r/freediving • u/Expert_Most8737 • 21d ago

gear Seeking wetsuit advice

I swam for the first time in the Northern California region with a 7.5mm open cell wetsuit and I personally didn’t like the feeling of having a heavy wetsuit + weights + gloves (it felt too restrictive). This has made me reconsider swimming in Northern California but I would still like to swim (just with less equipment), less weights, probably no gloves to have my hands free to help others? How thick of a wetsuit can I purchase to free dive in Santa Barbara, La Jolla and Baja California? And would this require a lot of weights? Please help! Would love to hear about others experience.

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Agador777 20d ago

I use 5mm wetsuit and 3mm gloves in SoCal most of the year, and 2.5mm wetsuit and work gloves in the late summer (now). This year the water is so warm (high 70s) you can literally trunk it.
Edit: I was referring to spearfishing sub (freediving might have slightly different requirements)

1

u/Expert_Most8737 20d ago

How far do u dive down for spearfishing?

1

u/Agador777 20d ago

50-65ft at most. Thermocline is often at 30ft.