Wetsuit advice for Bonaire

[arcticat99]

i believe also where you are from and your tolerance to cold/heat. im from Sask Canada and dove in a 2mm Bare shorty wetsuit in bonaire and it was like a bathtub to me but another couple from florida were wearing full length 3 mm and they were cold so tolerance and acclimation plays a role for sure

 

[arcticat99]

I always use a full wetsuit when diving in the tropics, mainly for skin protection from stingers. On my last trip to Bonaire, I wore this slightly ventilated 3/2mm

View attachment 516493

where can you buy a suit like that its perfect

 

[dmaziuk]

I guess I’m the weirdo. My wife and I are taking our first trip to Bonaire in late June. We are cave divers and only dive open water once every few years. We will be diving rebreathers so dives will all be 90minutes plus. We plan to dive in our dry suits. We can choose to dive lighter or heavier undergarments based on how cold we get. Seems like we’ll be the oddballs on the island in drysuits. Since we only dive dry, we get cold easily.

For a 90-minute dive I'd probably appreciate a drysuit myself, and I dive in a shorty.

 

[drbill]

where can you buy a suit like that its perfect

Ha, I've got a few of them in 3/2, 5 and 7mm

 

[rddvet]

For a 90-minute dive I'd probably appreciate a drysuit myself, and I dive in a shorty.

I figure the first dive won't be bad. It will be the second long dive of the day where the cold will really get annoying. My wife wears a drysuit, 400gram undergarment, and 5 or 9 mil hood when diving off of boats in florida, so I suspect the water won't be that much warmer in Bonaire.

 

[arcticat99]

I figure the first dive won't be bad. It will be the second long dive of the day where the cold will really get annoying. My wife wears a drysuit, 400gram undergarment, and 5 or 9 mil hood when diving off of boats in Florida, so I suspect the water won't be that much warmer in Bonfaire.

i dove with some people from Florida that said the water was much colder in Bonaire .me being a Canadian thought they were nuts lol

 

[doctock993]

When I started diving I was a t-shirt and board shorts diver - 35+ years later I'm freezing in tropical waters in 3mm & sometimes 5mm. About 4 years ago I added a hood - WHAT a difference! I may look like a weirdo in a 5mm skirted hood with a 3mm full suit in the tropics, but I'm a happy warm diver who can stay immobile trying to get a super-macro shot.

 

[dmaziuk]

I figure the first dive won't be bad. It will be the second long dive of the day where the cold will really get annoying. My wife wears a drysuit, 400gram undergarment, and 5 or 9 mil hood when diving off of boats in florida, so I suspect the water won't be that much warmer in Bonaire.

We were on a dive on Klein in March where I felt distinctly chilly by the end -- when I commented on it, our captain/DM said he got cold as well. He was wearing a full suit, at least 3mm if not 5, I forget if it was hooded or not, I was in a 2/1 shorty. First dive of the day.

 

[boat sju]

I use a 4/3 in Bonaire. For me it's perfect but it has shrunk a bit. 4/3's are hard to find (in my price range),

 

[cutty]

We are just over half of a 2 week trip... 2 dives a day so far.... cold by 45 minutes of 75 minute dives with a full 3mm...3 photogs with me so very slow .... u can kick and move to keep warm!