UV protection while diving??

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2Bobbyo

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Messages
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Location
Aiken, SC
# of dives
100 - 199
Ok, for us guys with little or no hair up top, what do you use to keep your head from getting sunburnt while diving? Not wearing a wetsuit hood in the keys....Thanks!
 
While diving? That is, while on shore or a dive boat, right? Bandana or sun hat for me. Under water the UV should be quite minimal I think.
 
Thin lycra hood, cool on the boat and protects from sun and most stingers in the water.. Very popular for warm water divers


https://www.makospearguns.com/Camo-Lycra-Hood-p/mclh.htm

MCLH-2T.jpg
 
I wear a boonie cover when I'm out of the water. While I'm diving, I wear the water for UV protection.
 
Thin lycra hood, cool on the boat and protects from sun and most stingers in the water.. Very popular for warm water divers


https://www.makospearguns.com/Camo-Lycra-Hood-p/mclh.htm

View attachment 590103

This is a great lightweight hood. I bought one of these years and years ago from a bargain bin and had no idea it might be from Mako. Mine is reversible, with both the blue and brown camo. It might be 1mm rather than really thin Lycra. Does that sound like one of your Mako products?

Any I use it pretty much all the time for tropical diving. It keeps the hair out of my face and sun off my neck while while the head coverage makes a difference in avoid chills on multi dive days.

Plus the Blue pattern makes you very visible and easy to distinguish while looking cool in photos!
 
While diving? That is, while on shore or a dive boat, right? Bandana or sun hat for me. Under water the UV should be quite minimal I think.

Between gearing up, waiting to splash, and floating on the surface for pickup can lead to a lot of sun exposure. On a recent Galapagos trip I spent a lot of time every day in the open Panga's, at least a 90 minutes across three dives a day. A light lycra hood (the Mako one in this thread) was really nice for protection.
 
I always wear a hood to keep water from sloshing way into my ears. But as you said, not advisable in the Keys. When I was in Panama I used a swimmer's cap, which did the job regarding ears and lack of hair. Not 100% comfy, but didn't hurt anything. I have no idea how sunlight may affect exposed skin if you are at say, a depth of 50-100'. I would guess not a whole lot. But yes if very shallow or on the surface.
 
Between gearing up, waiting to splash, and floating on the surface for pickup can lead to a lot of sun exposure. On a recent Galapagos trip I spent a lot of time every day in the open Panga's, at least a 90 minutes across three dives a day. A light lycra hood (the Mako one in this thread) was really nice for protection.

Our lycra hoods are not reversible, perhaps you got a similar product. We do however, have a very thin 2 mm reversible hood, perhaps you had that product.

A lycra hood will have essentially zero thermal protection, while a 2 mm hood will provide some. It was my impression the OP wanted to avoid a typical hood. As others have mentioned, a hood with biib provides complete neck protection as well.


https://www.makospearguns.com/Wetsuit-Hood-2mm-Reversible-Blue-Camo-Green-Camo-p/mhbg.htm
 
Bandana. You can definitely dive in a hat too, if you want. I have.

I spent three weeks diving in Indonesia last December without using sunscreen at all, and never got burned.

Sun smarts are pretty easy once we un-learn the false notion that it's normal to expose our skin to blazing sunshine all day. Especially but not limited to fair skinned.

Don't selfishly pollute the reefs with sunscreen. Dress well instead!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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