The underwater realm is a beautiful, transfixing environment filled with amazing creatures. Scuba diving offers you a way to experience this natural beauty in all its wonder. If you’re new to scuba, you’ve probably just finished your training, you’re qualified, and you’re ready to hit your first dive site.
But what are you wearing during your scuba session? This guide unpacks the wardrobe you need for the boat ride and for scuba diving in warm and cold water.
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Understanding Water Conditions and Scuba Diving
Scuba diving happens in oceans around the globe. While most of us imagine diving in the tropics like the Maldives, there are plenty of amazing coldwater dives in locations around the globe.
Understanding the water and air temperature gives you an idea of how to prepare your kit for the dive. Since scuba only occurs on days when the ocean is calm and flat and the weather is fine and clear, you don’t have to worry about preparing your kit for rough water.
However, there’s a big difference in your gear for cold water and warm water diving. Let’s look at both requirements and give you everything you need to take with you on your dive trip.
What to Wear Scuba Diving in Warm Water
If you’re diving in tropical waters, you don’t have to worry about a wetsuit. You’re fine wearing nothing but swim trunks if you’re diving to depths of 30-feet. Any further than that, and the lack of sunlight reaching down into the water can make things a bit chilly, especially on dives exceeding 30-minutes.
However, let’s look at dive locations like Thailand, the Maldives, and Mauritius, where water temperatures are warm as bathwater.
Boardshorts
We recommend getting yourself a pair of surfing boardshorts for your tropical dive. The ladies can wear their favorite swimwear. However, bikinis aren’t a good choice, as they might not provide the coverage you need when your gear starts moving around.
Rash Guard
A rash guard is a good choice to keep your BCD from irritating your skin during your dive. It also gives you some sun protection on the boat when you’re heading to the dive site. Rash guards are available in short or long-sleeve versions from leading surf and dive brands.
Compression Shorts
Compression shorts are always a good choice to wear underwater. They allow better blood flow throughout your body when you’re at depth. As a result, you find you use less oxygen during the dive. Compression shorts also prevent cramping in your legs during the dive.
Wetsuit Top
If the air feels a little fresh or the seasons are changing, you can wear a wetsuit top for the dive. The best ones are made by surfing brands. These tops are 1mm or 2mm thick, manufactured with neoprene, and have a rash guard-style design.
Some thicker 2mm models come with a zip in the front, similar to a standard scuba diving wetsuit top. A wetsuit top can stop you from feeling cold on longer, deeper dives.
Springer Wetsuit
A spring suit is a good choice for those warmer water in the fall or the early wintertime. A spring suit has short arms and legs, short legs, and long arms, or vice versa. Typically, spring suits come with a 2/2mm or 3/2mm construction.
What to Wear Scuba Diving in Cold Water
Now that you know what to expect from warm water scuba let’s look at the cold stuff. When you’re diving in cooler waters, you’ll need an exposure suit. The exposure suit keeps you warm and prevents injury on the reef.
Some divers call it an exposure suit, but we still think of it as a wetsuit. You have many top scuba brands offering you wetsuits and options from leading surfing brands. Here are the types of wetsuits you’ll find on offer.
Full Wetsuits
The full suit is the standard wetsuit for scuba divers. These suits have long legs and arms, and they come in different thicknesses.
The wetsuit works by allowing a thin film of water to sit between your skin and the neoprene. Your body heat warms the water and keeps the cold away during your dive. The full suite offers you the best protection from the cold.
Two-Piece Dive Suits
The older generation of scuba diving wetsuits comes in two pieces. There is a bottom half with pants, and they fit your sort of like dungarees, with shoulder straps keeping the legs from creeping down.
You fit a zip-through wetsuit jacket over the bottom, and you’re ready to dive. While these suits aren’t very popular, some brands still manufacture them for enthusiasts.
Surfing/ Swimming Wetsuits
The surfing wetsuit and swimming wetsuits used in triathlons are great choices for your scuba diving wetsuit.
However, they are usually a bit more expensive than the average scuba suit. These suits come with specialized stretchy materials in the groin and under the arms. As a result, you get more range of motion in your arms and legs during the dive.
Dry Suits
The drysuit is the best choice for very cold Antarctic or arctic waters. This suit doesn’t allow any water inside, keeping you completely dry. They are usually bulkier and thicker than wetsuits, and they are not very comfortable to wear.
Temperature Guide for Wetsuits
Wetsuits come in different thicknesses to suit the water temperature. Here is a quick guide to choosing the right wetsuit for your location.
- 80 to 85F: 2/2mm shorty to dive skin
- 73 to 79F: 3/2mm fullsuit to 2/2mm shorty
- 66 to 72F: 5/4mm to 3/2mm fullsuit
- 50 to 65F: 8/7mm semi-dry or 7 mm wetsuit
- 50F and Below: 8/7mm drysuit
Every wetsuit manufacturer publishes a sizing guide to help you choose the right wetsuit to fit your body type. However, the sizing guide cold is different from one brand to the next. Always ensure you get the right measurements before placing your order.
