Florida cave suit for class

[Divesherpa]

I'm moving to Florida to do some cave diving. Class starts upon arrival. I'm curious about what the preferred exposure suit is. My last few hundred dives were dry, but it would be nice to do class wet and try dry after I finish(when I'm not paying to dive and my learning curve is more steep.) Any suggestions are helpful.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

The water temps in the springs, depending on which one you are diving in ranges from around 72-85 or so. So what ever you are comfortable in that range. I believe I have read that a 3 mil is most common among springs divers.

Have fun, be careful

Tom

 

[SubMariner]

I don't know where Tom is getting his figures on water temps, but I have yet to see any up in the range he is talking about! (No offense, Tom)

Personally, I have dove: Vortex, Blue Grotto, Cyprus, Morrison, Crystal River and a couple others I can't recall... ALL in my drysuit.

Why? Because the water is typically 68-72F. That's it!

Wetsuited divers generally use 5-7 mm, most with hoods; I use 3mm a "dive beanie" myself.

Another point: why mess with what works? If you already are an experienced drysuit diver and are set up to dive that way, why add to the task loading by switching your setup?

BTW, you might want to take a look at Ned DeLoache's "Diving Guide to Underwater Florida". It is a great resource for salt AND freshwater!

Take care, eh?!

~SubMariner~

 

[Rick Murchison]

I dive the Florida caves dry.
Wouldn't dive 'em wet.
Rick

 

[tombiowami]

I just came back from there, diving a few of the commercial ones. The water in all 3 was pretty much right on the button at 72. I use a 5mm, and was fine on all the dives, except for ones where we were doing simulated deco, and sitting still for 15 min, I started to get pretty chilled. The last dive (of 8 in all) was for an hr. and a half and I wore a vest also, but not sure if I would have needed it. All of the extended and/or cave divers I saw and have read about go dry. Also adds the extra buoyancy in case of bc failure as you will usually have steel doubles, canister light, and possibly deco bottles.

One other thing, flow can be a big contributor to heat loss also, some springs are almost like a lake, and some have a hundred million gallons of water shooting through them, all clear as glass. They are really quite remarkable to me. Very much like flying.



Tommy

 

[FloridaDiver]

Dive Dry.

You'll most likely be spending alot of time idle in the water, waiting for other divers to complete skills, etc. In my cavern class at Ginnie, we spent our surface intervals in the water as well. I was very chilled in a 5mm suit. In fact, this experience prompted me to lay out the cash for a drysuit.

I found that the cold slowed my response time and dampened what was an otherwise fantastic course. You'll see most of the cave divers in Florida in drysuits. After you live in Florida for awhile your tolerance for cold decreases dramatically. 72 degress (the typical Florida Spring water temp) is close to freezing on a Florida thermometer!

Also, some of the sinkholes that are commonly dived have wicked thermoclines. I started a dive at Hudson Grotto in 80 degree surface water which turned to 65 or so at 50'. I stayed shallow in my 3mm wetsuit.

Lastly, the air temps here drop down pretty low in Winter, particularly inland (where most of the caves are). When I was at Ginnie, I emerged cold and wet into the bright Florida sunshine and 65 degree air. At night we sometimes get frost - not much fun after a night dive.

Like i said, dive the Springs dry.