Good choice. I'm a rip curl guy. And obviously it's colder up my way. But i went from a 5/4 to a 4.5/3.5 and it was awesome. I did wear the 5/4 on those seriously cold days when real feel its around 0 degrees. But on most winter days i was still plenty warm with WAY more flexibility. The amount of warmth lost from the 5/4 was noticeable but not drastic. The flexibility gained was through the roof.
i have that suit - does dry quick-ish, i also have the oneill psychotech for the winter and I think that is the better of the 2 - both performance and drying