The main feature of Lycra is sun protection. Often in Caribbean/tropical regions the sun is the limiting factor as to how long you can stay in the water. The solar radiation is enormous because it is additionally reflected by the water surface. In addition, sunscreens are a bit waterproof, but never to the extent that you would be protected for 3 hours. Therefore all Lycras have at least a UPF 30, if not even UPF 50.

The lycras have a relatively tight cut and most surfers wear the lycras in such a way that they do not wrinkle. Luckily, they're very stretchy, so they're still comfortable to wear. The advantage of the tight cut is that the Lycra hardly slips and sits properly even after adventurous wipeouts.

Especially as a surfer from Switzerland, one is dependent on optimal sun protection; That's why we also have Lycras in stock as long-sleeved models.

Surf shirts as a clothing category are relatively new. The material properties are similar to Lycra: Sun protection and quick-drying are the essential properties. In contrast to the lycras, the cut of the surf shirts is similar to that of a normal t-shirt. This has the advantage that you can practically fly on vacation with a single T-shirt. Because it looks like a normal T-shirt, you can confidently wear the same shirt in the bar, on the plane, hotel, restaurant or when driving a scooter, just as we keep on when surfing the web. Of course, the further cut takes a bit of getting used to when surfing. Because the shirt sticks to the wax on the board, but you can almost turn around your own axis in the shirt, paddling is a bit shaky at first. But you get used to it relatively quickly, so that in the end the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

However, for sports where you spend a lot of time in/under water, we only recommend short-sleeved shirts, paddling with a long-sleeved surf shirt can be much more rigorous because the sleeves fill with water.