ewaiea
Contributor
(I posted this in the SoCal forum but am not sure how often it gets read since the last post hasn't been for a while)...
I am a resident of Hawaii but am considering a short weekend dive trip with a friend (from Florida) to meet up in California this fall to dive the Channel Islands - it'll be a first time for me. I have gotten drysuit certified in the Pacific Northwest (Whidbey Island - which rocked!) but the water there was about 50 deg F at the time. I'm planning on going to southern California in the fall and I understand water temps will be around 60 or so....
I do not own a drysuit because I would almost never need it. But if I head up to California this fall I might be thinking about purchasing a semi-drysuit. Do alot of divers in southern California use semi-drysuits? Or is the real drysuit the only way to go??? I've always told myself I'll never cold water dive in a wetsuit again, but I think given that southern California is sort of on the border of being cold, but not too cold, maybe a 8/7mm semi-dry would be a good compromise. I think any colder than high 50s/low 60s and I'd definitely probably go dry. I haven't found a shop yet that rents drysuits out.
Your thoughts?
Plus, we'd be diving with Cal Boat Diving on either the Spectre, the Explorer, or the Peace.......assuming they're still in business, feel free to interject any thoughts on that as well.
I am a resident of Hawaii but am considering a short weekend dive trip with a friend (from Florida) to meet up in California this fall to dive the Channel Islands - it'll be a first time for me. I have gotten drysuit certified in the Pacific Northwest (Whidbey Island - which rocked!) but the water there was about 50 deg F at the time. I'm planning on going to southern California in the fall and I understand water temps will be around 60 or so....
I do not own a drysuit because I would almost never need it. But if I head up to California this fall I might be thinking about purchasing a semi-drysuit. Do alot of divers in southern California use semi-drysuits? Or is the real drysuit the only way to go??? I've always told myself I'll never cold water dive in a wetsuit again, but I think given that southern California is sort of on the border of being cold, but not too cold, maybe a 8/7mm semi-dry would be a good compromise. I think any colder than high 50s/low 60s and I'd definitely probably go dry. I haven't found a shop yet that rents drysuits out.
Your thoughts?
Plus, we'd be diving with Cal Boat Diving on either the Spectre, the Explorer, or the Peace.......assuming they're still in business, feel free to interject any thoughts on that as well.