How Thick should our suits be?

[N1NJA_TURTLE]

Hello all! Me and my gf are shopping around for our very first wetsuits soon. We live in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl and plan to dive alot in the Keys. How Thick Should we Go? ive heard that a 3mm wiould be fine for that area, which would be fine for me but she gets cold really easily. What should she get? Shoudl we get full or Shorty?
Thanks for your replies, my very first post. Thanks!

 

[Aquabot]

Doubt your gonna need one during the summer, especially down on the keys.

 

[decompression]

Sometimes different thicknesses work for different people, same water temp. Consider the quality, depth/length of dive, fit and water movement reducing features of a suit. Also, your tolerance to cold. As a very general place to start I'm sure 3 mm full or shorty will be about right. Best of luck!

 

[flots am]

Hello all! Me and my gf are shopping around for our very first wetsuits soon. We live in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl and plan to dive alot in the Keys. How Thick Should we Go? ive heard that a 3mm wiould be fine for that area, which would be fine for me but she gets cold really easily. What should she get? Shoudl we get full or Shorty?
Thanks for your replies, my very first post. Thanks!

It depends on how much you'll be diving and how easily you get cold. Right now the water is about 75F, which makes it about 4 degrees colder than the pool I teach in and I wear a 3mm full suit.

You could probably get by with a 3mm suit and a hood (lots of heat loss through your head and neck). However I'm a weenie about getting cold and might even bring my drysuit. I'd get laughed at, but I'd be warm.

flots.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My wife and I wear a 3/2 full suit (that's 3 mm over core body areas, and 2 mm in portions of arms and legs) for Keys diving at almost any time of year, as well as the Caribbean. We like the protection that a full suit affords against brushes with marine life. We don't find it uncomfortable in the summer. I have a shorty but never wear it.

My wife also has a hooded Lavacore vest that she puts on under the 3/2 when she gets cold. This works for her in the Keys in winter months.

 

[rongoodman]

For 75-76 degree dives in the cenotes, I wear a 5mm suit in addition to a hooded vest, the same someplace like Saba on a liveboard, where the water is a few degrees warmer, but five dives a day is the rule.