5mm to dive South Africa?

[Hammerhead]

First up, I'm a warm water wimp and make no apologies for it. Never used a full wetsuit, let alone dry or semi-dry.

That said, I have two trips this year (South Africa for the Sardine run in June and Galapagos in October) that necessitate me buying my first-ever full wetsuit.

Either trip would be alomst a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and whilst I'll be going largely for photography, being comfortable for 45-50mins at 15-17 degrees centigrade is going to be important.

Given that I am blessed with a little "bioprene" at 6 foot 1 inch and 210lbs, how would a 5mm seem to you more experienced people?

Cost is not a major issue, so feel free to come up with "Rolls Royce" suggestions if they seem sensible...

If some of you can find the time to give me a few recommendations (I'll need a hood too), well, um, er, I'll reply to your post with a thank-you, which is about all I can do, isn't it?

Cheers in advance.

 

[scorpenesub]

Hi Larry, for 15-17C water, i would think 5mm is a wee bit short on insulation. If you have no problem with getting Rolls Royce, may I suggest Henderson Instadry 7MM...

 

[SlowRain]

Agree...especially if you are doing multiple dives per day over time. 5mm might be okay if you are only diving a dive or two a day, and then going on to something else, but you really are on the border there. I did the Galapagos on a liveaboard and used a drysuit with light insulation underneath and was very comfortable. Wet divers were mostly in 7mm and a few in 5mm but you could see them getting cold near the end of the week. (We were doing 3-5 dives a day).

Henderson makes a great wetsuit although I have heard their instadry might wear a bit quicker, I will leave to people who actually have one for comment (the Galapagos can be pretty tough on a suit). If you are going to buy this thing for these 2 trips and it will see little or no use outside of that I suppose it doesn't make a lot of difference. I have Henderson wetsuits in 1mm, 3mm, and 5mm and both the 3 and 5 are gold core. If I turn them inside out after the dive they dry out pretty quickly.

 

[Zambezi]

Hi Larry,

Our bunch regularly dive the South African south coast (Aliwal Shoal and Protea banks)during our winter months. I really get cold quickly so wear a 5mm full wetsuit with a 5mm shorty over that. Most of my mates used to dive with a 5mm (Cressi Lontra) but got really cold towards the end of a 50 minute dive. They've all since added chicken vests or skins that seem to have done the trick.

If you're a person who gets cold easily I'd definitely go with a 7mm. I'd also go with the Henderson. I bought a 5mm Henderson Gold Core hoodie while on vacation in Fort Lauderdale, BEST purchase I've ever made!!

Have a fantastic trip and I really hope you get to see the sardine run. It's all down to luck, sometimes the little buggers are on time and sometimes they're not.

 

[Hammerhead]

Great help, fellas!

I really don't feel the cold too much, OK, it's not really cold here, but I've dived at 22 degrees C with a 3mm shortie and made it through reasonably OK.

The way I see it, I might go with the Henderson 5mm on top of a decent rash guard. That way, if I'm still chilly, I can probably borrow a shortie over the top, extra vest etc. etc.

My reasoning being that a 5mm could in fact be used here for the cooler months and longer dive, whereas a 7mm is definitely overkill in these parts and would end up on Ebay rather than being used regularly.

Thanks again for your help. I'd add an extra "thank you", but SB won't let me