Drysuit on the way, now I'm ready for local diving too

[robh]

Well almost ready anyway. I've lived here in Southern California for quite some time, but the water temperature has made me want to limit my diving to destination trips. I've fixed that with a drysuit that should be here in a few days so I want to get more active in local (Orange County) diving.

I've got a few questions for those of you that dive dry... Will 100wt Polartec with a wicking underwear be warm enough?

Is there an experienced drysuit diver that dives Laguna and would be willing to go over the basics of drysuits as well as buddy up one Saturday or Sunday morning in exchange for air/nitrox and breakfast?

I look forward to meeting some of you and seeing you in the water!

Regards,

Rob.

 

[scubacalifornia]

I don't use a drysuit, but I've been diving Laguna on the weekends with South Coast Divers, and there's often drysuit divers in the group. The group meets every Sat & Sun morning at the Laguna Hills mall. Rich Parker administrates the group and he dives a drysuit...email **** @ southcoastdivers.com or take a look at www.southcoastdivers.com. Also, South Orange County Dive Club is a great resource, www.socdc.com. Group meets once a month at Fuddruckers in Lake Forest and there's usually a big crowd. I'm sure you'll be able to connect with others diving drysuits there. Good luck!
Kevin

 

[OCdiving Deb]

I agree. Rich and his Saturday (and now Sunday too) group is a good way to get consistent diving with drysuits. Wetsuits are welcome too!

I started to respond to you yesterday with this same advice but my computer crashed when I pressed submit. Hopefully that won't happen now... Whew! It worked!

 

[Bob3]

Will 100wt Polartec with a wicking underwear be warm enough?

I'd bet you would want something around the 200 range.
You can find inexpensive Polartec at the army surplus stores, a brand new set can run you about $50 for the THICK stuff.
B200 Thinsulate can be found for under $250 if you want to stay toasty year round.