weird question

[dogseatmayo]

suddenly i got this weird fear of breathing in right before I surface... just came out of nowhere... anyway, do you have to exhale when you hit the surface or can you breathe in while you are breaking the surface?

[Rhino]

As long as you have a reg in your mouth, you should be able to breath normally as you break the surface. If anything, I take in a deep breath right before breaking the surface, then exhale after surfacing before transitioning to snorkel.

[navyhmc]

If you're breathing in when you surface, you really don't have to worry about the risk of a pulmonary embolism, your full lung will include the expansion and you'll stop inhaling before you'ld get to the lung overpressure risk. I really don't think about it, but usually I find I am exhaling those last 2 feet to the surface. But that's I think just my breathing pattern.

Usually, in the rare times I use a snorkel anymore, I take a full breath off the regulator before I transition to the snorkel. I have a plain old straight tube with no bells and whistles so the first thing I do when I make the change is to exhale so I will clear all the water out of the snorkel. YMMV.