South Florida Dry Suit???

[dave22387]

I'm originally a New Yorker and the water was somewhat cold. I have a nice thin trilam that I loaded up with insulation. I now live in deerfield beach florida and am diving a 3mm full suit with a hood and am comfortable in July. I DO NOT LIKE TO BE COLD. The question is does anyone down here dive dry during the winter? I do not want to dive a 5mm, 7mm etc... If anyone does dive dry here what do you use for insulation if anything at all? I've never had this dilemma.

 

[Dsix36]

I only dive wet about 2-3 months of the year. I live in Deerfield Beach also. When the water is warmer then I will use a thin polartec fleece undie ands when it cools down I will be in a thick 200gm Andies undie.

I am a cold water wimp. I can deal with 80 degree water for a mere hour and then I start to get cold in a wetsuit. Most of my dives are very long with deco and I hate being cold.

I have been know to dive dry with my street clothes underneath if the weather and water was warm enough.

 

[dave22387]

What would you use under your suit if your we're to go dive today?

 

[divad]

Yes to drysuit in winter with thin fleece, especially on a boat to prevent after-dive wind chill.

 

[Dsix36]

What would you use under your suit if your we're to go dive today?

The water is warm enough right now that I would prefer my wetsuit for most diving, but with a drysuit if I were to do a recreational dive, just my street clothes since fleece would be too warm. If I were going deeper (gets cold down there) then I would have a thin fleece. If I were planning for a long long deco, possible 2 layers of fleece but i don't think I would need my heavy undies right now.

Sometimes it is a tricky balancing act to get the right comfort since you never know for sure the bottom temps and if you have to much insulation the deco can get very warm in the shallow water.

Scubadadmiami uses a drysuit year round. I don't think he even owns a wetsuit.

 

[mselenaous]

Yep, I prefer >84deg max 2 hours, in a shorty. At 80-84 deg, I wear a 3mm full suit, <80 either 5mm sometimes add vest on second dive. Below 75, drysuit - usually with a single or double layer of Underarmor. Fleece undies 300gm come out when water drops to 70. In cave country I will wear both set of Underarmor and fleece vest. I also have a full 300gm jumpsuit I don't use often. If it is cool and windy (like in the winter) the water will be warmer than the air, but coming up wet on a windy boat during a surface interval or the ride home isn't any fun.

Moral of the story: Only you can figure out what you will need by trial and error. Working with various layers will give you the ability to fine tune to your needs.

 

[dreamdive]

I am with DSix. I dive dry more often then wet in South Florida, but like Don, we dive deeper longer and need the extra protection. I found that rather than wearing one single layer protection, layering works much better. So depending on the outside temp and dive, I layer accordingly. A good company to look at is Fourth Element, but their stuff is expensive. Good mountain climbing or skiing insulation works very well, too.

 

[tracydr]

I prefer to dive dry, now that I finally have a drysuit. If the water temp is below 76, I'll be diving dry. That's most of the year in our local lake, here in AZ and all the time when we dive So.Ca.
I would be diving dry in Florida if it was less than 80 and the air temps allowed me to get in the water without dying of heat stroke. Here in AZ, I start wearing a drysuit when the above water temps are down in the 90s. I suspect I would need it to be a little cooler in Florida, due to the humidity but maybe on a boat with the wind I would be more comfortable.
I know if I was diving the north Florida springs I'd definitely dive dry, with their temps, no matter what the air temps were!

 

[letterboy]

I dive my cnse with nothing but silk long undies most of the year, when it gets cooler I put a thin set of poly pro on... The compressed neoprene helps with insulation.

I get strange looks on boats but I am warm, dry and don't get that sticky saltwater feeling.

 

[TSandM]

I dive dry more than 90% of the time. For water over 82, I just use a base layer. 75 to 82, it's a base layer with a set of Lands End polarfleece sweats. 65 to 75, it's my 200g Thinsulate UG, and below 65, it's my cold water stuff.