adamp69
Contributor
Hey everyone. Heading down to Mexico in a few days, and a few of us are debating what we will need for a suit, if any. Any recommendations or experiences. I'm personally hoping I can get away without one. Thanks
Wetsuits for Mexico diving
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dfx
Contributor
I'm not going anywhere without my 5mm. But I also get cold in a 94°F pool. Most people thought I'd get hot in a 5mm down south.
Where in Mexico? Temperatures are different on the West Coast or the Sea of Cortez than they are in the Caribbean.
On the Caribbean side, I've never needed anything other than a dive skin except for in the cenotes. But it will mostly depend on your personal tolerances. If in doubt, wear a little more. You can always vent a little water in during your dive to cool off, but being cold during a dive would be miserable.
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Pretty hard to answer as it all depends on the individuals tolerance to cold. I usually dive a full 5mm in the tropics. Was in Thailand a couple of weeks ago and decided I'd give a full 3mm a shot, that turned out to be a mistake, I was doing a liveaboard the first day was ok but began to get progressively colder as the trip progressed by day 5 I was cold, so cold in fact I had to borrow a shorty to wear over my 3mm. Back to 5mm in the tropics for me. Short of drowning nothing ruins a dive more than being cold. If in doubt go thicker you can always flush the suit if you get warm during the dive, there is not much you can do if you get cold. Good luck.
In February I took a 3/2mm suit with me to Cozumel but never needed any more than a T-shirt and swimming trunks.
I use a 5mm with a hooded vest in the cenotes, and just the suit for ocean dives near Playa/Cozumel.
I used to dive a Bare Velocity 3/2, but recently bought a Bare Velocity 5/4, and will never go back to anything thinner. With extended bottom times, I really appreciate the heat retention of the 5/4, and as pointed out above, all it takes is a little tug on the neck or wrist seal to balance your comfort during the dive.
Safety Stop
Contributor
During my IDC last Feb & March, I had my 3mm for pool session and for ocean session & Cenote, I had my 7mm.
In February I used a lavacore shirt and a pair of board shorts in the Caribbean off of Cancun. My friend used no exposure protection at all. It's pretty subjective, but since we're coming out of freezing temps in Wisconsin in February, even a 73 degree bottom temp seems comfortable. The locals were in polytherm plus 8mm wetsuits and hoods and still froze their tails off.
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