First time diver and first time in Cozumel! What type of suit should I bring?

[tomhooper]

A lot depends on your cold tolerance. I do not get cold and do not wear a wetsuit of any kind in Cozumel. Personal comfort is what matters. It is hard to tell someone what they will need. I know people who wear full wetsuits with a hood. Others just wear a shorty. Some a dive skin, and some like me only swim trunks.

And for me this holds true year round as the water temp down there really doesn't change more than a few degrees. Air temp is something you might want to consider. Bring a jacket or something to put on after you exit the water.

 

[nodakdive]

The hood and light jacket for the boat are great pieces of advice. I got a $24 rain jacket at Walmart and it has been worth it's weight in gold. You might want to get a lighter hood than 5 mil if a 5 mil feels too constrictive. I've got a couple 1.5 mil hoods as one is built into a vest, but even just one of those hoods makes a difference and they're very comfortable.

Also, getting all the wet stuff off right after the dive is great advice too. When you get there, you'll probably see some divers wearing these long sleeved, hooded, loose, beach wear looking light "jackets" that you can buy many places downtown. I think they're made out of cotton or linen or something? I've only seen them in white and black. They have "Cozumel" and or "Palancar", etc, printed on them. They're about $20. I have several and I take a black one on the dive boat. If I'm cold after the first dive, I'll put it on during the SI and wearing black in the sun warms a person up quickly. These are not the same as a rain jacket though. They don't repel water.

 

[scubadada]

I wear a 3mm +/- hooded vest in the 80s, 5mm +/- the vest in the 70s, I like to be warm. I always have my boat coat in SE FL when it is cool and/or windy, some of the operators on Cozumel, Aldora, for example, supply boat coats

 

[h2oSkier]

I'm obviously in the minority here but if you don't typically get cold a 5mm suit is going to be overkill.

We just got back from 8 days of 3 dives / day in Cozumel. I was comfortable all week in shorts and a Lavacore top. My wife, who is often cold, dove in a 5mm + hooded vest most of the week. Our dive guides were also in shorts all week. Others on the boat ranged from full Lavacore suits, 3mm, 5mm, hoods, and everything in between.

So there you have it, SB can't pick your exposure protection.

 

[MMM]

No, SB can't pick exposure protection but the OP's comments quoted below can point you in a direction. FWIW, the other divers on the boat today were diving in shorties. The LivingUnderwater crew had their hooded fleece jacket at the redy for me to slip into as soon as I got my wetsuit off. After a 90 minute dive, I was freezing!

?.. but I'm ALWAYS cold. Just for reference, I'm 5'0" and only about 105-110 lbs or so. I get cold pretty easily...

Cathy

I'm obviously in the minority here but if you don't typically get cold a 5mm suit is going to be overkill.

We just got back from 8 days of 3 dives / day in Cozumel. I was comfortable all week in shorts and a Lavacore top. My wife, who is often cold, dove in a 5mm + hooded vest most of the week. Our dive guides were also in shorts all week. Others on the boat ranged from full Lavacore suits, 3mm, 5mm, hoods, and everything in between.
So there you have it, SB can't pick your exposure protection.

 

[K3]

The water was 79F I believe around Christmas time when I was there. I got made fun of as I was the crazy one in board shorts and a rashie, but I saw one person do this that might be helpful. I believe they were wearing a 3mm for the first tank, and then on the 2nd tank they added a hooded vest for warmth. So that might be an option if you're okay for the first dive and then get further cold for the second one.

 

[morecowbells]

While diving in Cozumel in Oct. the water temp was 85. My husband rolled his eyes and said "really?" while I was donning my 5 mm wetsuit. I would have probably been fine without it, but as stated above by another poster, I had the option flushing some water into it if I were to get hot while diving. One additional benefit I have encountered with keeping warm is a substantial increase in my bottom time. I had no idea how negatively affected my air consumption was due to getting chilled.

At the risk of sounding like a diva, I like to pack a dry swimsuit in my dry bag and change during my surface interval. It is so much more comfortable snacking at the beach club in a dry swimsuit

 

[Skittl1321]

I wore a 3 mm both times we went in December. A few times it was warm so I flushed it with water. With long dives that have enough drift that you don't swim at all, I got chilly, but not uncomfortable a few times.

 

[ThePetiteRunner]

As always, I'm indebted to the kindness of the Scuba Board. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

I do understand it's a bit of personal preference, but as I have yet to dive anywhere (literally, my confined water dives are this weekend and my training open dives are next weekend), I don't have much of a reference point. All I can say is when I go camping/backpacking with my significant other, I'm the one in the zero degree down bag and he's sitting there with half his body out of the bag. I imagine it'll be the same with diving.

Thanks again for all the help! I can't wait to hit the water in Cozumel! :cool2:

 

[Queen Triggerfish]

As always, I'm indebted to the kindness of the Scuba Board. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

I do understand it's a bit of personal preference, but as I have yet to dive anywhere (literally, my confined water dives are this weekend and my training open dives are next weekend), I don't have much of a reference point. All I can say is when I go camping/backpacking with my significant other, I'm the one in the zero degree down bag and he's sitting there with half his body out of the bag. I imagine it'll be the same with diving.

Thanks again for all the help! I can't wait to hit the water in Cozumel! :cool2:

Absolutely. It's a personal preference but considering you clearly stated in your OP that you are ALWAYS cold (not to mention you are pretty little!), I think it makes a lot of us more comfortable chiming in.

I'm guessing this is already way more opinions that you want/need, but I'm going to add one more thing. Another option is to get a 3mm, and then if you're cold you can rent a shortie from the dive shop and layer it over. I did that for a few trips to various places before I had my 5mm. For me, cost was an issue at the time and buying a 3mm was substantially cheaper than the 5mm and I was doing a LOT of shore diving in Grand Cayman in the heat of the summer with a bunch of teenagers. Waiting for them to gear up while standing around in a 5mm was too much. So owning a 3mm and then layering when needed was a good solution (considering I didn't care what I looked like!)