Guide
Garmin freediving: turn your Fenix into a freediving computer
Turning a Fenix into a freediving computer is mostly a software job. A lot of these watches can already read depth. What they're missing is the stuff you actually need in the water: surface-rest safety, live depth on your wrist and a proper dive log. Here's what the stock watch gives you, what it doesn't, and how inDepth Apnea Blue fills in the rest.
Updated
Which Garmin watches can read depth for freediving?
The Garmin Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus, Fenix 7 and Fenix 8 all have a barometric pressure sensor, and Garmin's Connect IQ platform lets third-party apps read it. That's where freediving depth comes from. How deep the reading goes depends on the watch, and on a firmware cap you won't find on any spec sheet.
- Fenix 5 and Fenix 5 Plus. The Connect IQ depth reading keeps going past ~3 m. We've checked it in open water to 30 m with no cap in sight, so these watches can run the depth-based surface-rest models.
- Fenix 8. This one is a dive computer, with a dedicated depth sensor rated to 40 m. The Connect IQ reading isn't capped either: in a pressure chamber, a Fenix 8 Solar 47 mm tracked smoothly to ~8.4 m with no sign of a ceiling. You get the full set of surface-rest models.
- Fenix 7. Supported, but Garmin's firmware caps the Connect IQ barometer reading at roughly 3 m, so on any real dive the number stops climbing long before you reach the bottom. We're going by the cap we measured on Garmin's dedicated dive computers here. We haven't dive-tested a Fenix 7 itself.
So if you want a third-party app to read your true freediving depth on a Garmin, go for the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus or Fenix 8 families. The Fenix 7 still gets everything else. Only the surface-rest models that need depth are held back by the cap. The full measured Connect IQ depth table covers every watch, including the Descent Mk2 and Mk3.
What is the stock Garmin watch missing for freediving?
Garmin's built-in apnea activity records your dive and sends it to Garmin Connect afterward. That's about it. It doesn't give you the things that matter while you're actually in the water:
- Live depth on the wrist. The stock Fenix apnea activity doesn't show your depth live, and it wasn't built for the back-to-back dives of a freediving session.
- Surface-rest guidance. After each dive your body needs time to off-gas nitrogen and get its oxygen back before you go down again. The stock watch doesn't tell you how long that is, so you're left timing it yourself.
- Hang detection. A freedive has a free-fall phase and a kicking ascent. The watch needs to tell a real dive from a quick swim-down, and know when you're hanging at your target depth.
- A dive log on the wrist. Depth, time and surface interval for every dive, right on the watch and synced to your phone, instead of one lump activity in Garmin Connect.
How does inDepth Apnea Blue fill the gap?
inDepth Apnea Blue is a Connect IQ app for the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus, Fenix 7 and Fenix 8. It installs through Garmin Connect IQ, so you don't need new hardware or a new watch. It adds what the stock watch leaves out:
- Live depth, mid-dive profiles and hang detection. You see your depth on your wrist during the dive, get a profile for each dive afterward, and the watch spots your hangs by itself.
- Surface-rest models. After each dive, the watch shows how long you should rest and counts it down on the surface screen. On the Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus and Fenix 8 you get the full set (2×, 3×, Adaptive (AIDA), Taravana, Molchanovs and Manual). On the Fenix 7 the models that need depth are hidden, because the capped Connect IQ reading can't run them, so you get 2×, 3× and Manual. The surface intervals guide explains what each model does.
- A dive log. Every session syncs to the inDepth phone app with depth, time, surface interval and heart rate for each dive, plus any spots you marked, on a satellite map, if GPS is on.
- Depth alarms. Depth alarms you can set up yourself, up to the watch's case rating: 40 m on the Fenix family. That includes the Fenix 8, which records the apnea sub-sport but still tops out at its 40 m case rating.
inDepth Apnea Blue is a freediving aid. It isn't a medical device, and it doesn't replace a trained buddy watching you. No algorithm takes away the risks of freediving. Never dive alone, always follow the one-up-one-down rule, and treat every rest recommendation as a minimum.
Which Garmin watch should you use for freediving?
If you already have one of the supported watches, just install inDepth Blue on it. You don't need a new watch to get started. If you're shopping for 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.
Swimming lengths in the pool instead of going down? inDepth Apnea Pool turns the same watch into a dynamic apnea trainer. It counts your turns and laps, times every length, and shows heart-rate charts on your wrist.