the suit everyone wants too soon

The Purchase That Feels
Right, And Often Isn’t

The longer you dive, the further and deeper you want to go — and sooner or later your attention turns to owning your own gear. A scuba diving suit is usually the first thing divers want to call theirs. It is the piece you wear against your skin, the one that decides whether an hour underwater feels like freedom or like endurance.

Then you start shopping, and the confidence evaporates. Wet or dry? Three millimetres or seven? Off-the-rack or custom? British, American, Italian or Korean? There are so many options that most divers either freeze, or buy the wrong thing and quietly regret it a season later. Buy a scuba diving suit without understanding these five points and you are, plainly, wasting money — money that could have taken you to another dive site instead.

After twenty-six years of heading to the sea almost every day, here is how we at NB Divers walk a diver through the decision, in the order that actually matters.

start with the water, not the wetsuit

Question One:
What Water Will You Dive?

Every good suit decision starts with temperature, not price tags. Ask yourself honestly where you will spend most of your dives, because the answer points straight to the suit.

Diving mainly in Korea. Our seas average below 20°C year-round, and thermoclines can drop the temperature sharply mid-dive. If you dive Korea’s East or South coast regularly, a drysuit is the sensible choice — it keeps you warm and protected, and it buys you time if you are ever caught at the surface waiting to be found.

Living on Jeju. Call it a cool sea rather than a cold one: around 15°C in winter, up to 30°C at the height of summer. A 5–7mm neoprene wetsuit covers most of the year, though long dives or a cold-sensitive body still tip the scales toward a drysuit.

Only tropical water. If you fly to Southeast Asia once or twice a year and never dive at home, a 3–5mm wetsuit is plenty — and honestly, you may be better off renting one at your destination than owning it. And no, warm water does not mean no suit: bare skin meets jellyfish stings and coral cuts that range from burning pain to genuinely dangerous, so a living sea always calls for protection.

wet or dry

Question Two:
Wetsuit Or Drysuit?

A wetsuit lets a thin layer of water in and warms it with your body heat. It is light, easy to move in and affordable — ideal for warmer water, less so once the temperature drops. A drysuit seals water out entirely and insulates with a layer of air. It is warmer and, once you are used to it, more comfortable for long or cold dives, at the cost of a higher price and a little more maintenance.

The simple rule: whenever the water is colder than your body, lean drysuit. It is built for warmth and protection, and it keeps you viable far longer in the rare event something goes wrong. Worried it costs too much? Anything you do not yet value feels expensive at any price. Until a suit earns its worth to you, rent one — NB Divers is the only centre in Korea that rents drysuits even for your own dive trips, so you can feel the difference before you commit.

your body, your taste, a second opinion

Questions Three & Four:
Fit, And Who You Ask

A scuba diving suit is not ordinary clothing. Looked after well, it lasts for years, so buy the one you genuinely love. Weigh freedom of movement, warmth, price and design, and choose what fits your body properly — if you are not a standard cut, a made-to-measure suit is worth every won. If it is off-the-rack, never buy one you have not worn first.

And because the variables pile up quickly — body shape, style, water, budget — get a second opinion from a dive professional before you spend. Our instructors have worn a huge range of gear over twenty-six years, in conditions from the Arctic to the Antarctic. That kind of experience turns a guessing game into a short conversation.

Better still, if you are training with us you can decide in the water. An instructor joins you in the pool and the sea, shows you how each suit puts on and takes off, and explains what you are actually feeling. While you train with NB Divers, gear is available to rent, so you can try a suit for real before you ever own one.

after you buy

Question Five:
Can You Care For It?

A suit is an expensive tool used in the raw environment of the open sea, so it collects small damage over time and rewards steady maintenance. Drysuits, BCDs and regulators need regular servicing — and if you are planning deep technical dives after a service, always test the gear on a shallow dive first to confirm everything is sound before you trust it at depth.

Not everyone enjoys meticulous upkeep, and that is fine. If fussing over gear is not for you, renting and diving within the recreational range is a perfectly good way to enjoy the sport without owning a thing. When you do want your own, a few honest reference points help:

• Fourth Element — United Kingdom, premium build and materials (fourthelement.kr)
• Scubapro — United States, strong all-round value (scubapro.co.kr)
• Mares — Italy, budget-friendly (mares.co.kr)
• AquaZ — Korea, made-to-measure available (badagang.com)

Whichever you lean toward, we would rather save you from double-buying than sell you the most expensive option. Spend less on gear you do not need, and put the difference toward more places to dive.

the nb divers way

Learn Right,
Enjoy Forever

For twenty-six years NB Divers has built divers carefully, in small groups, on the belief that diving is our culture — not a one-off sale. We are not for everyone, only for you: the diver who would rather try a suit in the water than gamble a month’s pay on a guess. We rent almost every piece of scuba equipment, drysuits included, so you never have to buy your way into the sport.

Our dive professionals communicate in English, as well as Korean and Japanese — so if you are an expat in Seoul weighing your first suit, you can ask every question in plain English before you spend. When you are ready to dive it, Korea’s East Sea coast is where it earns its keep, and when you want to go further we will help you level up properly.