Childrens suits - semi or dry

[daco65]

My girlfriends daughter is almost thro' her Ocean Diver, but for the need to do the open water bits. However she is very small - circa 140cm tall - which means that there are no suits available ( other than very expensive made to measure ). Until she is older she is likely to be holiday diving only ( hence expensive to get MTM just to complete training! ) Has anyone any ideas? Would be delighted to hear of anywhere with smaller suits or indeed any thoughts on semi vs dry.

thx Dave C

[Chris Cherrington]

Decathlon do kids sizes at very reasonable prices. (Not dry though).

Chris

[Richard D]

Decathlon do kids sizes at very reasonable prices. (Not dry though).

Chris

Got a 5mm shortie for £15 with intergrated hood which my son wears over a 3 mm full lenght - both from Decathlon - Has been in the sea for dives with no probs.

Richard

[Alison Boler]

My youngest daughter learned when she was 10 (5 years ago) and she is a slight build. I got her a 5mm steamer style suit - there are lots available if you go to a large watersports shop, rather than a diving shop, unless its a big diving shop. They have more because of surfing and windsurfing. I then put a hooded shortie on top. She was very warm. Once qualified she has only dived overseas (100+ dives now) and she wears a 5mm steamer style. I generally pick her one up at the dive show (either Birmingham or London) they have lots there. She used an Aqualung Junior Wave BCD until she was about 13 and then switched to the Diva LX Extra Small which fits very well. I wouldn't get a drysuit at this point. My older daughter (16.5) is just about to move across to a drysuit and I think this is about the right time ie she's unlikely to outgrow it anytime soon, plus I want to get her into UK waters before she goes up to uni.

Hope this helps

[Rhodus Aquanaut]

At the rate children grow, the likes of a semi-dry suit is more cost effective being a good bit cheaper than an equalivant sized dry suit.

It is alway when you have bought a special item of clothing that our children seem to take a growing spurt and within no time at all they appear to have out grown it.

Best advice IMHO is to look to the semi-dry options, if need be MTM, but not neccessarily if you can find a manufacturer who produces smaller sizes.

This may take some ringing around or searching the web, but you could make a good saving and have something which will do your daughter for maybe 6mths, 1yr or several years, depending upon her growth rate.

Good luck and have lots of fun exploring the undersea world of diving.

[Woz]

Beaver do a full range of Junior semi-dry suits- the Rockall is a 7mm 2 piece ideal for UK diving. 5 junior sizes