If you are thinking of buying your first scuba wetsuit or planning on buying a new one, in this guide I will cover all the details you will need to look for in your brand new wetsuit.
The two essential elements to look for in a scuba wetsuit are thickness and fit. Thickness determines to what extent your wetsuit will protect you from cold. Proper fit of a wetsuit determines how effective its thickness is in protecting you from cold.
To understand why thickness and fit are so important, let’s first take a quick look at how a wetsuit works.
1. How Does a Scuba Wetsuit Work?
Just like its name says, a scuba diving wetsuit does not prevent you from getting wet. A wetsuit will however protect you from getting cold during a dive.
This is quite essential as the more you feel cold, the more your body will spend energies in trying to heat up. This in turn will negatively affect your gas consumption.
The more your body will divert energy to self-heat, the faster your gas consumption will be (and the shorter your dives).
A wetsuit plays an essential role in that it will help you keep your body temperature constant during a dive.
This is achieved by letting in a thin layer of water. Such thin layer of water is heated up with your own body heat and will remain relatively constant throughout a dive.
Neoprene, which is the material that scuba wetsuits are made of, helps water temperature inside a scuba wetsuit to remain constant.
Let’s take a closer look at the properties of neoprene. This will help you make the perfect choice while buying your scuba wetsuit.
2. Scuba Wetsuit Material
Most scuba wetsuits are made of foamed neoprene. Foamed neoprene contains some invisible gas pockets, implying that the material compresses as water pressure increases.
This means that your diving wetsuit will get thinner as your diving depth increases. As a consequence, a scuba wetsuit will gradually loose its thermal insulation properties as depth increases.
This is the main reason why technical divers prefer dry suits over wetsuits.
If you are considering technical diving, and would like to buy a scuba drysuit, check out my article on how to choose the perfect scuba diving drysuit.
But let’s go back to wetsuits and neoprene for now. Another nice property of neoprene is in fact its extreme flexibility.
Thanks to the flexibility of neoprene, you will be able to choose a wetsuit that best fits your body type, without letting water flowing easily.
3. What should you look for in a scuba wetsuit?
Whether you are planning to buy your wetsuit in your trusted dive shop or online, you will see that there are plenty of options to choose from.
You might therefore be tempted by choosing based on the aesthetics and looks of a particular scuba diving wetsuit.
Before buying it, remember however that, if a wetsuit does not perfectly fit you, it will not properly insulate your body from lower water temperatures.
This is why I strongly suggest prioritizing a wetsuit’s overall fit and thickness over its looks.
Besides fit and thickness, you will need to choose among closed cell neoprene and open cell neoprene wetsuits.
Open cell neoprene vs. Closed Cell Neoprene Wetsuits
Open and closed cell neoprene have one one main difference. Open cell neoprene does not an inner lining, meaning that it will be in direct contact with your skin. To the contrary, closed cell neoprene has an inner lining ensuring no direct contact between the wetsuit’s neoprene and your skin.
Besides this difference, there are no other distinctions between open and closed cell neoprene. When it comes to choosing a wetsuit, in most cases you will have little choice between open and closed neoprene as almost all wetsuits are manufactured in closed cell neoprene.
Open cell neoprene is most often used either for a semi-dry or for a dry suit.
4. Scuba Diving Wetsuit Thickness and Fit
Before trying on different scuba diving wet suits, you should evaluate which level of thickness is most appropriate for the type of diving you will be doing.
Wetsuit Thickness
Quite intuitively, in case of cold water dives, you will need to choose a thicker wetsuit than if you will be diving mostly in tropical waters.
Water temperature is however not the only factor influencing thickness of a scuba wetsuit.
For example, if you are planning particularly long dives, you might want to have a thicker wetsuit also in case of warm water.
Remember that as every scuba diver, your objective should be to optimize the level of thermal protection in any particular dive.
This will allow you to optimize your gas consumption.
The following table will help you choose a wetsuit’s thickness based on different water temperatures.
| Water Temperature (F) | Water Temperature in (C) | Scuba Wetsuit Thickness |
| 85 Degrees and Up | 29 Degrees and Up | 3 mm or shorty |
| 80 to 85 Degrees | 27 to 29 Degrees | 3 mm to 5 mm fullsuit |
| 73 to 79 Degrees | 23 to 26 Degrees | 5 mm to 7 mm fullsuit |
| 66 to 72 Degrees | 19 to 22 Degrees | 7 mm fullsuit with hoodie and gloves |
| 50-65 Degrees | 10 to 18 Degrees | 7 mm fullsuit with polar jacket or Drysuit |
| 50 Degrees and Below | 10 Degrees and Below | Drysuit |
In case you are planning to dive mostly in tropical waters with a water temperature of 85 degrees or higher, you might also consider a shorty wetsuit, but be aware that you might still be cold at deeper depths.
When choosing the thickness of your wetsuit, it is very important that you prioritize water temperature rather than air temperature.
Once you have chosen the thickness of your wetsuit, you may try different models on and make sure the fit is perfect.
Wetsuit Fit
A wetsuit that fits perfectly will ensure you have the optimal thermal protection and the least dispersion of body heat. Most divers have learned this concept in their PADI Open Water Diver Course (see OWD Knowledge review 2, question 6) or equivalent.
