Spring Suits
Spring Suits: Two Millimeters of Optimism
Spring suits are for the good months. Two millimeters of stretch for water from 18 to 22°C: the Mediterranean from June to October, the Canaries most of the year, Biscay in the brief window when boardshorts are a dare and a full suit is a sauna.
Short arms, short legs, long sessions. The Vissla spring suit collection covers shorties and long sleeve springs in the same high stretch neoprene as the full range, minus the bulk you do not need. If even two millimeters feels like commitment, there are wetsuit tops.
When a Spring Suit Is the Right Call
The spring suit lives in the 18 to 22°C band. In European terms that is the Mediterranean all summer, the Canary Islands for much of the year, southern Portugal and the Basque coast at the height of August, and any windless September morning when the Atlantic forgets itself. Warm enough that a full suit cooks you, cool enough that two hours in boardshorts ends in shivering and bad surfing. The 2mm spring suit is the answer to a question every European surfer asks each summer.
Shorty or Long Sleeve
The classic shorty, short arms and short legs, gives maximum freedom and minimum tan interference. The long sleeve spring adds warmth through the arms and shoulders for cooler mornings, onshore afternoons, and surfers who run cold. Long sleeve springs also double as paddle protection on long Mediterranean point days. Both run the same high stretch Vissla neoprene, so neither fights your paddling.
The Honest Sizing Note
A spring suit should fit like a full suit: snug, sealed at the openings, no bagging at the lower back. Loose rubber pumps water and defeats the purpose. If you are between sizes, size down. And when October arrives and the water slides under 18°C, the 3/2 full suits are one collection over. Summer is short. Surf all of it.
