Can A Triathlon Brand Design A Better Wetsuit?

“Tofino’s water temperature is cold compared to more tropical surfing destinations,” ChatGPT told me as I was researching weather facts.

“So, wearing a 4/3 mm of 5/4 mm wetsuit, along with boots, gloves, and a hood is essential for surfers and swimmers,” Chat continued.

Lest we allow a Large Language Model (LLM) to dictate our neoprene usage, Stab sought to discover the best wetsuits for 2025 by taking 13 different leotards to the 49-degree (F, or 9C) waters of Tofino, Canada. The catch? In order to truly put these wetsuits (and our employees) to the torture test, we required each wetsuit company to send us their 3/2s, and not the 4/3s or 5/4s that A.I. recommends.

You can watch Stab’s Best Wetsuits Of 2025 here.

But, it’s hard to give 13 different wetsuits proper attention in one 33-minute video. So, we promised Orca we’d write this little rundown on their Tango wetsuit — their affordable daily-driver suit that was featured in Best Wetsuits of 2025. If you want to read up on their ultra-premium, state-of-the-art, and, subsequently, expensive suit — the Kabuki — you can read our review on it here.

Objective Stats:

Orca has been in the wetsuit game for 30 years. However, for the vast majority of those years, Orca has focused on becoming the premiere brand for triathletes. You might’ve even seen that Orca logo on the chests of some goggle-and-swim-cap-wearing folks huffing and puffing their way up a beach at some point.

That means, Orca has arguably put more work into designing suits that are made to be exercised and stretched in than any other brand.

The Tango is their most accessible foray into surfing — coming in at a fair $379 USD, it’s on par with or cheaper than other 3/2s on the market. However, you can also get the Tango in a 4/3 ($429) or 5/4 ($549). You can even slap a hood on the 5/4 for an extra $100.

The suit is also 100% made with Yamamoto neoprene — you know, that notoriously stretchy, warm, supple rubber mined from the mystical Mount Kurohime in Japan.

The Tango has Smoothskin wrists and neck, a Fast Dry inner lining to make second-sessions less miserable, and special Duraskin fabric to stand the test of father time.

Subjective Pros, Cons, & Tips (After Testing The Suit Ourselves):

Pros:

• The price of the suit is cheaper than most premium Yamamoto suits on the market.
• The suit is incredibly warm and lets almost no water in at all, due to the snug wrist and neck fitting.
• The thing dries quicker than a pigeon dump on a sunny day.
• While feeling soft, it also feel sturdy and durable — making the price point even fairer.

Cons:

• Due to the snug wrists and neck, the suit can feel tight at times and is tougher to get on than other suits. Let’s not forget that slim, cycling, cigarette-smoking Europeans made this suit — not microplastic-infused, Big Mac-devouring giants like ourselves here in America.
• If you’re a grom or a tad slimmer, this will probably the best-fitting suit you’ve ever worn.

You can suss out the Tango for yourself here.

All that being said, let’s finish off this quick review with a rallying word from ChatGPT who would like to plug Tofino’s tourism merit…

“Despite the chill, Tofino’s consistent surf and stunning scenery make it a year-round destination for water activities!”