Bonaire in August - Shortie or Full 3mm?

[LaiLaiDiver]

Hey all - I'll be heading down to Bonaire for the second half of August, my first time. I'm curious which suit to bring - or both? Even if it's warm enough for the shortie, is it a good idea to have the protection of the full suit for the shore entries? Thanks!

 

[Cecil]

Bring both but my bet would be the shorty.

 

[DiveMaven]

Personally, I don't believe in shorties given the risk of stings, scrapes, etc. On our recent trip to Bonaire, I fell one time on an entry, landing on a knee on a rock, and was VERY glad to have a full suit with rubber knee pads.

There were also little jellies in the water every now and again, and it was nice to have the protection of full arm and leg coverage. The other thing is that if you do a lot of diving, you'll be glad for the extra thermal protection of the full suit to keep you a bit warmer.

 

[Trixxie]

I 2nd the full suit for the protection factor

I got washed up on the rocks at angel beach, if I had been wearing a shorty that day probably would have been my last dive of the week - I got cuts through my full suit without it tearing....

 

[drbill]

As far as thermal protection goes, I find it very difficult to recommend a proper suit for someone else. I can dive 50 F waters in what is left of my ancient 7mm wetsuit whereas someone else may need a dry suit (and someone with even fewer nerves than I have might do it in a shortie).

However, for protection against scrapes, bruises and critters I'd take a 3mm full myself.

 

[jeepguy]

Hey all - I'll be heading down to Bonaire for the second half of August, my first time. I'm curious which suit to bring - or both? Even if it's warm enough for the shortie, is it a good idea to have the protection of the full suit for the shore entries? Thanks!

We were in BON in March. Made one dive in 3mm full then switched to shortie for the rest of week. I had no problems with temp. even at Hilma Hooker to 100fsw. My wife did use her 3mm full most of the week. By the way, we'll be in Curacao for a couple weeks in August. I plan on taking both suits but usually default to the shortie.:14:
Tom & Isabelle

 

[LaiLaiDiver]

Thanks for the sage advice, all... I should have room to bring both, but I can already see the logic for leaning toward using the full suit.... I'm not a fan of the stingy jellies!

 

[DeputyDan]

Go with the full suit.

Water was cooler than I remember it being in the past.

 

[ClayJar]

Made one dive in 3mm full then switched to shortie for the rest of week. I had no problems with temp. even at Hilma Hooker to 100fsw. My wife did use her 3mm full most of the week.

Might I ask how many dives you did? In similar temperatures, doing four dives a day, by the end of day one, I was still feeling indistinguishable from normal. By the end of the second day, I wasn't cold, but when I stop and checked, I was just slightly cool. By the second dive on the third day, I was feeling a bit of a chill, and by the last dive on the third day, I was actually shivering. (Of course, I'm closer to baseball-bat-shaped than baseball shaped, so your mileage may certainly vary.)

On this trip to Bonaire, I'm going to be wearing my full suit. (I think I've just about convinced myself to leave the drysuit, although it's *really* tempting. ) The plan is to dive, then dive more, then dive even more, then keep diving... oh, and toss a short nap in as necessary, as long as you dream about diving.

I'm going to try to log what I eat so I can get a better idea of the caloric requirements that much diving creates. My hypothesis is that the observed symptom of increasing "coldness" over multiple days of diving is due to depletion of a caloric reserve used to maintain body temperature when confronted with high rates of heat loss. (I need to bring an electronic thermometer so I can monitor body temperature. That would be interesting information.) By proper consumption, I believe I should be able to extend (or perhaps even replenish?) that reserve. It should be an interesting not-quite-scientific experiment if I can actually follow through. :biggrin:

 

[DiveMaven]

The water was consistently 80 degrees during our 2 weeks on Bonaire (first 2 weeks of July). What is it now?

Doing 3-4 dives a day in my 4 year old 3mm Henderson Hyperstretch full suit (well compressed by now), I was chilly at the end of the first week. Next year I'll be taking my (then) 4 year old 5mm Henderson Hyperstretch full suit. It'll be well compressed by then and should give me the protection of a 3mm full with the ease of the Hyperstretch to don and doff. See, I've found the perfect use for an old, compressed wetsuit!!