Diving in a Santa costume, any tips?

[Hoyden]

I generally do our Santa dives here at the aquarium. When you are puchasing your suit, look for a beard with a stiched in mouth hole. This helps keep the beard in place when your regulator is pushed through it. Also look for a hat that fits snugly so that your mask strap can hold it in place. We generally have another diver dressed as an elf also. We have upgraded our Santa Suit over the years and the more spendy ones look better.

 

[Storker]

@Storker

His avatar is of him in a Santa costume so maybe he has tips.

My 0.02 bar:

1. A mask, cap and beard is rather simple. Just watch out if, you use a Hog setup, that the fake long beard doesn't hinder your access to your 2nd
2. A full Santa suit is fun, but wearing it underwater sucks donkey's cojones. It's long, it's heavy when it's drenched with water, it hinders access to your ditchable weight (if you're into that stuff which, incidentally, I am). And it hampers your buddy's access to your harness if SHTF and someone has to cut you out of your gear.

Bottom line: I wouldn't recommend a full Santa suit unless you have a good amount of dives under your weight belt and are quite comfortable in the water. And the conditions are benign. A red cap and perhaps a beard is pretty simple to handle.

 

[Storker]

Taken on my club's annual Christmas tree dive (we sink a decorated Christmas tree, and swim around it underwater just for the sheer fun of it) a few years back

Weight belt and harness outside the Santa suit, make sure that the beard isn't in the way if you should need your necklaced 2nd. Safety reasonably covered. It still sucked donkey's cojones to wade up on land, though, and I wouldn't enjoy doing it in a surf.

 

[Jcp2]

The dive waiver should have all the appropriate clauses in it.

 

[Storker]

The dive waiver

The... what?

 

[Marie13]

Good pun!

 

[broncobowsher]

Make sure you have a competent elf watching over you.

 

[PACKRMAN]

if the beard is long attach split shot weights near the end to keep the hair from floating up.

 

[tursiops]

I generally do our Santa dives here at the aquarium. When you are puchasing your suit, look for a beard with a stiched in mouth hole. This helps keep the beard in place when your regulator is pushed through it. Also look for a hat that fits snugly so that your mask strap can hold it in place. We generally have another diver dressed as an elf also. We have upgraded our Santa Suit over the years and the more spendy ones look better.

I've only been a reindeer. I yearn to be a Santa.

 

[Volleyball]

Talked to a dive shop, tried a "dry run"...
Initial tips...
1) Consider a "pseudo" scuba dive that's really a free dive, wear the suit, mask and detached reg, simply get underwater and have someone take a quick pic
2) Consider diving with just a santa cap with chin strap and if wanted a beard
3) If you do want the suit, you have to pick if you want it under or over the BC; if over the BC you need the jacket a few sizes larger than your BC, if buying a complete suit the pants may end up being too large. You will also need to cut the back to accommodate the a tank