Wear what you are most comfortable in. I only wore a 3mm wet suit and was totally fine for my dives, water was about 74F which is WARM for me!
Cavern and Intro in Mexico: Wet or dry?
- Thread starter MarkHerm
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Everyone is different. I have been fine--perfectly comfortable--with a 5mm wet suit and no hood on some fairly long dives, two a day. The person with whom I was diving had a 7mm suit and hood, and talked about being cold.
Thanks for the input! I am very excited about the trip and can't wait to finally start the training.
I get cold easily and dive dry exclusively at home which is probably 90% of my total diving so I am not new to diving dry. However I tried diving wet on my last diving trip and came to the conclusion that diving wet still seems to be a tad easier compared to diving dry as you don't have to manage the suit.
Anyways, I get cold easily and the dry suit can act as backup buoyancy device so I'll most probably take the dry suit to Mexico.
Thanks for your input!
I get cold easily and dive dry exclusively at home which is probably 90% of my total diving so I am not new to diving dry. However I tried diving wet on my last diving trip and came to the conclusion that diving wet still seems to be a tad easier compared to diving dry as you don't have to manage the suit.
Anyways, I get cold easily and the dry suit can act as backup buoyancy device so I'll most probably take the dry suit to Mexico.
Thanks for your input!
Coconut Divers
Contributor
Also consider how comfortable are you with your buoyancy dry or wet. There are a lot of drills to do where you need to be perfectly buoyant in the water
Have fun !!!!
Have fun !!!!
It is a real PITA crawling into a dry suit in the heat and humidity of the Yucatan, but -- I would have gotten pretty cold and miserable at the end of the day had I been diving wet. To tell you the truth - I got a bit chilled at the end of long days in a dry suit and heavy-weight Capilene long johns.
If you're ready for cave training then I wouldn't worry about the bouyancy problems associated with either wet suits or dry suits - you should be able to handle those issues without even thinking about it. Dive in whatever outfit is going to keep you comfortable for hours and hours a day.
If you're ready for cave training then I wouldn't worry about the bouyancy problems associated with either wet suits or dry suits - you should be able to handle those issues without even thinking about it. Dive in whatever outfit is going to keep you comfortable for hours and hours a day.
victorzamora
Contributor
I'm glad you said you're diving mostly dry. I have to say, that was one of the biggest mistakes I made concerning my Cavern/Intro course: I wasn't comfortable enough in my drysuit. I've gotten a lot better now, but that was EASILY the most challenging part of the courses. In Full Cave, I had zero problem with my drysuit (lucky me, right?)....but I know that part of that was my familiarity with most of the skills allowing me to focus a little more on my drysuit. Cavern/Intro was the hardest course I've taken, and that was compounded by my drysuit.
Having said that, I'm headed to Mexico in 6 days and I'm diving dry. I'm also taking a wetsuit, but only for OW and only if the OW is 76F+ (it's a 3mm shorty, don't judge!)
---------- Post added September 23rd, 2013 at 08:29 AM ----------
Also: congrats on your decision. Seriously! Cavern/Intro was the most grueling, intensive course of my life....but I've never grown more as a diver before or since. Do you mind me asking what instructor and setup you're using?
Having said that, I'm headed to Mexico in 6 days and I'm diving dry. I'm also taking a wetsuit, but only for OW and only if the OW is 76F+ (it's a 3mm shorty, don't judge!)
---------- Post added September 23rd, 2013 at 08:29 AM ----------
Also: congrats on your decision. Seriously! Cavern/Intro was the most grueling, intensive course of my life....but I've never grown more as a diver before or since. Do you mind me asking what instructor and setup you're using?
Thanks! I am really looking forward to the training and I know it won't be a walk in the park
My instructor will be Harry Gust who seems to be absolutely unknown in this board but has a very good reputation over here in Germany. I hope this will be a good decision to go with him in the end. I use a backmount rig as I got some training with a DIR background and I don't want to switch to anything that is unknown to me in addition to the cave training.
Randy g
Contributor
Great thread. This got me thinking about our Cave cert dives coming up. I am starting my Cavern/Intro course mid November in North Florida and will be diving my 6.5 Semi Dry for that trip. I just don't feel confident enough to throw my drysuit into the mix after a season of warm water NC diving. I have not dove the dry suit in a year.
victorzamora
Contributor
Thanks! I am really looking forward to the training and I know it won't be a walk in the park
As for the instructor, I'm not familiar with him but I know someone who might be....I'll ask around.
About your choice for Backmount: I'm a huge sidemount proponent, but I'm a bigger proponent of diving what you're comfortable with. I'm glad you're not changing anything. Overhead will be so different that switching anything will just add to the stress. If you're comfortable in doubles, dive doubles. You can add sidemount later on if you want to. If so, and if you want to do it in MX....I've got an awesome instructor to recommend.
violinfather
Registered
Not trying to hijack this thread but can you send me the name of the instructor. Thanks.
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