Best Female Freediving Wetsuit
What is the best female freediving wetsuit for the pool? One of the challenges of a woman entering the sport of freediving is finding an appropriate open cell wetsuit for their size and fit. Surfing suits (steamers) and scuba diving wetsuits on the market for women are closed cell suits that lack the fit, warmth and performance that wearing a ‘second skin’ that an open cell wetsuit serves as provides. Once you try an open cell wetsuit it is hard to go back to the typical steamer or scuba diving wetsuit. If a wetsuit is to be classified as the best female freediving wetsuit then it has to be open cell and we recommend lined on the inside for pool (lined on the outside is more durable as it’s less prone to tear so best for recreational diving in the ocean – not freediving competition). For competitive freediving smooth skin outer and lined inside is the better option. You can buy smooth skin outer and open cell inside – no lining – but these suits can ruin if you even look at them too intensely. Mine did. It didn’t just tear, it burst. They are way too fragile – you might be lucky and get one wear out of them but they’re as fragile as tissue paper – if not moreso and a liability rather than an investment. You can follow the instructions to the letter with this kind of suit and it still betrays you and your wallet. The good news is, you can get a suit that will perform just as well, providing just as much comfort and maneuverability without it being ‘scary’.
What about the outside of the wetsuit? A woman has two choices: some kind of smooth shin for gliding and low water resistance/drag to gain the greatest distance with the least effort (whether horizontally in the pool or for depth). Typically, such wetsuits look smooth or shiny on the outside. The downside of these wetsuits are they are more fragile and can tear more easily. Smooth skin wetsuits are usually more suitable for competitive or advanced freedivers. This leaves wetsuits with a nylon exterior which are more durable for women using it for recreational freediving, a good training wetsuit that should last several years and a good choice for exploring reefs.
While the following list is not exhaustive it provides an indication of the main business or suppliers of wetusits that can be used for freediving:
Epsealon Wetsuits
Finally, top of the range wetsuits for wetsuits for both the pool and tropical waters in female sizes without the hefty price tage. Without doubt, these are the best pool freediving/tropical waters wetsuits for their purpose, features and price in Australia. These are hoodless 2mm neoprene freediving wetsuits so obviously better for warmer temperatures and pool training. We liked these wetsuits so much we now sell them throughout Australia. They come in two varieties. The Epsealon Dynamic (https://freedivinggoldcoast.com.au/product/womens-freediving-training-wetsuit/) is considered a pool training wetsuit ($299) while the Epsealon Abyss (https://freedivinggoldcoast.com.au/product/womens-freediving-competition-wetsuit/) at $395 is a competition or performance wetsuit.
Torelli Wetsuits
Cressi Women’s Apnea Wetsuits
Cressi Triton Wetsuits
The Cressi Triton is probably the top of the range non-custom made female freediving wetsuit. It comes in two versions for women: 1.5mm thick or 3.5mm thick neoprene. The 1.5mm retails for around $389 while the 3.5mm thick neoprene wetsuit retails for $530. As Cressi states it has a “Smooth exterior finish and Glide Skin waterproof treatment for exceptional hydrodynamics”. As such this wetsuit is more of a high end performance wetsuit with the 1.5mm more suitable for the pool while the 3.5mm is a good ocean wetsuit. The main suppier of this wetsuit in Australia is Marine Deals (https://www.marine-deals.com.au/triathlon-wetsuit/cressi-triton-womens-one-piece-wetsuit-1-5mm). This is a very large New Zealand company attempting to dominate sales in the marine industry to Australia and New Zealand and looking at their prices we suspect they will gain more traction in the freediving market in the future. We note that there is a 17 to 27 day delay in orders so clearly they are a distribution company and they do not keep much inventory, if any.
Beuchat Athena Wetsuits
Volare Triathlon Wetsuits
Divestock
Freediver Shop
Freediver Shop (https://www.freedivershop.com/) is another one of those internet based companies that want to try to sell everything. They definitely have a lot of freediving gear but when it comes to female freediving wetsuits nothing is listed. However, you can order tailor made wetsuits in the order of $500 (but add more for postage). I suspect they then forward the order to Elios (https://www.eliossub.com/index.php/en/) who is one of the world’s largest custom makers of wetsuits based in Italy. Once you start to look at custom made wetsuits you are also starting to look at high performance wetsuits for competition freediving.
We hope this post helps you in finding the best female wetsuit for your recreational freediving needs. If you find a good female freediving wetsuit that is not listed here please drop us a line and we will update this post with your recommendations.