A scuba wetsuit, particularly when new, will feel tight. This is essential so that the water does not flow easily in and out of it.
Rather, a small amount of water should enter your wetsuit and slowly heat up with your body heat to keep you warm during the dive.
Although it is normal for a new scuba wetsuit to feel tight, it should not be overtight on your neck.
It should also not restrict your range of motion.
The best way to check if a wetsuit is over tight is to wear it, extend your arms in front of you, and do a couple of squats.
In case the wetsuit is over tight, you will have difficulty in squatting as the wetsuit would exert a strong counter pressure on your legs.
Another movement you can try, to check if a scuba wetsuit is over tight at the level of your waist and shoulders, is to reach with your hands behind your back at the level of your shoulder blades.
If you do not manage to place your hand between your shoulder blades then the wetsuit might be too tight or not fitting properly.
Being able to reach between your shoulder blades is in fact essential as you need to be able to reach your scuba cylinder valve.
The golden rule to choose the best scuba diving wetsuit is to choose the one that fits perfectly, that feels slightly tight on your body as well as on your wrists and ankles.
In fact, as any experienced diver would tell you, there is no such thing as “best wetsuit”, but rather “right wetsuit”.
5. Scuba Wetsuits Types
Before making your final decision, you should consider that there are different scuba wetsuit models on the market and that some might be more comfortable than others depending on your preferences.
Let’s take a look at some of the different types of wetsuits:
Shorty Wetsuit: a shorty is typically used in recreational dives in warm water. Like the name says this wetsuit will cover yur body until your knees and your elbows. Shorties may come either with or without an integrated hoodie. Shorty Wetsuits are typically manufactured with a back zipper connected to a long strap so that you can close it on your own.
Classic Full Body Wetsuit with Back Zipper: A full body wetsuit covers your entire body ecept for your face, hands and feet. Most common models are manufactured with a back zipper and thicker suits are somewhat harder to close. Remember that you can always ask your buddy to help you close the zipper. Full body suits range from 3mm to 7mm thickness. Just like shorties, they can be manufactured with or without an integrated hoodie.
Classic Full Body Wetsuit with Polar Jacket: This type of suits are a combination of a classic full body wetsuit with a shorty wetsuit which is worn on top. In such case the the shorty is most often called polar jacket or ice jacket. As you can imagine those are used mostly in cold water environments and the scope of the polar jacked is to add additional thermal protection. Full body wetsuits combined with polar jackets provides the highest level of exposure against cold water temperature. However I find that they reduce substantially a diver’s range of motion.
Farmer John Wetsuit with Separate Jacket: those are very similar to normal full body suits, but do not protect your entire arms. They are most often used by freedivers, but there are some models on the market built for scuba divers as well. The nice feature of these wetsuits is that they usually have a front zipper so they are easier to close on your own. They are combined with separate jackets to provide a diver with further protection on the core parts of the body and on the arms.
Scuba Diving Drysuit: For extreme cold water environments, unfortunately wetsuits are not fit for the purpose. Most divers would in fact prefer dry suits over wetsuits for extreme exposure protection.
6. Scuba Wetsuit Brands
Some of the most famous scuba brands manufacture both wetsuits and drysuits. Unless you are particularly affectionate to a specific brand as this will allow you to test different levels of rigidity, elasticity and comfort overall.
Here below you will find the links to some of the best producers.
7. Conclusions
Whether you are buying your first wetsuit or looking for a new one, there is one single rule you should bear in mind.
The right wetsuit is the one that offerst the optimal thermal protection given your diving profile and which best fits your body.
While choosing a wetsuit you should definitely decide upon the adequate thickness first and subsequently choose the wetsuit type before trying on different models.
I strongly suggest to try on wetsuits forom several different manufacturers and check out how they feel on your body.
A wetsuit should generally feel tight, without restricting your range of motion and without exerting excessive pressure on your neck.
8. Scuba Wetsuit FAQs
Can I wear an underlayer or dive skin under a wetsuit?
For extra warmth, you can indeed wear an underlayer or base layer below your wetsuit. Base layers for wetsuits are manufactured with thin technical materials and are done specifically to enhance thermal protection. Many scuba divers like to wear an underlayer also to ease
What is the difference between wetsuits and semi dry suits?
Whereas scuba diving wetsuits allow a small amount of water inside to heat up your body, semi dry suit try to maintain parts of your body dry. Usually, in a properly fitted drysuit, the water level does not reach above your knees.
Can I scuba dive without a wetsuit?
In case where water temperatures are extremely warm, you can indeed try to scuba dive without a wetsuit. You should however be mindful that a suit also protects from possibly harmful marine life such as fire coral and jellyfish.
Can I wash a scuba wetsuit in the washing machine?
For increased durability, you should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Although some manufacturers will allow you to wash your suit in the washing mashine, this is not recommended and can result in micro ruptures.
Is there a difference between man and women wetsuits?
Yes, there is. To provide optimal protection, wetsuits need to fit perfectly the shape of our body. As you might expect, women wetsuits have a slightly different cut from men’s ones.