How far south do I have to go to be comfy in 3 mm wetsuit in March

[dlwalke]

Will be in FL mid March and may be able to squeeze in a dive amongst other scheduled events. I have a drysuit but have not dived in one ever before. Perhaps I could use it as an opportunity to do a day of instruction. The easiest thing though would be to use my wetsuit if that were feasible. Is there anywhere in FL that most folks are comfortable donning wetsuits in mid March?

Thanks

 

[warmwaterturner]

I have a hooded 5/3 core warmer that I add to the 3mm by the END of March for south Texas.

 

[terrylowe]

3-13-2008 Northern Florida Water was 61 degrees F. I had hood and 3mm. Verrry short dive.:w-t-f: I have not been the same man since.

 

[Fishpie]

Cuba and points south.
....or add a hooded vest for S Florida.

 

[idive2]

Depends if you are diving the gulf or the east coast, big temperature difference.
We have some divers that will dive the se coast and keys in a full 3 mm and a hood
or beanie. I consider this to be the minimum. A 5 mm full is probably more common
in the winter months for those that want to add an additional wetsuit to their
closet. Now if your talking about the gulf coast the drysuit is not out of the question
in the winter or early spring.

 

[reefman]

water temp today@ molasses reef(offshore key largo) was 73-74F and has been slowly rising daily. historical mean water temp for MLRF in march is 75.2F(24C). a 3MM suit will work for many divers; it's doable for @ least a few dives,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[pafindr]

It depends on you really. What's the coldest you can do in a 3mm?
I dove LBTS at 68* in a 1.5mm for 45min.

 

[H20man]

It depends on you really. What's the coldest you can do in a 3mm?
I dove LBTS at 68* in a 1.5mm for 45min.

I also dove LBTS at 71* with a 3mm wetsuit, gloves and no hood for 55 minutes.

 

[bilsant]

Dove the Captain Dan and Qualman tug wrecks off of Pompano Beach this morning. Temps were around 67 degrees. I wore a 3 mil and hood and was fine (I'm kind of naturally insulated - some of the other folks I dove with were chilled in 5 mils - so what you're used to kind of factors in).

My dive log indicates last year by late March waters around here were in low to mid 70s and I was back in a diveskin by early April.