Wet Suit thickness required for Kona during November

[Scuba-junky]

My wife and I will be in Kona on the Big Island for the last 2 weeks of November. We're dragging our gear with us and would like to know if we should bring 3mm or 7 mm wet suits. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

P.S. If anyone else is going to be around Kona during this time, please let us know. We'd love to have a few others join us for a few shore dives and maybe boat dives as well. Night Manta Dive????

Norm & Chris

 

[StuartT]

My wife and I will be in Kona on the Big Island for the last 2 weeks of November. We're dragging our gear with us and would like to know if we should bring 3mm or 7 mm wet suits. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

P.S. If anyone else is going to be around Kona during this time, please let us know. We'd love to have a few others join us for a few shore dives and maybe boat dives as well. Night Manta Dive????

Norm & Chris

I have dove Hawaii in Jan, Sept, and May and never got cold in my 3mm full with booties and light tropical gloves. If you tend to chill easy a 7 mil won't be overkill. Most of the dm's there dive with 7mil and some with hoods too. Water temps are 74-80 year round. Hope that helps you.

 

[*dave*]

Temps were perfect for the 5mil I used there last November. I was doing 90+ minute dives and felt a 3mil would have been just a tad chilly, especially for the second dive. As it was, the 5 was a bit warm early in the dive, but totally comfortable if I pumped a bit of water into the suit.

3 mil would probably be fine for shorter dives, if you aren't doing multiple dives back to back.

 

[DiveMaven]

The answer depends on your cold tolerance, the number of dives you're going to be doing, and how many days in a row.

We dive Maui every year in December for 12-14 days and dive 2-3 tanks daily. Last year I wore a 7mm full suit and was comfortable the entire trip, though I hated the buoyancy characteristics and instead will wear a 5mm Merino lined suit like my husband wears.

Since your choice is either a 3mm or a 7mm, if you're going to do repetitive diving, you could buy a hooded vest to layer under the 3mm suit. If you're only doing a few dives here and there, the 3mm will likely be fine.

Plan for the water to be about 77 degrees and pack accordingly.

 

[tdinindy]

Just dove refuge.... No wet suit very comfortable.

 

[kidspot]

Hawaii is one of those funny places temperature wise - we're not warm enough that no one needs a wetsuit, and we're not cold enough that everyone needs one either ... So the phrase "it just depends" is very true here. Sub-tropical is kinda weird that way I guess - You will find divers in just speedo's all the way to full drysuits and everything in between ... course those are the extremes As noted, most dive professionals here wear either a 5 or 7 mil full suit, often times with a hood.

Now does that help much?

Aloha, and have a great trip!
Tim

 

[fdog]

Hawaii is one of those funny places temperature wise - we're not warm enough that no one needs a wetsuit, and we're not cold enough that everyone needs one either ... So the phrase "it just depends" is very true here. Sub-tropical is kinda weird that way I guess - You will find divers in just speedo's all the way to full drysuits and everything in between ... course those are the extremes As noted, most dive professionals here wear either a 5 or 7 mil full suit, often times with a hood.

Now does that help much?

Aloha, and have a great trip!
Tim

There is no way I would do more than a single dive a day in Hawaii (in December) without a drysuit. Really.

And speaking of drysuits, Tim, how's your new drysuit working out?


All the best, James

 

[Jandot]

My husband and I are in Kona this week. Water temps on our dives were between77-82. We both dove in 3 ml full suits, and dives were about 1 hour. He was quite comfortable, I got just a little cold, but always get cold a little quickly. Air temp is very warm and humid. Happy diving!

 

[friscuba]

We're seeing 77-80 on the computers on the boat when divers get out of the water this week. Call it 78.

As others have said, most people do fine in a 3 mil full. Slender bodied people might really appreciate a 5 mil or at least a hood.

The temperature usually does it's dropping during December and January. Once the winter swells hit, it'll drop a degree to degree and a half with each northwest swell. It could drop another two degrees or so this month, maybe.

The whole thing about instructors and DMs wearing 7 mil suits really doesn't apply to most visitors... if you dive 250-300 days a year you eventually find that 76 degrees will feel like 68 degrees. Many in the industry diving regularly buy themselves a fresh new wetsuit around December, then wear it thin by the next time it gets cold. I made it 8 years in a 3 mil (I've got my own insulation sort of, some months I added a 3 mil shorty) but went to a 4/3 last year and will go to a 5 or 7 when things cool down this year.

Have fun!

 

[kidspot]

There is no way I would do more than a single dive a day in Hawaii (in December) without a drysuit. Really.

And speaking of drysuits, Tim, how's your new drysuit working out?


All the best, James

Last December I was doing 4 dives a day in swim trunks or a full rash guard at most but I'm pretty well insulated, though I never did more than a 90 minute dive in 73* water

Now I'm going to the other extreme - LOL - The drysuit arrived yesterday - unless things change soon it will probably be about a month before I get to dive it though Whites Tropical Explorer Pre-Dive Impressiosn - The Dive Matrix Forums

I'm definitely the odd duck in both directions I guess

Aloha, Tim