Buying Gloves For a Galapagos trip

[becky_scuba]

Hi. You mention you will be taking your dry suit. When are you going? We are going July 3-10 and I was going to bring my 7mm wetsuit and 3mm chicken vest instead of my drysuit. Now I wonder if it will be warm enough? We do our diving in New England, where the water doesn't get out of the 60's in the summer. Thanks.

Hi there, I am on the boat the week before you it looks like. I am taking my drysuit because I am told it is the cold season there with water temps in the 60's. I am actually taking both my dry suit and wet suit just in case, but my plan is to dive dry and use the wet suit as a backup. My wetsuit is 7mm farmer jane but i am a freeze baby so that's why I bought a drysuit and am getting certified in it....

 

[itsjustme0770]

Take the drysuit if you want, but at wolf and darwin you'll burn up. Temps in the mid 70's two weeks ago. 5 mil was plenty. Only the dive at Gordon Rocks was cold, mid 60's, and I lived in a 5 mil. Wife was in a 7 mil and is terribly prone to cold. She was more than fine. Good hood, good gloves and booties and a wetsuit is fine.

 

[becky_scuba]

Hi again,
I think I am safer with the drysuit because I have aborted dives in low sixty degree water because of being cold. I am terribly prone to being cold because I am tall and thin. When most other people look comfortable, I am shivering.....it kinda stinks.....that is the whole reason I went ahead and bought the drysuit. I was afraid of spending thousands for the trip and hating the dives from being cold. I was also told that when we go in late June it is cold season down there and to expect temps to be in the low 60's......

 

[oceancat]

Too bad we will just miss each other on the Aggressor cruise. I think I am going to heed the advice of the others and dive in my 7mm with my 3mm chicken vest-it has a hood attached and then bring an extra hood if it's too warm for the chicken vest (although like you, I am rarely too warm!). I think the previous posters do have good points about blowing seals. I ripped my neck seal 2 years ago and that was it on the suit until I got it fixed (2 weeks later). Do you have zip seals for the neck? Definitely bring an extra one and bring extra wrist seals. The other concern is puncturing the suit itself. I have a crushed neoprene bottom (it's a DUI 50/50), so it's studier than nylon. Get lots of practice in the dry suit-it's a different kind of diving than with a wetsuit.

 

[ChrisM]

Yes, are you a new drysuit diver? Galapagos isn't the place to learn new skills, and a runaway feet first ascent wouldn't be fun at Wolf/Darwin. Get a few dives in beforehand.

 

[becky_scuba]

Hey There.
I am new to drysuit diving, but I do plan to get a dozen dives or so in before this trip. I am getting certified by my instructor. Anyways, I just checked my suit description and it is made of nylon.....you had mentioned about possibly puncturing the suit itself....the nylon seems to be pretty thick....I don't see it puncturing. Do you? I am going to learn how to repair my neck and wrist seals....no zip seals.....
Becky

Too bad we will just miss each other on the Aggressor cruise. I think I am going to heed the advice of the others and dive in my 7mm with my 3mm chicken vest-it has a hood attached and then bring an extra hood if it's too warm for the chicken vest (although like you, I am rarely too warm!). I think the previous posters do have good points about blowing seals. I ripped my neck seal 2 years ago and that was it on the suit until I got it fixed (2 weeks later). Do you have zip seals for the neck? Definitely bring an extra one and bring extra wrist seals. The other concern is puncturing the suit itself. I have a crushed neoprene bottom (it's a DUI 50/50), so it's studier than nylon. Get lots of practice in the dry suit-it's a different kind of diving than with a wetsuit.

 

[itsjustme0770]

I am not a drysuit diver, but I'll toss out my .02. Sure, I can see it puncturing. Many of the dives are grab, hold, kneel and brace with knees while you watch the show. The rocks are covered with barnacles (I mangled my kevlar gloves while I was there). Wolf and Darwin were more than comfortable in a wetsuit (no one in our group of 28 wore a drysuit). I wore a 5/4 Pinnacle and was so hot I only dove with a hood once while there. If I didn't need to hang on to rocks, I wouldn't have worn the gloves. My wife, who is cold at 90 degrees wore a 7 mil henderson hyperstretch and 3 mil hood and was plenty fine on every dive except gordon rocks, which I will agree was cold (but there was essentially nothing to see so I would skip the dive next time anyway). You won't find anything close to low 60's water at wolf and darwin. Lowest temp I recorded was 74 and a couple as warm as 78. Even gordon rocks dropped only to 66 and that was as cold as we saw. Again, I know nothing about dry suit diving, but 12 dives strikes me as not quite enough when dealing with the challenges that the Galapagos can throw at you. Just my .02. In any event, its a trip of a lifetime, so have a great time!

 

[becky_scuba]

When did you go?* I am going in late June and was told that it is going to be cold season there that time of year.* That is why I bought the suit and am getting certified in it.* My plan is to find out the water temps of the various dive sites and if it is above 70, to wear my 7 mm and if it is below 70 then the drysuit.* So I will have options.* Otherwise I abort dives when I am too cold, and I SURE don't want to do that on this trip of a lifetime!

 

[itsjustme0770]

3 weeks ago. 70-75 in June in the northern islands.

 

[oceancat]

Hi. If you don't have kneepads on your suit, you may want to get them for protection for the suit. I find that diving dry at depth (80+ feet) takes getting used to and practice (since your buoyance is controlled differently than wet). It is different than diving shallow with a drysuit. When I switched to dry, it took a good 10-12 dives to really get comfortable (and that was without the current). I find diving dry in current to be a little more challenging than wet because you aren't as streamlined. It can be done but it is harder. If you don't have zip seals, make sure you are comfortable replacing the seals before you go. It will take a couple of days to replace the seals (by the time the adhesives dry properly). I think having your wetsuit is a good backup.