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Best Wetsuits for Spearfishing
- Curtis Tredway
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Choosing the Best Wetsuit for Spearfishing Featuring Cressi Tokugawa, Fader Wetsuit & Cressi Tracina (Top + Bottom)
If you spearfish regularly, your wetsuit is way more than “just” something to keep you warm. It’s your second skin and, honestly, the difference between loving a session and shivering your way back to shore.
At Deep Sensations Freediving we spend a lot of time in the water. We have tried just about every brand and model under the sun, and there are three suits we keep coming back to for spearfishing:
Below, we’ll break down what actually matters in a spearfishing wetsuit, then look at who each of these suits is best for.
What to Look For in a Spearfishing Wetsuit
Before we get into the specific suits, here’s what really matters when you’re choosing a spearfishing wetsuit:
1. Thickness & Water Temperature
As a rough guide for Australian conditions:
2 mm – Tropics, summer, or high-activity diving in warmer water
3–3.5 mm – Great “all-rounder” for much of Australia
5 mm – Cooler months, deeper / longer dives, or if you feel the cold
The aim is to stay warm enough that you can relax and hunt without burning energy just keeping your body temperature up.
2. Open-Cell vs Lined Neoprene
Open-cell inside: Sticks to your skin (you’ll need lube to get it on), creates a great seal and is seriously warm. This is the standard for serious freedivers and spearos.
Lined neoprene inside: Easier to put on, slightly less warm and flexible, but more durable and beginner-friendly.
3. Cut, Flexibility & Comfort
Spearfishing involves:
Long surface swims
Repeated duck dives
Twisting through reef and weed
Loading the gun against your chest or thigh
A good spearfishing suit is cut anatomically to fit the body in a slightly curved “diving” position, and uses flexible neoprene so you’re not fighting your suit every time you move.
4. Camouflage
Modern spearfishing camo isn’t just about looking cool in photos.
Tokugawa & Tracina use digital / photographic patterns designed to blend you into different water colours and seabeds, from blue pelagic water to darker reefy ground.
Fader uses an adaptive camouflage and contrast-gradient pattern specifically designed to reduce your visibility to predators like sharks, based on how mid-water fish naturally blend into their environment.
5. Extras That Actually Matter
Chest loading pad
Reinforced knees and elbows
Smoothskin seals on face, wrists and ankles
Two-piece design (jacket + high-waist pants) for better warmth and fit
All three suits below tick most of those boxes, in slightly different ways.
Cressi Tokugawa – The All-Round Spearfishing Workhorse
The Cressi Tokugawa range was designed in collaboration with Cressi Australia specifically for our local waters.
You’ll see it in a couple of configurations (one-piece steamer and two-piece open-cell), but the key features are similar across the line:
Thickness options: 2 mm and ~3–3.5 mm, depending on the model, great for most of Australia outside the true winter chill.
Camouflage: Blue camo specifically designed for Australian conditions, blending from tropical blue Queensland water to greener southern states.
Cut & feel: Anatomical freediving/spearfishing pattern that fits the body in a natural diving position, giving good range of motion.
Construction: Available in both lined and open-cell versions depending on the exact Tokugawa model (XTR, Pro, 1-piece steamer etc.), with solid durability for regular diving.
Who it’s best for
Spearos who want one wetsuit to do almost everything
Divers who split time between shore-based reef hunting and boat-based blue-water trips
Freedivers who also want a suit that works for pool training and snorkelling, not just spearing
If you’re newer to spearfishing and want a quality suit you won’t “grow out of” quickly, the Tokugawa is a very safe place to start.
Fader Wetsuit – Techy Camo & Shark-Awareness
Fader Wetsuits are a bit different. Their whole thing is adaptive camouflage and contrast-gradient patterns designed to reduce your visibility to sharks and help you blend into changing light conditions in the water column.
