Wetsuit Recommendation.

[tac747]

Hi all,
My daughter will be in Coz at SCC in September. I was going to get her a new wesuit for her trip and I am looking for suggested thickness. Here in California in monterey she wears a 7mm with 5mm gloves and does not get cold except the fingers after about 30 to 40 minutes. She is athletic with low body fat. Is the water temp that time of year warm enough for a 1mm or should she use a 3/2. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[mediumone]

You'll get answers all over the board, but here's my two cents. We too have low body fat, generally go in late March - early April. Temp this last time averaged 79. We all had 3mm shorties. A couple of times I thought that a 3mm full would have been nice, because I got cool, not cold.


Have been there when the temp was 82 - 83, and never thought about a full.


A 1mm? ---- well some people dive in swim trunks and a t-shirt. I think most of us gringos would prefer a bit more --- at least for the core.

 

[Darol]

3mm shorty will do it. I like to wear a full 3mm suit when taking pics, more for protection.
Hope she has a great trip.

 

[dfx]

We got a full 5 mm for Mexico. Lowest water temp recorded was 81F and the suit was just perfect for that. While it may be more than necessary, it's not too much, i.e. you don't get hot. The thinking was that we do want full body protection against anything that may wanna touch us, so a shortie was out of the question (even though we have those too) and that a full 5 mm would also be good for diving cooler waters. Plus, there was little to no cost difference between a full 3 mm and a 5 mm (but YMMV).

 

[Easdem]

Last year I was there in October. I dove a 3m Shorty. I was comfortable the whole time. There was one time we hit a thermocline around 89fsw, I got a little chilled but no big deal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[BettyfromToronto]

I have a 3m full and it was perfect for SCC in January and again in April. Hope it will be good also for this coming November. I also bought a beanie at Robin's suggestion (I hate hoods) for the January trip and it made a huge difference. Thought I didn't need it in April but it was back on after the first dive. Will probably wear it for November though I am hoping the water is warmer.

 

[Coral-Reefer]

During the summer and early fall months I always take a 3mm full and a 3mm shorty and have always been great!

 

[morecowbells]

I am a total wuss with water temps. I always wear my 5 mm wetsuit. I never am hot underwater, even with super warm water temps. The big disadvantage of this thickness is the increased amount of weight I need. In a 3 ml 10 pounds of weight works like a charm. If I use my 5 mm, I have to increase my weights to 16 pounds. That is the big disadvantage of wearing the thicker wetsuits.

Another consideration is repetitive days of diving. Does your daughter dive several consecutive days in California? In my experience, by mid week I start getting significantly chilled and require my Lavacore vest under wetsuit. Also keep in mind that gloves are prohibited in Cozumel.

 

[bbarada]

My wife and I were there last September. We started with a 0.5 mil full wetsuit. We ended the 12 days diving with only a bathing suit and a sun rasher. We did up to 4 dives a day.

 

[beaverdivers]

A 3mm full suit or even a 5mm.