Abnormally Cold Vacation diver in Cali

[undrwater]

If you're on the budget, buy dual use undergarments that you can use elsewhere. Pretty much anything that is tight athleisure will work in Cali. You're not diving 30F waters.

$800 is $300-350 more than a solid 7mm wetsuit that will last and keep you warm, not an Amazon Belize vacation special. If it were me, I'd save up.

It's a tough decision, and I was there once. I was only getting 20 minutes dives in before I was very uncomfortable cold. Over the following 3 years I spent a total of approximately ~$1000 on 3 drysuits. Learned quite a bit. I eventually bought a Neosport farmer john 7mm wetsuit, which also keeps me decently warm, though I use it infrequently to keep it "puffed up".

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There are deals on used suits. Ebay has a large drysuit with only five dives on it for $650 and a DUI undergarment for $79.

 

[azstinger11]

Seaskin with no options and just happened to time it when the gbp to usd dollar conversion was optimal

 

[eightytwenty]

If you're willing to buy a Seaskin or a used drysuit, and wait, get training, etc. Great. Going dry presents many benefits over wetsuit diving, especially if you plan to go down a technical route. Otherwise, Elios sub can make you a custom, made to measure 2 piece wetsuit in the realm of that $500 figure.

 

[amclaughlin200]

I've been very much a vacation diver for the last 8 years. Every trip, I come home resolved to start diving at home, but there's one big thing holding me back. I run unusually cold, and live in California.

From what I can tell most folks in my area go with a 7mm wetsuit. I can't really go up (I think) without going drysuit. The last time I dove in my area on Catalina Island in October, I wore the area's standard 7mm and started to shiver pretty violently underwater after half an hour. When I'm cold, my stressed out body also uses more air. On vacation I generally just let folks know in advance that I need 1 step up from the wetsuit everyone else needs, and it usually works out.

I've confirmed with my doc it's not a medical problem, I'm just naturally very thin and long. I can't afford to buy full gear right now, but strategic pieces to help me stay warm that cost less than $500 are possible.

I'm also open to building up more muscle mass, would that help? It wouldn't be instead of fat, its just easier for me to build bulk as muscle than fat.

Any suggestions for how a shaky stringbean woman can stay warm on cold water dives?

Hollis makes an 8/7 Semi dry, or at least they used to. Just don't pee in it. My first recommendation when considering price however would be a hooded vest. Considerably warmer than just adding a hood. And if the 7mm you were using was old, they really start to wear down and lose heat retention over time. But anyway first thing I would try (considering price) would be to wear a hooded vest under the wetsuit you were already wearing. Good luck.