Female first time travelling solo, first dive trip. I think Cozumel is the way to go?

[deepsea21]

Looks like I will be booking with Tres Pelicanos. Thank you everyone for the advice!! Maybe someday in the future I will try Dive with Martin, but for the convenience and ease, and with it being my first trip, 3P sounds like the least stressful. I get cold easily, so I'm going to be renting a wetsuit for my first day at least and see how it goes. Do most wear a wetsuit in Cozumel? Thanks so much.

Glad to hear you have selected Tres Pelicanos which I highly recommended and glad to hear that you will be staying in town. You won't regret this decision. As I stated earlier in this thread, should you be unhappy in any way with the dive experiences 3P's delivers you and the package they put together for you and your fellow travelers do share your experience here. That being said, it will never happen as all of you are going to have an absolutely fantastic trip. I've sliced and diced the cost of our Coz trips for over a decade trying to figure out how we can do it cheaper for the level of service we want. Heck, my wife and I were married in Coz 11 years ago and you want to talk about planning for 50 in attendance on the cheap? 3P's package dive/hotel rates for in-town are priced right where I found afer countless hours of researching.

With regard to a wetsuit... My wife and I always dive 3MM full suits in water down to 80 degrees. If you get cold easily you WILL NEED a 3MM full suit so do rent it. If possible, purchase a beanie cap before you go... Not a full hood but just a beanie up to 3MM. For years and years I laughed at others who wore those "beanies" but I got chilled on several dives and noticed the DM's were wearing beanies too. Well, I bought my beanie, checked my testoserone at the door, and have never looked back. I sport my beanie on every dive these days.

 

[ohsomeday]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look on other forums here for recommendations on a beanie. I'm petite and have a small head!

 

[deepsea21]

I recommend the XS Scuba 2mm Tropic Beanie from Leisure Pro @ $19. They have all sizes in stock as of now and I really love mine. Depending on how you clear your mask, like any hood or beanie they don't come with a vent hole on top. That is a quick fix with a hot nail to poke a hole in the top. Pony at 3P's shop had a poker and a lighter to heat up the poker and burn a little hole in the top of mine for an air vent. My wife has never needed to vent hers but I had to vent mine as I could feel bubbles trapped over my head under the beanie from mask clearing. I highly recommend it. It is true, 90% of body heat or whatever they claim is lost via your head. The beanie will make a HUGE difference.

 

[DandyDon]

It is true, 90% of body heat or whatever they claim is lost via your head. The beanie will make a HUGE difference.

A popular myth says 40%, but that turned out to be false. Still, a beanie can indeed make a big difference. It's rare to see an outdoorsman bareheaded anytime of year, and when cold - cover the head! The one you suggested for $19 sound nice, and poking a couple of holes in the top with a hot ice pick or nail does indeed work. It's kinda funny to see bubbles coming out of the top of a beanie.

 

[crabbyfiddler]

<Do most wear a wetsuit in Cozumel? Thanks so much.>

This time of year, 5 m suit with hat or hood is good for me. Being cold on a dive stinks!

 

[cicopo]

Did you book your flight? If so what dates?

 

[ohsomeday]

I did book my flight, Feb 10-17. Put my deposit down with tres pelicanos too. Does anyone know if its possible to rent 5mm wet suit through them? As far as I know they use 3mm.

 

[MikeRiley]

i would think they'd have options? most shops I've dove with have had multiple suits.
if you wanted to be extra sure, you could always rent a suit here from a local shop so you know it's a good fit and then go south.

In London there is a shop on Wharncliffe about 100 yards north of Springbank/Riverside. Can't remember the name.. Travel/Adventure Sports or something like that. Great people though and I believe they rent gear. I bought a bunch of gear from them when I still lived there. You're going to pay to rent a suit anyways so if you don't mind carrying it with you that could be an option.

 

[mattia_v]

A popular myth says 40%, but that turned out to be false. Still, a beanie can indeed make a big difference. It's rare to see an outdoorsman bareheaded anytime of year, and when cold - cover the head! The one you suggested for $19 sound nice, and poking a couple of holes in the top with a hot ice pick or nail does indeed work. It's kinda funny to see bubbles coming out of the top of a beanie.

It's actually about 10% - the surface area of your head as a percentage of total body surface area. Obviously, if you're wearing a wetsuit, the rest of your (covered) body isn't going to lose heat, which is where the 40% numbers come from (heat loss in clothed but not hat-wearing people in the cold). Theoretically you'd lose about the same amount via your hands (hand palm ~2.5% of BSA, so 5% per hand), but your hand temperature is lower than your core (and head) temperature, so less of a temperature gradient.

 

[cicopo]

Well in that case we may meet on the boat. I'll be the old guy without a wetsuit & with a camera that has 2 bright orange cup cozy's on the strobes. We'll also be on the same plane heading back to TO.