Hi all. I'm new to diving, and am going to the Caymans shortly. I'm trying to decide what type of suit to buy. I was wondering what most divers use there; no suit, shorty, lycra skin, or .5mm suit? Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
Best suit for the Caymans?
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Well, you'll get quite the range of opinion and experience for that question. But the real issue is cold tolerance. I'm not very tolerant of cold and I've never dove in less than a 3mm full and I'm talking about lovely water in the low 80's in Belize.
Doing repetative diving can really drain your body of warmth and by the time the last dive of the day rolls around, the 3mm is sometimes a necessity for me. The good news is that early in the day if I feel a bit warm I can flush the suit and cool right off.
On my trip I saw everything from nothing to 5mm with a hood. You may just have to bite the bullet and take a guess as to what you'll need once you get there. IMO the 3mm is a good starting place and opens up the range of diving temps a little more than going with nothing, or very little, and finding out it's not enough.
Rachel
Doing repetative diving can really drain your body of warmth and by the time the last dive of the day rolls around, the 3mm is sometimes a necessity for me. The good news is that early in the day if I feel a bit warm I can flush the suit and cool right off.
On my trip I saw everything from nothing to 5mm with a hood. You may just have to bite the bullet and take a guess as to what you'll need once you get there. IMO the 3mm is a good starting place and opens up the range of diving temps a little more than going with nothing, or very little, and finding out it's not enough.
Rachel
fgriffith
Guest
I agree with biscuit7... I take nothing less than a 3mm suit when I dive in the tropics. Some of my dive buddies take nothing less than a 5mm and others use a .5mm. But a 3mm is a good starting point. I add a hooded vest for night dives or when diving cenotes in Mexico.
It really depends on how cold you usually get in the water, how many days you'll be diving and how many dives a day you plan to do. You'll usually find that you get a bit chilly quicker with more dives you do and more consecutive dive days.
I get cold easily and in Cayman last Oct with 84 degree water I was wearing a 3mm. In March the water was 78 degree and on day 2 I had to add a 1mm (4mm total). Both trips were 6 dive days with 3-4 dives/day.
I get cold easily and in Cayman last Oct with 84 degree water I was wearing a 3mm. In March the water was 78 degree and on day 2 I had to add a 1mm (4mm total). Both trips were 6 dive days with 3-4 dives/day.
wb416
Contributor
This will be broadly based on your own tolerances, but will also depend on the amount of diving you plan on doing. I saw divers that were only doing a couple of dives in swimsuits and other divers diving 2-3 dives per day using 3 & 5mm jumpsuits.
Personally, the time I felt the best diving there I was using a 2mm shortie.... got 38 dives in 2 weeks and still felt great.
Disclaimer: Your mileage will vary.
wb
DennisW
Contributor
You can't go wrong with a 3mm suit, either a shorty, farmer john or combo for the tropics. In the summer, I usually just wear a t-shirt, but my wife needs a shorty. Like biscuit7 says, it depends on your cold tolerance.
QKRTHNU
Guest
I just got back from Grand Cayman.
I didn't wear any exposure protection. It was great! Nice & Warm. No Thermocline at all.
If you wear a suit you'll deffinately have to take it off during your surface interval. It was 89degrees outside so you'd fry otherwise.
I didn't wear any exposure protection. It was great! Nice & Warm. No Thermocline at all.
If you wear a suit you'll deffinately have to take it off during your surface interval. It was 89degrees outside so you'd fry otherwise.
mattengstrom
Guest
I was diving down there with a shorty a few weeks ago and got stung by a free-floating jellyfish tentacle or something that I didn't see until it was too late. It really made me wish for a full suit.
Most people had either 1 or 3 mm suits. Don't think I saw any 5s. Plan on water temp of about 80-82 degress F.
Most people had either 1 or 3 mm suits. Don't think I saw any 5s. Plan on water temp of about 80-82 degress F.
wetman
Contributor
I'm fairly sensitive to the cold, but i got a henderson microprene (like a .5 mm suit) and am quite comfortable after even 3 dives in the tropical climates. And the full bod coverage does give some peace of mine when considering the jellies.
steve
steve
richhagelin
Contributor
I just got back from diving Grand Cayman. I wore a shortie (as did the two other divers with me). We were all perfectly comfortable. The DM wore a full 3 mm.
Rich
Rich
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