Snorkeling in a dry suit?

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bargeman

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Location
Seattle Washington
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi folks, Just got my first Dry Suit and am anxious to get in the water and try it out. I dive with my son and he is under the weather and cant dive with me. I really just want to put it on and get in the water to see how it feels and see if there are any leaks. My question is can i just snorkel around and is there anything that i need to worry about as far as buoyancy or air pockets that will put me in an awkward position. I plan on exhausting all of the air in suit before going in! I will be just wearing the suit, fins and mask, I hope this is not to dumb of a question. Thanks in advance.
 
bargeman:
Hi folks, Just got my first Dry Suit and am anxious to get in the water and try it out. I dive with my son and he is under the weather and cant dive with me. I really just want to put it on and get in the water to see how it feels and see if there are any leaks. My question is can i just snorkel around and is there anything that i need to worry about as far as buoyancy or air pockets that will put me in an awkward position. I plan on exhausting all of the air in suit before going in! I will be just wearing the suit, fins and mask, I hope this is not to dumb of a question. Thanks in advance.
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If you live in/near Seattle, why not go to Cove 2 on Wednesday evening? I wish I lived closer and could take advantage of the group that goes there. You should find lots of friendly advice to help you get things sorted.
 
Answer to your question is YES you can snorkel in a drysuit.

You will be at the surface, so you won't really be able to get into TOO awkward a position.

PS - You THINK you will exhaust all the air before entering the water. "Much to learn do you have, young Scubawalker." :D
 
Too true! First time I went diving with the sea lions off of Norris Rocks I jumped in to snorkel with them. I was so excited I couldn't wait. In the photos I look bigger than the sea lions!
 
bargeman:
Hi folks, Just got my first Dry Suit and am anxious to get in the water and try it out. I dive with my son and he is under the weather and cant dive with me. I really just want to put it on and get in the water to see how it feels and see if there are any leaks. My question is can i just snorkel around and is there anything that i need to worry about as far as buoyancy or air pockets that will put me in an awkward position. I plan on exhausting all of the air in suit before going in! I will be just wearing the suit, fins and mask, I hope this is not to dumb of a question. Thanks in advance.
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It snorkels just fine. If fact, it's quite nice snorkleing in a drysuit in cold water. Or just floating on your back.

As long as you're not wearing any weights, the very worst you could get is embarrassed.
 
You will be able to get more air out of the suit once you are in the water rather then doing it just on land. You will probably still be buoyant even after that so if you just want to stay on the surface you should be fine. The only possible problem would be if you want to swim down and the remaining air in your suit goes to your legs.
 
I have a friend that free dives in a drysuit. We snorkel in ours all time as we swim to and from the dropping point of our dive sites (Of course we have tanks on, but there isn't much of a difference).
 
Peter_C:
I have a friend that free dives in a drysuit.
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Hmm... how does that work? I can't take the squeeze that comes from just walking into the water. What does he/she do to equalize the suit after they get down to about 15ft and deeper?
 
RJP:
Hmm... how does that work? I can't take the squeeze that comes from just walking into the water. What does he/she do to equalize the suit after they get down to about 15ft and deeper?
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He has been doing it for a long time, diving for abalone in shallow +30ft of water. I don't recommend it, but it does work. Weighting and consistency of bubble must be dialed (Much like with a wetsuit dialed for 15 ft). He doesn't use thick undergarments, and the suit is a light weight surface suit without inlet, nor exhaust fittings.

During my rescue class, I was in a drysuit and we were required to free dive. After a few dives, I wound up seriously shrink wrapped, and overweighted. Not a good thing, but a quick shot of air brought my undergarments back into shape. As I said, I wouldn't recommend free diving in a drysuit.
 
RJP:
Hmm... how does that work? I can't take the squeeze that comes from just walking into the water. What does he/she do to equalize the suit after they get down to about 15ft and deeper?
Click to expand...

Speaking from personal experience, with a tls 350 and xerotherm undergarment, I rarely feel the need to add any gas until I hit 20m, and even then only a puff.. Perhaps some people are more resistant to the squeeze? Not sure I would try free diving in a drysuit tho.
 
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