m on the Fenix family (including the Fenix 8, which records the apnea sub-sport but keeps the 40 m case-rated ceiling).
inDepth Apnea Blue is a freediving aid, not a medical device and not a substitute for trained buddy supervision. No algorithm removes the risks of freediving. Never dive alone, always follow the one-up one-down rule, and treat every rest recommendation as a minimum.
Which watch should you use?
If you already own one of the supported watches, install inDepth Blue on it — you do not need a new watch to start. If you are buying one, the best Garmin watch for freediving guide compares the Fenix 5, 5 Plus, 7 and 8 on depth reading, case rating, app support and price.
Training lengths in the pool instead of metres down? inDepth Apnea Pool turns the same watch into a dynamic apnea trainer — automatic turns and laps, per-length splits and heart-rate charts on the wrist.