What Size Wetsuit Do I Need?

How Should a Wetsuit Fit?

A wetsuit should fit like a second skin. The goal is a perfect-fitting wetsuit that feels tight but not restrictive, creating a close body fit with your skin. A proper wetsuit fit ensures minimal excess material and no gaps around the arms, shoulders, lower back, or behind the knees.

If there is too much excess material or excess neoprene, it can lead to water flushing, increased heat loss, and reduced ability to stay warm in cold water. A perfect fit allows the suit to act as a thin layer that traps body heat, delivering effective thermal insulation whilst providing comfort for all water sports.

Check the Lower Back

A key sign of the right wetsuit size is minimal excess material around the lower back. The body of the suit should sit close, helping to keep your core warm and maintain circulation.

A well-fitted full wetsuit or full-length wetsuit supports keeping warm, especially in a winter wetsuit, where important factors like insulation and fit are critical.

High on Your Neck

The neck should sit high and snug to prevent water flushing. A proper seal here is one of the most important factors in maintaining warmth.

Your wetsuit should not pull excessively on the shoulders or restrict movement, but it should still feel tight enough to prevent cold water from entering.

Length

The length of your wetsuit is one of the most important measurements. The torso, arms, and legs should align correctly with your body, ensuring no bunching or pulling.

This is especially important in a winter wetsuit, where pairing with wetsuit boots and gloves requires the suit to seal properly at the wrists and ankles to help you stay warm.

In-Between Sizes

Modern brands like Rip Curl offer a wide wetsuit size guide with different sizes, including medium, tall, and short options.

If you fall between two sizes, consider your weight, chest, and waist measurements carefully and remember that wetsuits will stretch by up to 5-10% after a few uses, so it's better to have a slight snug fit rather that a slightly loose fit.

Brand Sizing

Each brand’s wetsuit size chart can vary slightly, so always check their size guide. A size wetsuit in one brand may differ in another depending on cut, stretch, and panel design.

Comparing your chest measurements, waist, and overall measurements is one of the most important factors when choosing the right size.

How Tight Should a Wetsuit Be?

Ultimately, wetsuits should feel relatively tight and fit snuggly to your skin – there should be no pockets of air or wrinkles when you put one on. However, they shouldn’t be so tight as to limit your range of motion or dig in uncomfortably. 

Wetsuits work by trapping a layer of water between your body and the suit. This layer of water is warmed by your body heat, preventing you from losing heat while you’re submerged in water and helping you maintain a warmer body temperature. 

If your wetsuit isn’t tight enough, you may find that it cannot properly do its job to keep you warm. When your wetsuit fits more loosely and has gaps around your wrists, ankles or neck, that crucial layer of water won’t become trapped between your skin and the wetsuit. Instead, cold water will constantly flush through your suit, preventing this warming layer from forming. 

To find out more about how wetsuits keep you warm and how their efficiency can depend on whether they’re a proper fit, check out our guide on how a wetsuit works.

Does Wetsuit Thickness Affect Sizing?

Wetsuit thickness does not usually change your wetsuit size, but a thicker winter wetsuit may feel tighter than a summer suit.

Thicker neoprene is designed for cold water, improving insulation and reducing heat loss, while thinner suits or shorty wetsuits are better suited to warmer conditions.

What Size Wetsuit Should I Buy?

If you’re completely new to buying a wetsuit, the best place to start is with your current dress size for clothing. Check with the brand to see if your measurements compare to their size guidelines. Choosing the right size wetsuit starts with your important measurements:

Many customers often ask if they should go up or down a size from their dress size. This only applies if you have compared your measurement to those provided by the wetsuit brand; choose your size based on that.

How Do You Measure a Wetsuit?

To measure the length of a wetsuit before trying it on, you can hold it to the back of the wearer and check that the length reaches from the shoulders to the ankles.

If you don’t have the wetsuit at hand, refer to the brand’s guidelines and compare your measurements.

Wetsuit Size Guide – Women

For women, a wetsuit size guide typically aligns closely with clothing size, but body shape matters. If your top and bottom halves differ, choose the larger size for a better body fit.

A new wetsuit may feel more restrictive at first, especially around the neck, but this will ease once wet. This snug fit is essential to prevent water flushing and help you stay warm.

For added comfort, some surfers choose to wear a rash vest underneath or a lightweight rash vest, adding a soft, thin layer against the skin.

Tall and Short Womens Wetsuits

If you are either tall or short, then we have sizes made to fit you. Another thing that a lot of women say is that a wetsuit can feel too tight around the neck. However, fear not, as this will loosen once in the water - a new wetsuit will always feel more restrictive until you are in the water.

It is worth bearing in mind that it does need to be reasonably tight around the neck to stop any water flushing through the wetsuit and making you cold. If you are in any doubt, then please feel free to call us for helpful advice.

Women’s Wetsuit Size Chart

Use this chart if buying women's surf, swim or watersports wetsuits. 

Wetsuit Size Guide – Men

The most important part of wetsuit sizing for men is the waist and chest. Perfecting these measurements will ensure you stay warm.

For men, a common complaint can be tightness in the arms and legs. However, after the first few times of using the suit, the material will give a little in these areas, and this feeling will go.

If the body fit is great and you have a little bit of material under the arms, it’s not really an issue, as the fit above your bum is where it needs to work correctly.

If you are tall or short, we have just the wetsuits for you, as the brands we stock all make these sizes.

Men’s Wetsuit Size Chart

Use this chart if buying men’s surf, swim or watersports wetsuits. If between sizes, choose based on chest and weight first.

Wetsuit Size Guide – Children

If you’re a parent, you will understand the expense of changing your kid’s wetsuit every six months if they are going through a growth spurt!

However, it is still a mistake to buy a wetsuit for your child that’s far too big. It will be a waste of money as they will still get cold.

If you are going to buy a wetsuit that is a little bit bigger for them to grow into, ensure that there isn’t too much excess material in the torso region, as that is where the water will sit, and they will get cold quickly.

In terms of sizing, the most important factors are the waist and chest measurements, as these two points will ensure they stay warm. It does not matter too much if it is too long on the arms and legs, as this has no additional warmth properties.

If they are much taller than the size guide shows, ideally, you want to choose the next size up, providing it is not a massive leap around the chest and kidneys.

Childrens Wetsuit Size Chart

Use this chart if buying kids surf, swim or watersports wetsuits. 

Wetsuit Size Guide – Plus-Size

Our plus-size wetsuit range comes in a variety of unisex suit options, this means our fitting guide for plus-sized suits is based on actual measurements, not dress size. 

Tips For Plus-Size Wetsuit Sizing 

When working out which size wetsuit you will need there are a few simple tips that can help: 

• Chest and height are the key measurements to determining your wetsuit size. Start by measuring the chest at the widest point, and ensure the tape is close to the body. For length, it’s fine for the wetsuit to be a little longer than your measurements. 
• The wetsuit should be tight around the neck, wrists, ankles and lower back. For women, it is important to find a wetsuit that follows the arch of the back. 
• Always check the measurements on the wetsuit brands’ sites. Each brand has it’s own size guide, so it’s likely different brands will have different measurements. 
• If you are between sizes or are a different size on the bottom or top, it is recommended to go with the larger of the two sizes. 

Chest and height are the key measurements to determining your wetsuit size. Start by measuring the chest at the widest point, and ensure the tape is close to the body. For length, it’s fine for the wetsuit to be a little longer than your measurements.

For more helpful advice, check out our video below