Is 5mm too much for Caribbean?

[Xanthro]

As others have posted, much depends on how cold you get. Some people are fine in shorts, other in same water want a 5 mm, or even 7 mm.

The more you dive per day, the more days in a row you dive, the thicker the protection you'll need.

Another thing to consider is, if you have too much protection, you can always flood to cool off, if you have too little, there isn't much you can do.

Xanthro

 

[fdog]

4 pages of what works for other folks.

You'll end up doing what the rest of us did; pick a size, go diving, and become

a) This porridge is too HOT
b) This porridge is too COLD
c) This porridge is juuuust right.

Option (a) or (b), you probabally won't make the mistake again!

As for what works for me, I use a 3mm Gold Core full suit in the East and West Carribean. I also carry a 3mm hood, and 3mm Core Warmer. For me, this has worked nicely from 70 to 85 degrees. The Core Warmer adds about 2 lbs to my luggage and 4 lbs of lead when diving.

All the best, James

 

[Ondeen]

I find it a challenge to get into a 3 mm suit. Suggestions would be appreciated! I usually wear a swimsuit and add a neoprene vest near the end of the week if I feel a bit chilly. It's probably significant that I do my dive vacations in the summer. I'd likely need more therman protection during the winter.

 

[Hoyden]

As many others have said, it all depends on your tolerances. I have been diving with a someone who was wearinga 7mm with a vest while I was hot in a 3mm shorty. One thing that no one has mentioned is that if you are worried about being cold, take a beanie/tropical hood. You lose lots of body heat through your head and a beanie can make a ton of difference in your comfort level without the bouyancy and mobility issues of a heavier wetsuit.

YMMV,

Jackie

 

[EricJ]

You lose lots of body heat through your head and a beanie can make a ton of difference in your comfort level without the bouyancy and mobility issues of a heavier wetsuit.

YMMV,

Jackie

Good point! A master's swimming publication quoted the amount of body heat lost through your head as being 80% (you may notice from my photo that I don't practice what I preach).

When doing multiple dives in a day, I found that putting on a cold, damp wetsuit or dive skin is what chilled me.

You might consider getting a suit with some sort of quick-drying material on the inside. I've heard good things about Henderson's Gold Core suits. Supposedly, the inside of the suit dries almost instantly.

Staying warm in between dives and while suiting up is, in my amature opinion, as important as keeping warm in the water.

Personally, I think a 5 mil is too much for warm-water diving, but I wear a 5 mil in California and have a nice layer of personal insulation.

 

[DaveP]

- where are they from and where do they usually dive (in my experience people who are from the north, even if they don't dive there, are much more tolerant of the cold. I've been on a boat in the Fla keys where it was 80, happily diving in a t-shirt, when everyone local thought it was getting too cold in their 5mm and considered the season almost over.)

In my opinion, this is one of the biggest factors. The last time I dove in the keys in the winter, the locals seemed one step away from begging for a drysuit. I trimmed down the advice from a dive shop there, and wore a two-piece 3mm, and was sweating underwater. I'm from Michigan - it felt like bath water to me.

As others have said, it's all subjective - as with the advice for any travels, scuba or not, dress in layers. Being able to unzip underwater and add or subtract layers on the boat gives you the flexibility to enjoy your diving rather than worry about what you're wearing. If you're having a tough time deciding, one option is to wear a 3mm suit over top of a dive skin - once you discover your tolerance of the water temp there, you end up with a number of options with those two garments.

 

[Damselfish]

I talked to someone in Florida who used to live up north. They said it took about a year after they moved down there before their "northern-ness" wore off and they started needing a heavier suit.

 

[lairdb]

4 pages of what works for other folks.

You'll end up doing what the rest of us did; pick a size, go diving, and become

a) This porridge is too HOT
b) This porridge is too COLD
c) This porridge is juuuust right.

Option (a) or (b), you probabally won't make the mistake again!

As for what works for me, I use a 3mm Gold Core full suit in the East and West Carribean. I also carry a 3mm hood, and 3mm Core Warmer. For me, this has worked nicely from 70 to 85 degrees. The Core Warmer adds about 2 lbs to my luggage and 4 lbs of lead when diving.

All the best, James

What James said, both on the individuality of it all, and the equipment choices. Like James, I pack a 3mm Gold Core, 3mm hood, and 3mm Core Warmer. (To be complete about it, also 3mm booties (though I'm about to pick up new booties and will probably go with 5mm) 3mm gloves, and a beanie (actually, a squidcap, which is a baseball cap made out of 2mm neoprene.)

Between all that, which is really very little more packing volume than the base wetsuit, I can mix and match for a fairly wide range. (Don't forget to have a mental note of how much weight to add. I find that the small pieces can be mostly ignored; I add 4 pounds for the Core Warmer.)

 

[SteveDiver]

IMO this time if year yes it is to heavy. I wore a 2/3 long and should have wore my shortie..the water temp was 81 degrees...I was there Feb 1-2

 

[aquaoren]

Submariner is a Canadian and they have a different perception of cold
I dove the Red Sea (24C) in a 7 mm Semidry and I was comfortable. 5mm would have been fine too.