Wetsuit or drysuit?

[60plus]

My preference is definitely for warmer water holiday diving say 18 degrees C and above. However to keep in practice and be a better diver I am going to have to do some cooler water diving in the UK. Dry suits are expensive and I would not want to take one on holiday. I am wondering if an O Three semi dry suit, possibly with a short undergarment would be a good alternative for UK sea and lake diving from April to September?

 

[TMHeimer]

What are the water temps. and your cold tolerance? I assume it's like here, where the ocean increases and decreases very gradually with the seasons and the (especially) shallower lakes can vary much even day to day.

 

[CT-Rich]

I would hook up with a local dive club. The UK has a very strong dive club system and they can probably give you the best options for your local conditions. If you are able to get a proper off the rack fit for a dry suit, a used one may be a possibility. not really sure how well a 3 mm semi dry will do for your conditions. You are probably going to need a 7mm for diving in those parts.

 

[60plus]

O Three is a company name not the thickness of the dive suit. "Will Goodman put the previous version of our (OThree) 6 x 5 Semi-Dry to good use achieving a world record CCR dive in 2014, this model is even better" . I am fairly tolerant of low water temperatures. I have contacted 5 local clubs and am fairly hopeful of proceeding with one that offers closest to what I want. As far as I know there is nothing wrong with any of these dive clubs but they don't suit what I want regarding dive times, practice times, organisation they certify with etc. My local dive lake is presently 5.5 degree C. but it gets up to 15 to 17 in late summer, sea variable but typically 12 to 16 mid to late summer. The thing that attracts me about OThree is that they supply adjusted off the peg suits that a far lower price than full made to measure. Also I have talked to some divers who were wearing OThree semi dry in warmer water (Lanzarote) and they said they were great in those temperatures.

 

[Jonn]

Drysuits don't have to be warm. A cheap bag suit rolls up fairly tight for travel, and if you just have sweatpants and sweater inside (or even jeans and T-shirt) it's no warmer than a 3mil. It's nice to be dry when you come out of the water too, even tropical.

 

[Dave Bevan]

If you want my honest opinion if you a serious about diving in the UK then invest in a good quality dry suit from the get go. Its a big investment but in the long run you will save money. I personally use a Black Pearl but there are lots of others such as Otter, DUI etc. A good quality made to measure tri-laminate dry suit is absolutely a revelation in diving. As others have said you can also dive them warm water as the exposure protection is dependent. Doing tech I will dive mine in 30degree water in Saudi. I just wear board shorts and t shirt underneath.

Personally I do prefer to travel with wetsuits when diving the warmer climates as they are lighter and more reliable to be honest.

Good luck with your diving!

 

[KevinNM]

I dive pretty much all the time in a trilam drysuit. If you wear just the base layer it's fine in 21C water for an hour, but I begin feel chilly after that. But I also practice in a very warm pool (27C) with the same layering I use in 16C water and it's actually fine. You roast getting ready to dive in the hot humid air outside the pool, but once I'm in the pool and moving slowly I'm perfectly comfortable for a 1.5 hour session.

That's because even fairly warm water sucks heat out of you more than you probably realize.

I've never dove in hot water like the Persian gulf, where it's sometimes >35C, so I can't speak to that, but in typical warm water a drysuit is fine once you are in the water.

 

[KenGordon]

My preference is definitely for warmer water holiday diving say 18 degrees C and above. However to keep in practice and be a better diver I am going to have to do some cooler water diving in the UK. Dry suits are expensive and I would not want to take one on holiday. I am wondering if an O Three semi dry suit, possibly with a short undergarment would be a good alternative for UK sea and lake diving from April to September?

April it is still cold, 8C on the south coast. October and November will certainly be warmer.
As advised above a membrane drysuit can be quite compact. Otter do a super light one.

Really you have your diving priorities backwards. You should look at diving abroad as practice for UK diving which is where the good stuff is

Lakes are only really for training, early season warm ups, or if the weather stops play and you have a weekend pass you’d otherwise waste.

It is possible to do those dives in a wetsuit, we have some for club trainees, but not so much fun. What happens is the diver gets a bit cold on the first dive but is ok, then in the surface interval the wind cools them some more and the decide not to do a second. It is a very quick way to turn an enthusiastic new diver into a golfer.

I have the very semi-dry (5/6mm) you are looking at. I have used it snorkling with my son in the uk and was generally ok but I only did rather than use a dry suit so I’d cold as fast as him.

For reasonably warm destinations that suit is too thick so you end up with more lead than you’d like. If you just want to do warm water stuff a 3mm plus an optional shortie might be better.

In summary, if you want to dive in the UK, and living here you should, buy a drysuit.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would just get a good dry suit, you will be a lot happier. I have 4mm compressed neoprene dry suit.
They require less underwear than a bag suit, they are less buoyant than a "normal" neoprene suit and they are more durable than both. All I wear under my suit is micro fleece underwear from a department store. Northern Diver make excellent dry suits and are based in the UK.
Neoprene Drysuits

 

[Kimela]

When my husband and I were originally OW certified, we also did the Dry Suit certification. The dry suits we used fit us poorly and had pin sized holes in a couple of places, so both of us were freezing and wet during the quarry dives. Both of us walked away from that hating the idea of dry suits. If there is a way for you to rent/borrow a really GOOD dry suit it seems it would help to give that a try to see if you like dry suit diving. It's such a huge investment - and bad investment if you don't like it. But it's probably a bad idea to make a decision based on the use of a poorly fitting, faulty dry suit.

On the other hand, my husband used a semidry 8/7 and felt that it kept him warmer than the guy he was diving with who was wearing a dry suit. So maybe you could try that too?