Key features you’ll generally see across the range:
Adaptive Camouflage System
Patterns inspired by mid-water baitfish, designed to break up your outline and help you blend as light changes around you.
Contrast gradient tech
Helps your suit transition between lighter surface water and darker depths, rather than being a flat, obvious block of colour.
Neoprene quality
Fader suits use high-quality limestone-based neoprene (including Yamamoto 39 in some products) for better flexibility and insulation.
Design focusBuilt with serious freedivers and spearos in mind, prioritising fit, movement and performance.
Fader’s aim is coexistence with sharks rather than harming them, using their patterning to make you less obvious in the water
Who it’s best for
Spearos who spend a lot of time in mid-water, pelagic environments
Divers who are particularly shark-aware and like the idea of tech-driven camouflage
Spearos who want a premium, high-performance suit with a bit of a point of difference
If you geek out on gear and like knowing the why behind the design, a Fader suit will be right up your alley.
Cressi Tracina (Top + Bottom) – Warmth & Stealth for Longer Missions
The Cressi Tracina is a classic two-piece spearfishing wetsuit: hooded jacket + high-waisted pants, in 3.5 mm or 5 mm open-cell neoprene.
What makes it stand out:
Serious warmth for the thickness
The open-cell interior creates a strong seal against the skin, minimising water movement through the suit. This makes the Tracina one of the warmest suits in its class.
Two-piece design
Jacket + high-waisted pants means you get doubled neoprene around the core and a bit more flexibility with sizing and torso length.
Dark “Spectre” camo pattern
The camouflage is based on high-resolution images of the ocean floor, designed to meld you into darker reef and weed zones and break up your outline to
Reinforcements where you need them
Smoothskin seals on hood, wrists, waist and ankles for better warmth, plus reinforced Powertex areas on elbows, knees and waist for durability.
There’s also a 5 mm version built specifically for cooler Australian waters, using high-stretch neoprene that balances flexibility with warmth.
Who it’s best for
Spearos who feel the cold or dive through winter
Shore divers who spend lots of time sitting still on the bottom waiting for fish to come in
Hunters working darker reef, kelp and rubble grounds where the Tracina camo really shines
If most of your diving is Sydney south in winter, Vic, SA or Tassie, a Tracina top + bottom should be on your radar.
So… Which Wetsuit Is “Best” for Spearfishing?
Short answer: it depends on where and how you dive.
Mostly East Coast, mixed conditions, want one suit to do it all?→ Go Cressi Tokugawa as your reliable all-rounder.
Love pelagics, mid-water hunting and are pretty shark-aware?→ Look seriously at a Fader Wetsuit for the adaptive camouflage and high-end neoprene.
Colder water, long bottom times on reef or kelp, or winter diving?→ The Cressi Tracina (top + bottom) in 3.5 or 5 mm will keep you warm and hidden.
If you’re building a long-term quiver, there’s a world where you eventually own two of the three: a lighter Tokugawa or Fader for warmer days and blue water, plus a Tracina setup for winter and deeper reef missions.
Wetsuit Care Tips to Make It Last
No matter which suit you choose:
Rinse in fresh water after every dive
Dry in the shade, inside-out first, then outside-out
Never leave it baking in a hot car or in direct sun
Use proper wetsuit lube for open-cell suits
Avoid sitting on barnacles, rough concrete and boat decks in just your knees
Look after it, and a good spearfishing wetsuit will easily last you seasons of diving.
Want Help Choosing the Right Suit?
If you’re not sure which wetsuit is right for your diving style, hit us up at Deep Sensations Freediving.
Book a Freediving or Spearfishing Course and we’ll run you through suit selection, weighting and hunting technique in person.
Chat to us about your local conditions, body type and experience, and we’ll point you toward the right thickness and model for what you’re actually doing in the water.
The right wetsuit won’t magically make you a better hunter, but it will keep you warmer, stealthier and more relaxed…and that’s where the good diving starts.
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