Question Handling rocky shore dives in a neoprene drysuit? (Barnacles vs drysuit, barnacles won)

[Karpie]

Any advice on dealing with rocky shore dives with a neoprene drysuit?

I had a full weekend of diving where I was able to get pretty comfortable with my new neoprene drysuit. However, I tripped on the shore exit of my very last dive and landed on some barnacle-ridden rocks.

I was fine (somehow!) but the drysuit took the brunt of it and has some deep gashes--- upwards of 1/2" and a couple all the way through. I'm taking the suit into the shop I bought it from to see what kind of repairs they can do.

I'm usually pretty good at catching myself when I stumble, but that skill doesn't quite extend to when I'm strapped into full diving gear yet. Until I get better at it, should I be looking into some additional reinforcements at the knees? Is neoprene potentially too delicate for extra rocky shore entries?

 

[Akimbo]

Rock boots. There are several brands but they usually require larger fins. Commercial divers often wear coveralls.

 

[Karpie]

Rock boots. There are several brands but they usually require larger fins.

I've got the apollo bio drysuit with built in boots, although there's not much tread on the bottom. I can look into whether they have more robust boot options!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

You're lucky you don't have waves there. Combine rocky entries with waves and you get Palos Verdes. I've torn drysuits here a couple of times.

 

[Karpie]

You're lucky you don't have waves there. Combine rocky entries with waves and you get Palos Verdes. I've torn drysuits here a couple of times.

Oh man, I definitely feel lucky for that. There's very little surf st the dive sites in my area, so the rocks are really the worst of my problems haha.