If they will be below 10°C a drysuit will almost certainly be best. Above that temperature a wetsuit would normally provide the best solution. Drysuits offer one significant advantage over wetsuits – they keep you warm out of the water as well as in it because they withstand the cooling effects of the wind.
A dry suit will be one of your largest investments as diver. You can get into a decent entry level suit for around $1500 (USD). This may not cover the cost of an undergarment, so make sure to ask your sales person what accessories are included with the suit and which ones you will need to add to the overall cost.
You don't need to wear anything under a wet suit for warmth. Most people wear a bathing suit and perhaps a rash guard shirt under a wet suit to prevent chafing, but the warmth is determined by the thickness of the wet suit not the clothes you wear under it.
The temperature at which you need a drysuit to scuba dive is anywhere between 14-21°C (57-70°F).
When you snorkel you just kick your feet and float. The dry suit will help you float too.
Rinse your zipper with fresh water after every dive. The easiest way to lubricate your zipper is to first close the zipper. Using DUI® ZipStick®, run the lubricant up one side of the zipper and down the other. Then open and close your zipper which helps to imbed the wax between the teeth of the zipper.
To wash your dry suit, use cold water with the recommended amount of detergent and wash by hand (inside and out), and voila! Your dry suit is now sparkly clean. Hang your dry suit to dry on a thick hanger with the zipper open, first right side out, then inside-out.
The moral is, after a diving trip when drying everything for storage, it is just as necessary to dry the inside of a drysuit as it is to dry the outside. The most obvious option is to hang the suit up to dry the outside first. Then, to dry the inside, you simply turn the whole suit inside-out.
You know that neither a wetsuit nor dry suit actually keeps you warm. What they do is slow the amount of heat loss. Wet suits do this using a layer of neoprene and a thin layer of water trapped between that and the skin. Dry suits use air and a combination of undergarments.
The range of 50 to 78 degrees is therefore the ideal range for using a wetsuit. Any warmer, and the swimmer may actually overheat due to the wetsuit's insulative qualities. Truth be told, we think it is pretty easy to get too warm inside a wetsuit even in the 74-77 degree range.
Wetsuits need to be snug to do their job, but you have to be able to move freely and breathe while wearing it. Think of them as needing to be more form-fitting than tight. Try on your wetsuit before your first swim or surf session, just to make sure you are fairly comfortable.
You certainly could use a drysuit for surfing, however, drysuits that are available on the market today are not necessarily designed for surfing. Typical (loose fitting) dry suits are made for either cold-water kyaking or diving. They have a tendency to drag and hamper your ability to surf.
Above 70 degree water doesn't require a wetsuit or a drysuit unless the air is under 50 degrees. Wear a rash guard and have a paddling jacket or drytop ready if it gets chilly.
Neoprene suits should provide a reasonable amount of insulation themselves so you will need less clothing than with membrane. The golden rule is to avoid cotton, you need something which will wick moisture away from your skin and also provide reasonable warmth even when wet.
A wetsuit should fit like a second skin with no sagging in the back or excessive bunching in the arms or legs. It should fit tight in order to keep only a thin layer of water between your body and your suit.
Drysuits are nice to have in our cold climate, if you are planning on diving during winter, a drysuit is the only way to do that unless you are from a tropical area. I use my drysuit to keep warm and for buoyancy, its easyer adjusting the buoyancy with the drysuit imo. It is definitely worth it to go to a dry suit.
Swimming in a dry suit is generally difficult. With fins and scuba gear, it isn't too bad, but you would be hard pressed to swim very far on the surface. You can wear a light sweat-suit under the drysuit that helps to keep you nice and toasty warm. These suits are ideal for deep dives in cold, cold water.
Depending on the dry suit you select, the suit normally does not keep you warm. Common dry suit material like Trilaminate, vulcanized rubber, coated fabric, and even crushed neoprene suits have little insulating properties.
I wear the NRS work boot which has a neoprene sock inside, or a pair of thin neoprene booties over the drysuit inside of wading boots. Sand in your shoe is a good way to get a hole in your drysuit boots. If you are not hiking/scouting a bunch then any neoprene boot/shoe will work.
Subject: RE: How much warmer does a wetsuit make the water? Wetsuits don't make the water warmer, they make you warmer. Now, 500 plus triathletes all taking a pee at the same time - that might make the water warmer.
