What thickness wetsuit for Coz in January?

[DandyDon]

There is even less reason to wear a 7mm in Puget Sound than in Cozumel. Everyone should be in a dry suit in the Puget Sound.

Your reasoning is that in saltwater too cold for a 3 mil, everyone needs a dry suit. Sorry, but that's just out of my budget. I enjoyed diving Puget Sound once in my 7 mil aside from my feet getting cold. I bought neoprene socks that fit with my heavy boots after that in case I got back someday. I took my 5 mil to the Florida Keys in December once, and it worked fine.

Are the water temperatures in the Keys that much colder than those around Cozumel? I have never seen anyone sit out the second dive because they are too cold to dive, and lots of people dive there year round with no cold water protection at all. I don't know anyone who dives Cozumel in a drysuit, ever; you'd be the first.

A few digits of air and water temps can make a big difference altho I used to know a gal who had to have a drysuit in Coz in the summer. Everyone's different.

 

[Doc Harry]

...Sorry, but that's just out of my budget. ..Everyone's different.

Everyone values their life more than others. I value mine, and that's why I dive dry.

 

[BrewingDiver]

We had a young couple on our boat in Coz all week diving dry. They were from California and said that is all they owned. We were on a smaller boat with no head so a long morning for them lol.

In FL I've used my 5mm in January, but that was the Jupiter area which is mitigated by the gulfstream, not the Keys. I have heard that can get cold.