7mm suit for the Carribean?

[PT88]

Hi.
I've just recently passed my OW and will be diving in the carribean this January. I believe that the water temperature will be about 27-30 C.

I get cold quite easily. In fact I shivered like crazy when we were in the pool until I was fitted with a 7mm suit after my second pool session. Once I wore the 7mm it felt great to be in the pool the rest of the time.

I spoke with my instructor and he had indicated that I should probably use a 7mm suit when I'm in the Carribean in January. My instructor told me that if it got really hot, just to open up the top and let some water in.

Do you think I should stick with my 7mm or will it be too warm and a 3mm suit will work better.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

 

[aabond]

Some friends of mine dove with a 7mm suit last weekend down in the keys with the water being about 78 F.

Like you're instructor said you can always let water in the suit to cool you down if you're too warm. 27 C is about 80 degrees which to me is pretty warm, altough i do wear a 3mm shorty in 77 F. You might consider getting a 3mm short along with either a 3mm or 5mm full. When you get to where you are diving, you can try diving with the shorty. If you are a bit chilly switch to either the 3mm or 5mm full. If you're still cold, you can go ahead and wear the full suit with the shorty on top giving you either 6 or 8mm on your chest.

That would probably be the better way to go since you have more options to choose from.

My big thing is, that with the thicker suits you loose flexibility. You also have to consider the added weight you have to wear just to stay down. The added weight will increase your workload which in turn increases your breathing rate and ultimately shortens the amount of bottom time you will get off a single tank which will most likely be a aluminum 80.

 

[Spragg01]

How warm was the pool? 7 mil sounds like a bit much for 27-30, esp if you are out of the water for any length of time. I'd go with something 3 mil. What you could do is get a two piece 3 mil, start in the 3 mil shorty and add the long-johns if you get cold.

Cheers,

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I've just been diving those same temps in Flordida. A lot of divers here were using 7mm or more. A couple of divemasters had dry suits. Of course, these are Floridians who are acclimated to warmer weather. But clearly, some people get colder than others.

Also, consider if there will be more than one dive a day. If you get chilled, that will be exacerbated during subsequent dives.

I know overheating is a real consideration. But in my experience, more divers get cold than hot, even in warm wather and higher water temps.

Jeff

 

[Jim Lapenta]

What about a 5 as opposed to a seven. I dove 72-73 degrees surface with 68 at 88 ft a couple weeks ago. Was not too bad until I went below that 70-71 degree mark. Then it got a little chilly but wasn't down there long enough to get COLD. Coming back up into the 72 felt real good. Next trip to same lake will be drysuit from now on until about mid april. Was really surprised at how warm the 5 was. I normally dive a polartech (equiv to 3 mil until about 75 then switch to dry as I did not have anything in between. Only took the 5 on a whim as last report from 2 weeks earlier was temps of 80-82. When I got down and group already in the water said 72-73 was glad I did. These were the first two dives in this suit BTW and it performed well and did what it was supposed to do- fill in gap between polar and dry. It is also more flexible than the sevens I've tried although they wre older rental suits. Never dove one as my drysuit came in before I needed a 7. My recommendation, Go with a 5.

 

[scubatoys]

7 sure seems like a lot to me. Keep in mind, in the pool, you were probably in for hours at a time, and not moving much, and the temp was probably below what it will be in cayman. We keep our pool at 92 degrees F, knowing the students will be in for hours. If it was around 80 (cayman temps) they would turn blue in an hour, but really a 3 mil suit adds a lot of warmth over nothing - with a lot less bulk and weight needed.

And you can always get a core warmer to put over the 3 mil, which then will give you the equivalent of a 6/3 suit when you layer them. http://scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?product_ID=HendersonCoreWarmer

 

[J75]

Consider how many dives you will be doing daily. I just finished up a week diving in the Carribean in a 3mm and I was fine. I got a little chilly toward the end of the week (doing 4 dives a day) so I added a 7mm hood and I was fine.

A 7mm will no doubt keep you warm, but consider having to don that thing in the heat, while on a boat. Not the easiest thing to do. Consider going with a 5mm full suit and a hood. Or perhaps a 3mm shorty and a dive skin. Both will levae you warm, but with flexibility.

 

[Ann Marie]

From your post, I don't know if you are male or female. Females typically lose heat faster than men (less muscle mass). I was just in Bonaire, water temps 82 degrees. We were doing 4-5 dives a day. I took a 5/3 and was glad to have it. A couple of times on my 5th dive, I felt chilly. If I were doing a lot of diving in temps less than 80 degrees, I would take my 7mm. I get cold and I don't want to go somewhere great and suffer. It is easier to cool off than to warm up if you have no additional exposure protection. Larry's comment was good about adding a hooded vest. Also think about how long your dives are going to be, our's were typically above an hour at a time.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I just dove the exumas and it was 77-80 on various sites. It was 73-75 outside of Nassau. I used a 5 mil and I don't get cold easily.

 

[Dean810]

I dove in 80-85°F water in a 3-5-3 suit and was comfortable. Sometimes the 5mm part was a little bit warm, but then I added water and was just fine. That suit is designed for water in the 70's F. If you get cold easily, I would go with a straight 5mm, and if you plan on doing a lot of diving, I doubt you will be unhappy with a 7mm. People worry about being too warm, but I would worry more about being too cold.