Best Freediving Wetsuit in 2026: Open-Cell, Thickness & Fit Guide

Freediving wetsuits are not scuba suits and not surf suits. They are built around one principle: insulate with as little restriction to breathing and chest expansion as possible. Getting this right affects comfort, session length and how much energy you spend staying warm. A diver who is shivering is burning extra energy, and with it extra oxygen.

Open-cell neoprene

Open-cell has a raw, unlined interior. When you put it on, the cellular neoprene grips your skin directly and traps only a very thin water layer for your body to heat. Because the contact is direct, less water flushes in and out as you descend and ascend, and flushing is what makes a loose or lined suit feel cold over repeated dives. The two-pieces in this roundup from SEAC, Cressi, Salvimar and Mares are all open cell on the inside. The freediving wetsuit thickness guide covers which thickness suits which water temperature.

Lined and closed-cell neoprene

Lined suits have a fabric interior, usually nylon or a plush jersey, or a smooth-skin closed-cell surface. They go on dry without lubricant, the inner surface does not tear the way raw open cell does, and they are usually cheaper. In warm tropical water a lined suit is mainly sun and scrape protection, so the insulation difference matters less; in cooler water, an open-cell interior is the standard for freediving suits.

The tradeoff

Open-cell suits are fragile. The raw interior tears if you grab it with fingernails, snags on a watch or a ring, and abrades if you sit on rough surfaces. They also cannot be pulled on dry: you need soapy water, diluted conditioner or a commercial lubricant every single time. The trade is skin contact and stretch in exchange for a few extra minutes of dressing.

Buy for the average water temperature of your season, not the warmest day. Water at depth is also colder than at the surface: below a thermocline the temperature can drop several degrees within a few metres, and you spend the coldest part of every dive at the bottom. The bands below match the site's thickness guide and assume open-cell neoprene.

Manufacturers draw the lines in slightly different places: Molchanovs suggests its open-cell suits in 3mm for 24-27C, 5mm for 18-25C and 7mm for 18C and below. Cold tolerance varies between individuals, and a static session in which you barely move chills you faster than an active swim. If you routinely finish sessions shivering, move one band warmer. For low-temperature diving, read the guide to cold water freediving and the picks in best cold water freediving wetsuit.

The freediving standard is a two-piece suit: a high-waist trouser, sometimes called a long john or farmer john variant, plus a hooded jacket that pulls over the top with a crotch flap that fastens between the legs. The design exists for a specific reason, which is that it puts two layers of neoprene across the entire torso, the area you cannot move to generate warmth during a breath-hold.

The trouser waist sits high, usually just below the sternum, so the overlap zone runs from hip to chest. The jacket then covers that overlap and its crotch flap prevents the jacket riding up during finning. Because the interior of both pieces is open-cell, the two layers grip each other and the skin, and little water moves through the overlap.

One-piece suits, with a back or chest zip, are faster to don. The zip is a flush point, the torso stays single-layered, and the hood, if any, is separate, which leaves a gap at the neck. For warm-water recreational diving that matters less. For colder water or longer sessions, the two-piece layout keeps more neoprene over the core. Several brands cut separate women's versions of their two-piece suits, covered in the women's freediving wetsuit guide.

Two-piece, hooded jacket

Warmest, no neck flush, double core layer, the freediving default.

One-piece, back zip

Fast to don, cheaper, flushes at the zip and neck, warm water only.

Two-piece, separate hood

A compromise. Better than one-piece, worse than an attached hood.

Two-piece freediving jackets usually have the hood attached, as on the SEAC Snake, the Cressi Apnea and MAKO's open-cell suits. With an attached hood there is no neck opening for water to pump through as you kick, so the trapped layer stays where it is and stays warm.

A hood that covers the ears also keeps cold water off the ear canals, which makes a cold descent more comfortable.

• Look for a smooth-skin face seal, which grips wet skin without abrading it
• A small vent hole at the crown lets trapped air escape as you descend
• The hood should sit under the mask skirt, not over it, so the mask seals to skin
• The hood should seal around the face without squeezing the throat

A freediving wetsuit should be close-fitting. The reason is simple: every air gap between neoprene and skin is a pocket of water that has to be heated and that will flush out on the next descent. Open-cell interiors only work when they are in contact with skin.

The one exception is the chest. A suit that limits your full inhale is actively harmful, because it reduces the lung volume you start each dive with. Stand up in the suit, take the deepest breath you can, and if the neoprene stops you before your lungs do, the jacket is too small across the chest even if it fits elsewhere.

Measuring yourself

1. 01 —Measure in underwear, standing relaxed, with a soft tape held snug but not compressing
2. 02 —Take height and weight first, since most charts start there
3. 03 —Chest at the widest point, waist at the navel, hips at the widest point
4. 04 —Inseam from crotch to ankle, and arm length from shoulder point to wrist
5. 05 —Neck circumference, which decides whether the hood seal will work
6. 06 —Compare against the specific brand chart, never a generic one, because each brand cuts its own pattern

If two of your measurements land in different sizes, size to the chest, because that is the measurement that limits your inhale, or consider a custom suit. Custom open-cell suits are made to your measurements by specialist makers, and the price and lead time vary by maker, so get both in writing before you order. Brands that sell jackets and trousers separately, such as SEAC with the Snake, also let you buy a different size for each piece. For what a full setup costs, see the breakdown of freediving cost.