Booties, Gloves, and Hoodie
If you’re diving in very cold water, you’ll need protection for your head and feet. The hoodie integrates into your wetsuit and keeps your head and ears warm. The booties cover your feet, preventing heat loss through your toes.
Gloves are important for cold water diving as they stop your fingers from freezing. However, don’t wear them in warm water as the dive master might think you intend on touching the reef or taking shells back with you to the boat. These practices are forbidden in most dive camps.
What to Wear on the Boat
So, what do you wear on the way out to the dive site? In most cases, you’ll already be in your exposure suit and ready to don your fins and BCD as soon as you stop the boat. However, if you have some distance to the site and the sun is strong, it’s good to take along the following gear.
Hat
The sun is strong in tropical locations. Spending just 15-minutes in the sun unprotected could result in a sunburn. If you have sensitive skin, you need to protect yourself on the boat.
A hat gives your face the basic protection you need from the sun’s harmful UV rays. We recommend wearing a baseball cap with a snug fit. A floppy wide-brim hat will blow around in the wind during the boat ride, offering you limited protection.
Sunscreen
The ride out to the dive site could take up to thirty minutes. If you arrive there and there is a team in the water, you could be waiting for a while until it’s your turn to drop. If the sun gets on your face, you’re going to burn fast. The wetsuit will protect the rest of you, but your face needs sun protection.
Even if you take a hat along, we recommend you also use sunscreen. The sun reflects off the water, and it gets under your cap.
The sunscreen prevents your skin from taking nasty burns that could ruin your trip. Imagine getting up the following day with a sunburned face and strapping on a dive mask? The pain. Choose a factor 50+ SPF sunscreen, and use a reef-friendly formulation.
Water Bottle
You can’t have enough water out on the boat. If you’re scuba diving in warm locations like Mozambique, the Bahamas, or Thailand, you will dehydrate quickly. Since the average dive trip from shore to site and back can last up to two hours, you need to stay hydrated or have less fun on your dive.
Keep your water in an aluminum water canister. Don’t use a plastic bottle for your water. Plastic pollution is a serious issue with the ocean. If your bottle accidentally goes overboard, you end up adding to the problem.
Jackets for Cold Weather
If you’re going out in cold conditions, you might want to take a warm jacket to cover your wetsuit.
Make sure it’s water-resistant, and you don’t mind getting it wet. The wetsuit will help keep you warm, but the jacket keeps the wind off the suit, making it more efficient at holding onto your body heat.
What to Wear Scuba Diving – Gear for All Conditions
Some scuba gear is essential for all water and weather conditions. We recommend taking along the following extras on your trip. They aren’t necessities, but they make a big difference to the scuba experience.
Waterproof case
You’re usually in a rubber duck pontoon boat when you’re out on the water. As a result, you will get soaked on the way to the dive spot. If you have any electronics on board, they better be waterproof, or they’re going to come back damaged from the trip.
If you have any electronics with you that are not water-resistant, pack them in a waterproof case. The dry case ensures they remain undamaged, and you can store the case in the boat’s cuddy till you get back to shore.
PFD
When you’re on the boat going out to the drop zone, you will need a PFD. Most coast guard regulations at dive sites suggest that divers wear their PFD until they reach their dive site. The PFD could save your life if you find yourself going overboard.
If you hit the water at speed, it could render you unconscious. If the boat doesn’t see it happen and turn around fast, you will sink to the bottom. A PFD keeps you floating on the surface with your head above the water.
Dive Watch
A dive watch is an essential piece of kit for any scuba diving enthusiast. When you start as a beginner, you’ll find that you use the gauges and your logbook to track your dives and features of the dive, like your bottom time and total dive time.
The dive watch is expensive, but it tracks all your dive information for digital upload to your online logbook. The dive watch looks like a regular sports watch, maybe a tad bit bulkier. However, it has as much functionality as the top-level smartwatches on the market and a purpose-built design for the scuba experience.
Dive watches are available from leading brands, all of which are water-resistant. Some divers prefer to buy a dive computer that they plug into their dive rig in place of their gauges. The computer does the same thing as the watch, but in a conventional setup that some divers prefer.
Shark Deterrent Device
Most divers dream of encountering sharks on their dive. They’re majestic animals and misunderstood. However, if you’re spearfishing on your trip, you might want to take along a shark deterrent device. The movement of fish after being speared can attract sharks into the area.
GoPro Mount
Being underwater is a magical experience, and GoPro action cameras allow you to record every moment of your dive. These mounts fit your mask, and you position them to give the viewer a POV view of your dive.
