AKR in September - high winds and diving...

[robint]

Is it safe to use Cactus Juice under/around the neoprene wetsuit? Also I got a bottle of Cutter Advanced spray after reading about it on some Honduras threads - is that stuff safe to use around neoprene? Thanks.

yes for the Cactus Juice, it is all natural.
no for anything with DEET in it. We only used our little spray bottle of Cutters at night after our last dive of the day in order to keep any mosquitos off of us.

 

[andrethediver]

Is 5mm suit too much for Roatan in September? It was just right in 82F water in Cozumel after 5 days of diving...

 

[DivingPanda]

Just for general information - how were the sand fleas at AKR?

When we were there last July, we put on the Cactus Juice in the morning before leaving our room and, most importantly, immediately after showering at the dock between dives, because they were definitely around the dock. The stuff does smell good!

The only time we used DEET was when we took the the canopy tour (zip lines).

 

[John_B]

Cutters is safe around neoprene, leather, rubber products, etc. I believe Cactus Juice is as well.

If you are going to do a lot of dives or go in the winter (or both!), a 5mm may be about right for some people. The only real disadvantage (once the weather cools) is that a 5mm will mean wearing more lead. But that's a pretty good tradeoff IMO if you tend to get chilled.

 

[Doc]

Is 5mm suit too much for Roatan in September? It was just right in 82F water in Cozumel after 5 days of diving...

So your real question is... and always should be in these matters... what will the water temp be in Roatan at that time of year?

The other factor to consider is the frequency of your diving. Diving 5 days is one thing, but do you intend on keeping up the same pace, whether frantic or maybe once-a-day?

It will likely be between 79 and 82 degrees.

Frequency of diving depends absolutely on which dive operation type you select. AKR will be no problem getting 4 dives a day. I'll bet that beats your Cozumel experience by a bit.

Some things to consider.

 

[andrethediver]

When we were there last July, we put on the Cactus Juice in the morning before leaving our room and, most importantly, immediately after showering at the dock between dives, because they were definitely around the dock.

Did you use the one with the sunblock or the spray repellent? Thanks.

 

[andrethediver]

If you are going to do a lot of dives or go in the winter (or both!), a 5mm may be about right for some people. The only real disadvantage (once the weather cools) is that a 5mm will mean wearing more lead. But that's a pretty good tradeoff IMO if you tend to get chilled.

Thanks. What's the water temperature like on the North Side in September? 3+ dives a day means lots of dives towards the end of the week...although I hear they limit your TBT at AKR...

 

[andrethediver]

So your real question is... and always should be in these matters... what will the water temp be in Roatan at that time of year?

The other factor to consider is the frequency of your diving. Diving 5 days is one thing, but do you intend on keeping up the same pace, whether frantic or maybe once-a-day?

Thanks for the info. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the schedule (-; I guess 5mm it is.

 

[DivingPanda]

Did you use the one with the sunblock or the spray repellent? Thanks.

IIRC, the shop ran out of the spray, so after we used up our first bottle, we switched to the sunblock, which worked fine, too.

 

[dmoore19]

I just went online and found cactus juice. Sounds like this stuff will make you run faster, jump higher, dive deeper and come up drier and not only that it smells good!