Alor - How warm a wet suit?

[mantajohn]

Hi

i'm taking a liveaboard trip to Alor in Nov & and getting mixed messages about what thickness of wetsuit would be appropriate. i'm aiming to do all the dives every day.

I've a 3/2 ml that i use for the Caribbean/Indian Ocean, but talk of cooler waters/thermoclines is making me believe that it will be inadequate for Alor. My next suit is a 6.5ml semidry. But that might be over kill.

I'm thinking of buying a 5ml for the trip. Does that sound about right.

There are tight weight limits on the internal flight - so i cannot hedge my bets by taking a choice.

All advice appreciated

 

[plucker]

Hello,
In Alor, the water can be cold or warm depending on the current.
Last time, when I was there the water was not so hot and a 3 or 5mil + hood would be appropriate.
I has the mares 3-2-2 and this is barely enough...

Plucker

 

[silent running]

Hi

i'm taking a liveaboard trip to Alor in Nov & and getting mixed messages about what thickness of wetsuit would be appropriate. i'm aiming to do all the dives every day.

I've a 3/2 ml that i use for the Caribbean/Indian Ocean, but talk of cooler waters/thermoclines is making me believe that it will be inadequate for Alor. My next suit is a 6.5ml semidry. But that might be over kill.

I'm thinking of buying a 5ml for the trip. Does that sound about right.

There are tight weight limits on the internal flight - so i cannot hedge my bets by taking a choice.

All advice appreciated

Hello mj, I did most of my dives in a .5mm as most of the time it was 79-82F. However, as the week progressed, we encountered more cold upwellings at the southern sites. I don't get cold so easily, so I just shivered a bit and went up shallow when I got hit with cold stuff.

Our dive operator who lives there year round, dives with a 5mm or a 7mm and usually a hood. But he is skinny, no insulation on him naturally, and like most dive professionals, he gets cold easily.

I think a 5mm should be good enough for the colder sites, if you don't chill easily. But if you already have the 6.5 semidry and are used to getting in and out of it, I'd go with that and the 3/2. The other problem is that you can have 80F and 65F on the same dive, so it's hard to figure out what to do, other than wear the thickest suit all the time, but it's a hassle to get in/out of them and it's not as easy to swim against any strong currents in a thick suit. Tough call... -Andy

 

[silent running]

i'm taking a liveaboard trip to Alor in Nov & and getting mixed messages about what thickness of wetsuit would be appropriate. i'm aiming to do all the dives every day.

What boat is it?

I hope the mixed messages are not mixed because they don't have enough experience in the area. If I were captaining a LOB going there, I would hire somebody local to come aboard each day and pick the sites and times as the conditions-cold upwellings, currents, viz, fish concentrations-can be quite dynamic. It would be well worth the small expense. Conditions might be the same for weeks at a time, or changing day to day and only somebody who dives there on a daily basis would know what the trends are...