Galapagos wetsuit recommendation April-May

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aoo

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Messages
26
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Location
Philippines
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi,

Sorry if this has been asked before but could not find a previous thread that dealt with this exact question.

We are planning to do a liveaboard to the Galapagos Islands next year April 28 to May 8. As we are from the Philippines and used to diving tropical, we would have to get new wetsuits to handle the colder water temps.

Would welcome any recommendations on the thickness of wetsuit we should be using during that time of the year. Would also appreciate recommendations on the thickness of the gloves, boots and hood as well.

We want to make sure that we get the proper wetsuits so as not to freeze our a.... off and enjoy the dives but do not want to get too carried away in getting wetsuits that we would have limited uses for in the future. We usually use 3 mm, moving up to 5 mm for the colder month where the water temps reach 25/77 degrees.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Very personal issue but as my wife says "she has never been too warm on a dive"

We went during the wet season. So air temps in the 70s and water temps ranging from 77-62. A big issue when we were there was the wind blowing when out of the water. There was a lot of shivering going on before and after dives, men and women who where mainly wearing 5mm suits.

My wife who is thin and runs cold wore her 7mm custom cut Harvey's suite with a 5mm shorty over it, hood, 5mm gloves and boots and still felt chilled on dive spots were water temps were in the 60s.

I am a cold water diver, but use drysuits. I wore the following suit and was fine the whole trip, even "warm" in the +75spots. O'Neill

You need good gloves, we used these. We did back to back 7day trips and most divers gloves did not last the week ours look almost new after two weeks. SeaSoft Scuba Products

Hope that helps, but again better too warm than too cold.

Trip report, Multimedia (video) show and gallery at our website www.aquabluedreams.com
 
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I dove there at the end of July when the water temps were as described by mjh. Some people on the trip wore 5mm suits. I would not have been at all comfortable in that. I get cold easy and am not happy when I am cold. I wore an 8/7mm semi-dry (wetsuit). I was perfect on most dives. I was a little chilly on the coldest dive and a little warm on the warmest dive which is about the most you can hope for with a single suit.
 
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I use a 7mm wetsuit, and definitely enjoy the hot showers after the dives! As mentioned, it´s a good idea to invest in a good pair of gloves, as they do get ruined from holding onto the rocks. ALso my suit has extra rubber knee protection which i found helpful.
 
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I dove a 7mil Pinnacle merino (with a 3 mil hooded vest in the colder water) and was never cold, or overheated. You spend a lot of time in one spot (when not fighting the current) or drifting so tend to get colder than if you are actively swimming along. Also, be prepared for the extra weight you will need to carry. The water there seems more buoyant than our California water, and I had to add a few pounds over what I normally dive with the same gear.

Also make sure your BC has removable weights (and check to make sure they are secure)- I took a Zeagle but forgot the weight pouches and they had to lift my fully weighted BC into the pongas after every dive. I made sure I tipped accordingly.
 
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The water is fairly warm late April, however, what you need depends on which liveaboard you'll be on. For those who go on the western itinerary (Aggressor, Galapagos Sky) to Punta Vicente Roca, that's quite cold year round and can be in the low-mid 50's (F). It's not known as the Ice Box/Freezer for nothing. If you don't go over there, you could probably be comfortable in a 5mm as Cousins would most likely be the coldest dive.
 
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Hi, everyone, thank you very much for the extremely helpful responses. It seems that the consensus is 7mm so we will go with 7mm wetsuit and 7mm boots with 5mm gloves and 5mm hood. I get claustrophobic with hoods so want to cut down on the thickness with a 5mm rather than a 7mm hood. We cant go with a drysuit cause would probably never really be able to use it again in the future.

Dive the Galapagos, thanks for the very specific response. We are going with the Galapagos Sky and I was hoping to get away with a 5mm setup, but your info about "the ice box/freezer" changed my mind. Low-mid 50s! Brrrr...

Thanks again, everybody. We are definitely looking forward to our trip. Only problem is how far away next April looks.
 
I'm going to Galapagos for two weeks in April going most islands from South to North and East to West. We will snorkeling a lot around most of the islands. I guess for dive, one needs a dry suit and we'll only buy wetsuits, so stick with snorkeling. When you said 5mm, 7mm, do you mean full body wetsuit like Rip Curl and Roxy? or short wetsuit? I was told I only need 4/3 or 3/2 snorkeling at Galapagos and 5/4 is too hot, so I am confused by all the 5mm-7mm mentioned here by everybody. or maybe because you guys were diving, so you need warmer ones?

I just bought a Rip Curl 5/4 flash bomb and Roxy 3/2 for different temperature. If as you said for cold water, I need a 7mm, then maybe I should exchange it to a Patagonia R4?

can you give me some insight? I know we're going to some Islands with cold water. Thanks a lot!

---------- Post added October 15th, 2014 at 05:15 PM ----------

My galapagos two weeks trip will go to Punta Vicente Roca. Not sure if I will dive since I don't have a dry suit, but I will snorkeling. do you think I still need 7mm wetsuit? do you think patagonia R4 will be too warm for snorkeling there? I have a Rip Curl 5/4 flash bomb, but it's not as warm as a Patagonia R4 of course. would appreciate your input. Thanks.
 
I'm going to Galapagos for two weeks in April going most islands from South to North and East to West. We will snorkeling a lot around most of the islands. I guess for dive, one needs a dry suit and we'll only buy wetsuits, so stick with snorkeling. When you said 5mm, 7mm, do you mean full body wetsuit like Rip Curl and Roxy? or short wetsuit? I was told I only need 4/3 or 3/2 snorkeling at Galapagos and 5/4 is too hot, so I am confused by all the 5mm-7mm mentioned here by everybody. or maybe because you guys were diving, so you need warmer ones?

I just bought a Rip Curl 5/4 flash bomb and Roxy 3/2 for different temperature. If as you said for cold water, I need a 7mm, then maybe I should exchange it to a Patagonia R4?

can you give me some insight? I know we're going to some Islands with cold water. Thanks a lot!


FYI - the wetsuits you mention above are all surfing/watersports wetsuits. Not the same as you would use for snorkeling/diving. Perhaps OK for the casual snorkeler... but they are made for "standing up" while scuba wetsuits are cut to fit someone "laying down" in the water.
 
Camillex424...this post confuses me a bit. Are you going on a liveaboard aka a dive cruise? I can't tell. Temps are a bit warmer at the surface, in terms of snorkeling, than when diving due to the thermoclines you experience while diving. PVR is a bit cold period. I think a 5/4 is way more than enough if you're only snorkeling, but I would go with full suit rather than shorty. If you are going to PVR on a naturalist cruise, you won't be allowed to dive, only snorkel or more likely only a panga ride. If you are diving, yes a 7mm is necessary out west (PVR, Roco Redonda, Cabo Douglas, etc)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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