DrySuit Or Wet Suit - What Is Best For Diving In British Columbia?

While diving in B.C., I recommend using a drysuit to help keep you warmer, dryer, and more comfortable both during your dives and your surface time.

In the cool Emerald Green waters of British Columbia, home of some of the best cold water scuba diving in the world, the standard Open Water Scuba Diver Certification Course fee typically includes the use of a wetsuit.

A wet suit will work ok in our cool water, and there are people that dive here year round wearing just a wet suit.

For those new to scuba diving, a wet suit or a dry suit is used for:

• Helping to keep your core body temperature around 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since any drop in temperature causes a slow down of physical response time and an increase in core body temperature could cause you to overheat and become very ill. Both can have very serious consequences when you are scuba diving

• Protection from stings, cuts, scrapes and scratches which can happen easily when in an underwater environment.

Wetsuits are easier to use than dry suits, are cheaper, and don’t require any extra training. If you are coming to dive in the waters around Vancouver, British Columbia for just a week or so, you will probably be ok if you are wearing a fairly thick wetsuit (1/4”, 6.5mm or thicker).

If your own personal wet suit is thinner, you will probably want to either rent a wet suit while you are diving here, or take a little extra training and rent a dry suit while visiting and diving in British Columbia.

Once you complete your PADI training courses and think you will keep diving here, you should consider buying your own personal drysuit. Kind of a gross thought, but do you ever wonder how divers pee when they are cold and nervous during a dive? Who was wearing that rental diving suit before you?

Scuba Diving Dry Suits

Scuba Diving Wet Suits