PADI Drysuit Diver

Background

Why dive dry? A good quality, well-fitting wetsuit which is relatively new will keep you moderately comfortable during your dive...provided you don't go deep and the water is not too cold. Unfortunately, there are a lot of "if's" in that statement! And it is precisely because of those conditionals that most of us who dive regularly in California waters dive in drysuits rather than in wetsuits. Consider the following:

A neoprene wetsuit compresses with depth, and as it compresses it looses its thermal insulating ability. If you double the pressure on a wetsuit, the thickness is reduced by over 20%! Thus at 99 fsw, a wetsuit only has 63% of the thermal protection it had at the surface. In contrast, a drysuit provides the same amount of thermal protection at any depth. You will be just as warm at 100' as you are at the surface.
Neoprene loses its thickness, and thus its insulating ability, over time. Repeated cycles of compression and decompression cause a degradation of the cell structure in the neoprene. It is these minute air cells which give the neoprene its insulating ability. For this reason, many people consider the useful life of a wetsuit to be no more than 200 dives. There is no corresponding deterioration of a drysuit's insulating ability with repeated use.
When diving wet, it is vital that you remove the wetsuit between dives and put on warm clothing. If you don't, your body's heat regulation mechanism has to work overtime in order to maintain core temperature while you're standing around on a cold, windy day in a wet wetsuit. Then when you go out for a repetitive dive, you run the risk of hypothermia. And if you do take the wetsuit off between dives, as you should, then you must eventually face the task of putting that cold, wet wetsuit back on again before you get ready to dive again. None of this is an issue with a dry suit!
With a wetsuit, you get thermal protection equal to the thickness, the fit, and the quality of the wetsuit. You cannot vary that degree of thermal protection. In a drysuit, you can change the undergarment you wear under it and add layers as necessary to provide whatever thermal protection you require. Ice diving can be just as comfortable as Catalina diving! You just add more layers.

Why do I need to take a course in order to use a drysuit? Using a drysuit requires special knowledge and special techniques which are not something you learn when diving with a wetsuit. If you are not properly trained in drysuit diving, there is a very real possibility of an uncontrolled, rapid ascent...and thus the risk of DCS or even AGE. The course is not a difficult one, and in fact it can be completed in one [very long] day or over two days. Without that training, though, you should not attempt drysuit diving. Most reputable dive stores will not rent you a drysuit unless you can show proof of that training.

Can I rent a drysuit? Some dive shops do rent drysuits, though they will require proof of training and/or experience before they will rent one. At Aquarius Dive Shop, we have no plans to offer rental drysuits for general use. However, we have both DUI and Diving Concepts drysuits and undergarments in stock which are available for rental ($75/day) while accompanied by one of our instructors or divemasters. We want to give you the opportunity to try one before buying and to learn to use a drysuit properly. We can be extremely flexible in the arrangements we can make if you are seriously interested in a drysuit purchase. Come talk to us and let us show you what we can do!

What is involved in the Drysuit Diver Specialty Course? There are three parts to the course: knowledge development, confined water training, and open water training. There is a training manual which you will need to purchase and study before meeting with your instructor for a class session. The class session will last approximately 3 hours, and during the session your instructor will answer your questions and ensure you have a thorough understanding of the material covered in the manual. During the confined water session, you will practice basic drysuit diving skills with your instructor. Besides mastering issues of buoyancy control and trim, you will practice emergency recovery procedures you will need to know if you ever experience a problem while diving. Finally, we will go out for two open water dives. Though these are intended as simply fun dives, you will demonstrate basic drysuit diving skills during them and will have a chance to practice drysuit diving techniques with your instructor.

Cost

Tuition for the Drysuit Diver Specialty course is $125 if you are part of a group of two or more, or we can offer a private course for $225. In addition, you will need to purchase the PADI Dry Suit manual or Crew Pak (available in the shop).

If you need to rent a dry suit for the course, we can provide a drysuit, a drysuit undergarment and a dry suit hood for $75 for use during the course.

If you purchase a dry suit from us within 90 days of your class, we will provide you with a credit of your course tuition (up to $125) which you can use to lower the cost of your dry suit purchase.

Schedule

When we try to schedule these classes in advance, we find that it rarely meets any one's needs. So, we will arrange a class to fit your schedule. So come on in, or give us a call, and tell us what you want to do and when you want to do it, and we'll set it up for you.

The next Dry Suit Specialty class will be held on:

Saturday, Feb 25th and Sunday, Feb 26th

If this class is not convenient, please call us because we can schedule this class:

ANY TIME YOU WANT, per request.

It typically takes 1 and 1/2 days to complete the course.

First Day:

Go over the Dry Suit knowledge Reviews and watch the PADI Dry Suit Diver DVD (if you have not already done so)
Get fitted and rent one of our dry suits, or have your own dry suit ready to go
Ensure that your additional dive gear is in good, working condition and ready for use with the dry suit. We help you check it if you are uncertain. Or rent additional gear from us.
Pool or confined water Dry Suit session

Second Day:

Two open water dives in the Dry Suit

If you want to try to complete the Dry Suit course in just 1 day, here's how to do it:

In advance:

Watch the DVD included in the PADI Dry Suit Diving crew pack
Read the PADI Dry Suit Diving course manual and complete all the knowledge reviews
Come in to the dive shop to rent and get fitted in one of our dry suits, or have your own dry suit ready to go
Ensure that your additional dive gear is in good, working condition (we help you check it if you are uncertain), or have rental gear already checked out

3 Dry Suit sessions in 1 day:

Pool or confined water session early in the morning
Two open water dives in the afternoon

Our goal is to get more people diving and then to keep them diving! We believe that learning to drive dry and obtaining proper equipment is absolutely key to enjoying the splendor of California diving.

For more information on:

DUI (Diving Unlimited International) click here:

Diving Concepts drysuits you can download a spec sheet by clicking on link below:

BARE drysuit information can be found at:

Pinnacle drysuit information can be found at: