YES; you need a wetsuit to river surf in metro-Denver and elsewhere. NO; a dry suit is not a good choice! NO; a dive wetsuit is not a good choice. NO; a cheap wetsuit is not a good choice. NO; wetsuits don’t last forever. NO; don’t underestimate hypothermia.
River surfing in the S. Platte sees water temperatures swing widely from the AM to the PM by 10 to 20 degrees at times. Even in the hottest days, the river is as cold as the low 60’s in the morning and then shoots up to the mid 70’s in the afternoon/evening. Air temps and windchill factors play a critical roll as well in how cold you will get and how quickly.
Rule of thumb, warmer is better! Err on the side of a thicker wetsuit.
First, dry suits are for kayaking and Stand Up Paddle boarding; and dry suits are expensive. Dry suits are NOT made to surf, they are made to stay warm while staying above the water while on a river. Look at ocean surfing, people do not wear dry suits in even the coldest surf breaks. Dry suits are not meant for consistent swims in the river. Dry suits while river surfing are eventually going to get holes and and will leak into your dry clothes under the dry suit. Dry suits are just a bad option for river surfing!
Dive suits are not meant for dynamic movement of arms and legs while surfing. Dive suits with zips in all the wrong places are also not made for swift moving water and will flush the wetsuit with cold water. Sure you might find a cheap dive wetsuit, but it will actually be as warm as the next thickness down or more. Skip the dive wetsuits for river surfing, even if you are trying to layer up wetsuits!!!!
Cheap wetsuits, are typically going to only provide the warmth of a thinner wetsuit. For example, a cheaply made 4/3mm wetsuit will actually be equivalent to a 3/2mm. Luckily most 4/3mm and 5/6mm wetsuits are quality built and unfortunately not cheap. But a shitty cheap 3/2 wetsuit often provides very little warmth. Suggestion, stick with a quality 4/3 river surfing even in the hot summer days.
Wetsuits in the river do not last as long as they do in ocean surfing. Obviously rocks are the main culprit. And in reality a good wetsuit starts to develop holes and worn out leak spots over time of multiple putting the wetsuits on and taking them off. And speaking of taking your wetsuit off, as soon as you are done surfing, get that wetsuit off of you because as the body cools and the wetsuit starts to dry, your body warmth is actually pulled away from you instead of trapped in with you when your are surfing.
Lastly, keep an eye out for hypothermia. If your body starts to shake, get out of the lineup, take the wetsuit off, and consider calling it a day. When your body starts telling you the core is so cold that you need to shiver, things are going downhill fast. Your physical abilities to surf diminish and your mind starts to be unable to make proper split-decisions or worse. Check out this link to hypothermia https://www.potomacriversafetycommittee.org/cold-water-immersion-windchill-hypothermia/
Here are some recommendations for wetsuit thickness for water temps while river surfing. But a good choice to surf all summer in the S. Platte is a 4/3 wetsuit and 3mm booties.
| Temperature | Thickness | Type & Booties/Gloves |
| 42°F or lower | 6/5 mm – 6/5/4 mm | Hooded Full Wetsuit (6mm Booties/Mitts) |
| 43-52°F | 5/4 mm – 5/4/3 mm | Hooded Full Wetsuit (6mm Booties/Mitts) |
| 52-58°F | 4/3 mm – 5/4/3 mm | Hooded Full Wetsuit (3-6mm Booties/3mm Gloves) |
| 58-63°F | 3/2 mm – 4/3 mm | Full Wetsuit (quality/expensive 3/2 & 3mm Booties) |
| 62-68°F | 3/2 mm | Full Wetsuit (quality/expensive 3/2 & 3mm Booties) |
| 65-75°F | 3/2 mm – 2/1 mm | Inexpensive 3/2 Full Suit, Quality Shorty, Long John when warmer (3mm Booties) |
| 75°F & up | – | Boardshorts/Rashguard/(3mm Booties) |
Subscribe to The Denver Surf Report for information like what wetsuit to use; and, pre-release heads up for Chatfield Dam before hitting the gauge.
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I would add that for many rivers , there is a significant difference between morning water temp (colder) compared to afternoon
, the temperature swings are much bigger than on the ocean