There aren't many places to surf that are as cold or hardcore as the New Zealand South Island during winter! Luckily, O’Neill was born in one of those places, Santa Cruz in Northern California, and cold water surf is what we live for! South Island winter means you need a proper 4/3mm or 5/4mm suit, booties, hood and gloves to maximise your time in the water.

Our Girls Bahia 4/3mmis a solid, warm and comfy suit thanks to it's glued and blindstitched seams (GBS), MeshSkin chest/back panels and SuperGrill liner.

You can also look to some of the boys/unisex suits for further options.. for kids the only difference between boys and girls suits is the colour, the fits are the same. The Defender 4/3, is the same construction as the Bahia series, so you may consider Defender suits for alternate colourways and chest zip options.

If you are surfing for hours on end or early mornings during the harshest parts of winter, you may prefer a 5/4mm steamer. Currently, we do not offer any 5/4mm steamers for kids.

Our top pick for separate hoods is the Psycho 3mm Hood, and for booties, our first choice would be the Mutant 3mm ST Boot. Our recommended glove is the Psychotech 1.5mm Glove.

It just depends on what’s most important to you - warmth / flexibility / price.

Check out the autumn/spring recommendations for further suggestionsif you feel the cold less or you are leaning towards warmer conditions.