What the heck is a drysuit anyway, why get certified?

For cold water diving (anything below 65F), things can get cold very fast when you're diving. SCUBA diving is a more or less slow swimming, relaxed activity, so typically you're not moving around a whole lot so that you can conserve air and not spook the critters. When I lived in Alaska I was wearing a thick wetsuit and holy cow did I get col! There were many nights after doing a night swim where I couldn't feel my fingers or toes (and this was with gloves, boots, and a 7mm wetsuit). I knew a long time ago, especially after wanting to live in Washington State at some point, that I'd have to get dry suit certified to get the most out of my cold water diving, I was tired of freezing my butt off and I wanted to see some new cool stuff.

As the name implies, drysuits keep you (for the most part) DRY. When you're in the water and your body is wet, heat leaves your body at least 25x faster than if you were to stay dry. Naturally and logically, keeping dry keeps you warm, especially when you can choose what undergarments you can wear. My ultimate goal was to convince my wife we need drysuits. After diving with the cuttlefish in Australia, the amazing octopus and critters of Sydney, and exploring the rich and diverse underwater life of Alaska, we both knew drysuit diving was our next step (she is the budget committee after all).

I have met a lot of divers who aren't certified, and that's totally fine, we wanted the option to rent drysuits down the road and I really believe in being as competent as diver as possible, so I was leaning towards taking the class. I am most certainly glad I did. We got certified through NAUI, whose curriculum I'm a big fan of. I can confidently say I can dive competently after this course and will be able to do so in a few months.

Who we dove with.

I had some anxiety about the class leading up to it as I've heard so many stories over the years about people suddenly getting caught upside down and floating away, or drysuits flooding with unfavorable consequences. This was all settled by our instructor- Lee, at YSS Dive in Hoodsport, Washington. After chatting via instagram with Mark (@PNW.diver) a well known local diver in the area, he recommended a few dive shops and YSS in Hoodsport worked for us. They even created a class on the weekend for us to fit our schedule!

The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable walking Mollie and I through our undergarments, drysuit types, and how to appropriately fit our cuffs and neck seals. They took a lot of the mystery out of dry-suit diving and made us feel super comfortable. Plus, if you take the class and buy through them you get a STEEP discount on some of their drysuits.

My favorite part about drysuit diving was that both Mollie and I really did stay warm! The water was 50 degrees. Your face and head still get wet, but the addition of a hood helps. My wife proclaimed she never wants to cold dive again without a drysuit (big win for me, music to my ears). We have a lot of cold water adventures planned in the future. Prior to this we would've been very chilly (leafy sea dragons, Australian Giant Cuttlefish, crab aggregation in Australia, diving Canada -the list goes on and on). We will likely buy our own drysuits down the road since we'd like to travel but for now we will rent as we go and this certification will help!

A successful class in the books! Eventhough our time in Washington is almost done, I feel very competent with drysuit diving and would have no problem diving again in a few months. We did two dives going over drysuit specific skills. Admittedly there's a bit more setup involved with drysuit diving, but the comfort level in cold water is 100% worth it! I can't get too excited though I'll be back in my wetsuit when in Alaska.

Where we stayed.

I have two big recommendations if you're staying in Hoodsport I really like:

1) The Glen Resort (Glen Ayr Resort)

2) Sunrise Resort and Motel

The Glen Ayr Resort was the first hotel we stayed, and if you call and let them know you're diving with or doing a course with YSS they will offer you a 10% discount on your stay. They have some facilities for scuba gear and storage. They also have a hot tub, the hotel is clean and pleasant to stay in and we'd absolutely stay again if given the chance!

The Sunrise Resort and Motel was a little more expensive but you get A LOT for what you pay for. We happened to get upgraded to their cottage they have on property and it was really impressive, and you can't beat the view! They're also building more facilities for changing rooms and SCUBA gear. What's excellent about both locations is you can dive right out their front door! Here are images from the Sunrise Motel and their cottage. I don't have pictures of their smaller rooms, but they're equally as nice.