Are there any wetsuits I can use for free diving and surfing?

[Emily Smith]

I came to Southern California from South Florida (where I didn't need a wetsuit). I like to free dive but I'm by no means good at it (yet) and same goes for surfing. Is there a wetsuit I can use for both? Since I'm an amateur at both, I don't want to spend a ton of money on two different wetsuits just yet but the water here is freezing (by my standards, at least). I don't intend on going past 20-30ft free diving, so I'm not worried much about the water pressure with the wetsuit (unless I should be even at this depth...then let me know). Thanks!

 

[J Campbell]

I wear a 3/2 O'neill surfers wetsuit for my pool work - very flexible and comfortable. It works fine for me. It has no hood - but the pool is warm enough that I don't really need one. You can buy separate hoods from Makospearguns, probably others sell them also.
You might want a thicker suit for your area, maybe 5/4 or 4/3.

 

[Pinniped72]

I used an O'niell Epic 5/3 for surfing, swimming, kayaking and freediving and it was fine, that wetsuit is over 5 years old and is still going strong, bearing in mind that the Epic is an entry level winter wetsuit, I reckon that's excellent value. When I need to replace it, I will go O'Niell

 

[Manny_OCF]

I use a Mares Phantom 50 (3 mm), its more designed for spearfishing, but had the knee and chest pads which could be used for surfing as well. I've been using it for a year, now, but mine is not in a good condition, because of overuse, I dive about twice a week. But i think its a great wetsuit that has a lot of flexibility.

 

[hteas]

In relatiovely warm water I have used my old O'neill 3/2 for both. No problem. Long term, the O'Neill is fine for surfing. A 2 piece 3mm or 5mm spearfishing suit will probably be a better choice.