Some listings quote a neoprene grade. Yamamoto Corporation of Japan sells grades labelled CR #39, CR #40 and CR #45, and suits built from them often name the grade. Other brands use their own material names, such as SEAC's UltraStretch. A grade number is a material label, not a warmth rating, so compare suits on the documented details: thickness, inner lining, outer finish, hood and cut.

The outer finish changes how a suit behaves between dives. Smoothskin, sometimes written as smooth skin or glideskin, is a bare rubber outer surface that sheds water, so less water evaporates off the suit on a windy boat. It scratches more easily than fabric. A nylon-lined or printed fabric exterior, such as the camo print on the SEAC Snake, holds water on the surface but puts fabric rather than bare rubber against rock and boat decks.

Many open-cell suits are sold for spearfishing as well as freediving, which is why camouflage prints are common. Camo patterns are designed to break up the diver's outline; SEAC describes its own pattern as scales of colour that split the silhouette into separate spots. The SEAC Camo 5mm review covers SEAC's Snake, a typical example with a chest loading support and knee protectors.

If you dive line and depth rather than hunt, camo has no functional benefit and one drawback: the same pattern makes a diver harder for a safety diver or a boat to spot. A plain or high-visibility suit is the more practical choice for training. The Cressi Apnea 5mm review covers Cressi's two-piece freediving and spearfishing suit.

• Spearfishing features: chest loading pad or support, knee reinforcement, camo print
• Freediving features: plain or high-visibility finish, smoothskin outside on some suits
• A chest loading pad is extra material if you never load a speargun

The first open-cell suit you put on takes time. The technique matters because open cell tears under point loads such as fingernails, and donning is when your hands are working on the raw interior.

Mix a small amount of hair conditioner into water in a bucket or spray bottle, roughly a capful to a litre, and apply it generously to the inside of the suit. Baby shampoo works. Commercial wetsuit lubricants work. Dish soap and anything with degreasers do not, because they strip the neoprene over time.

1. 01 —Wet your body first, or at least the limbs, so nothing is dry when the neoprene meets it
2. 02 —Pour lubricant into each trouser leg and slosh it around until the interior is slick
3. 03 —Put socks on first, then feed each foot through so the cuff slides over the sock
4. 04 —Pull the trousers up in stages, smoothing the neoprene with flat palms rather than fingertips
5. 05 —Lubricate the jacket the same way
6. 06 —Feed both arms in, then the head through the hood, then pull the jacket down over the torso and fasten the crotch flap
7. 07 —Finally reach in and smooth out any wrinkles at the lower back and armpits

Neoprene wears faster without care. Salt crystals are abrasive, chlorine degrades neoprene, and UV light breaks down the foam.

1. 01 —Rinse in fresh cool water after every dive, inside and out, without detergent
2. 02 —Turn the suit inside out to dry first, since the open-cell interior holds the most water
3. 03 —Once the interior is dry, turn it back and dry the exterior in shade, never direct sun
4. 04 —Store on a wide-shouldered or padded hanger, or folded once over a thick bar, never on a thin wire hanger
5. 05 —Keep it out of a hot car boot, since heat and UV both degrade neoprene

Small tears are easy to repair. Neoprene cement, applied thinly to both faces of the tear, left tacky for a few minutes and then pressed together, holds well and stays flexible. Do not use superglue on open-cell, since it dries hard and creates a stiff patch that becomes the next tear line. Larger splits, especially along seams, are worth sending to a wetsuit repair shop, because a proper glued and taped seam repair costs far less than a new suit.

Prices change, so check current listings before you decide. These are US list prices published by the manufacturers in October 2026 for open-cell two-pieces from brands in this guide and the cold water roundup. SEAC, Salvimar and IST publish no US list price for the suits in this roundup.

If you are assembling a full kit rather than just a suit, the wetsuit interacts with your weighting, so budget for both together. The guide to beginner freediving gear sets out the full list, and how much weight for freediving explains how suit thickness changes the lead you carry.

Full product cards appear above with specifications, pros and cons. In summary:

Spearfishing and freediving in temperate water

SEAC Snake 5mm. Open-cell camo two-piece with a hooded jacket, in Man and Lady cuts.

Plain black two-piece in a choice of thicknesses

Cressi Apnea. Open cell, built-in hood, 3.5mm, 5mm or 7mm.

Cold water

Salvimar Spearfishing 101 7mm. Yamamoto 39 open cell, at the cost of extra lead.

Warm water, open cell

Mares Apnea Instinct 30. 3mm open cell with less buoyancy than 5mm; sold in Mares' European stores.

Warm water, goes on dry

IST WS826. Lined 3mm one-piece with a chest loading pad, built for warm-water spearfishing.

If you take one thing from this guide, make it the thickness decision. A well-built suit in the wrong thickness will leave you colder than a cheaper suit in the right one, and cold is what ends sessions.