Hi All,
I'm just wondering what the water tempreture is like in San Diego currently.
I am visiting next week for the month of March and will be buying a new wetsuit before i arrive.
Now I'm Australian and normally never wear over a 2mm short arm fullsuit in our winter but I hear your water is very cold.
so would i be fine to bring a 2mm sealed Short Arm Fullsuit or would i be better bring a 3/2 sealed long arm full suit.
Thanks for your help and i will apriciete your response
Depending on your nature and the weather; you could use either. But with spring up-welling and a few cold fronts moving in and out, the full suit would be a better choice.
I have to work Sunday but I will be surfing Monday and Tuesday morning. I live in North County. I will be wearing a 4-3 fullsuit with booties....the new hood is optional depending on wind......I like to be warm...some of my friends will wear 3-2 wetsuits.....it will be a while before you can wear a 2 mil......or a shortie........it's still winter here and our spring is not warm.
4/3 is comfy
3/2 you will probably get chilly after a while
2 mm short sleeve only if you like being cold or only surf for a very short session at noon when its warmest
I actually saw a guy just in board shorts today but everyone agreed he was out of his mind…
The water is 56-58 degrees. I have lived and surfed in San Diego my whole life and have never owned anything thicker than a 3/2. You will be pretty cold in a short arm suit, especially if your on a shortboard. A newer 3/2 will get you through the worst of it here, but if it’s a few seasons old, you’ll need to keep moving to stay warm.
my new cheapo(under $100) hyperflex cyclone2 3/2 came in the mail yesterday.
I was shocked as it was 1/2 the weight of my 10 year old quicksilver I was trying to recondition and came in a little bag in the mail.
feels like gummy bears in my hand and slipped on surprisingly easy like a second skin
extremely flexible but hard to believe it will keep me warm feeling so thin
have another even cheaper 4/3 all japanese rubber hana surfboards BASIX fullsuit coming in as well
hope its as light and as easy to put on as the hyperflex.
I can’t believe how much wetsuit technology has improved
other than looking like a black version of the michelin man
I believe I could actually paddle and surf in something like this
unlike wetsuits I’ve usedin the past
maybe i’ll go and try scare the locals out of the water
by wearing the full suit at haubush or white plains in 70-80 degree water
(good way to lose another 10 pounds od sweat I guess)
nah the tourists will just take pictures thinking I’m some new form of hawaiian monk seal
then some local blalah will try and spear me with his three prong for dinner
just like resinhead would.
some 3/2s are almost all 2 mil material, not very much 3 mil. I have a billabong 3/2 that is flexible and comfy but not very warm at all.
I think being cold while surfing is all relative. I had a swaylocks guy come visit from Wales and he wore a springsuit for San Diego dawn patrol in the dead of winter on a windy day – yet said it felt like the tropics to him! On the other hand someone coming from the tropics may well have the opposite opinion…
In San Diego now the water is 57* F. A 3/2 fullsuit should keep you comfortable all day. I know there are guys who will tell you to wear more rubber, but they’re pansies (kidding pansies).
Up here in San Francisco my winter suit is a 4/3 with 3 mil booties, and the water is 50*.
my winter (snow and ice) climbing buddies have a saying “you can’t have fun when you are cold”
You tough (and/or fat) guys wear whatever you like !!
I like to think I’m a bit of both 
I grew up in So Cal and when I first moved up north I couldn’t even believe people surfed in water this cold. Now it seems normal. Whenever I surf down in San Diego and hear guys talking about how cold it is, I laugh out loud.
I surfed Santa Cruz to OBSF for a number of years too… San Diego water is definitely not as cold, but its possible to get hypothermic in either part of the Pacific if you are out there long enough, particularly with wind chill.
Hyperflex. For the money; Best suit out there. After all; they are East Coast. Think Nor'easters and snow drifts on the beach. They have also made dive suits forever under their parent namesake "Henderson".
You should see the looks I get when I wear a 4/3, no booties and no hood in Oregon thru summer. I go by the water temp. Spent alot of years surfing SLO, Monterey and SC counties over the years in a straight 3M and only wore booties if it was rocky or super cold. Like 48-52. Spent a couple of years on Kauai and then came back to Pismo. Borrowed a wornout 3M that had a gash down the back for a few weeks to surf St. Annes.
I surfed the North Pole, nothing but a G String. Never got cold. Some dude in a red suit and a white beard tried to invite me over to his cabin. I wouldn't go, ...he had a bunch of little gnomes type things running around...totally freaked me out. water temp was probably 30 degrees, but I skin it all year round, I'm too tough to stay warm. love the adversity of fighting the conditions, nothing better than having your feet feel like frozen meat clumps when you stand up. Or better yet, I love when you get the pre hypothermic shakes...thats what surfing is all about.
Make sure someone takes you by BIRD’S SURF SHED. It’s a trip to see so many different boards. Lots of wetsuits, T’s, sandals, etc.