Dive N' Surf History

Dive N Surf's Thermocline wetsuit was the first commercial neoprene wetsuit. With this “neoprene” material, Bill and Bob Meistrell fashioned the first practical wetsuits. Their new innovation became known around the world as “The Body Glove.”

The Original Wave

Bill and Bob each bought one third of the local sports shop Dive N' Surf, owned then by surfboard shaper Hap Jacobs and dive entrepreneur Bev Morgan. Bill and Bob were raised in Boonville, Missouri and moved to Manhattan Beach, CA in 1944. They became interested in diving & surfing, and became Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Later they would invent the first wetsuit to extend the season for every watermen in the cold winter waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Bill & Bob Meistrell

The ORiginal Wetsuit

In 1953, Bill Meistrell went to Bedford, Virginia where he found the insulation used in the back of refrigerators, neoprene, and the first practical and commerical wetsuit was born. The Meistrells designed and tailored their own brand of wetsuits. In the beginning the wetsuits were named the Dive N' Surf Thermocline. Shortly after that Body Glove was launched to support their full line of wetsuits.