What to wear diving in the Caribbean?

[dmaziuk]

We're doing Curacao with the Surge in January and I'm wondering what to wear then.

Same as in Roatan: air and water temperatures normally only change by a couple of degrees from winter to summer, and between most "inner" islands. Places exposed to open ocean is where temperature swings get more pronounced.

 

[Outbound]

This has probably been said before, but I've never heard anyone complain of being too hot in a full wetsuit. I have heard people complain about being too cold in a rashguard and bathing suit, or in a shorty though. You can always pull on the neck and get some water to flush in if you are warm. If you are cold you'll be miserable.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

This has probably been said before, but I've never heard anyone complain of being too hot in a full wetsuit. I have heard people complain about being too cold in a rashguard and bathing suit, or in a shorty though. You can always pull on the neck and get some water to flush in if you are warm. If you are cold you'll be miserable.

Not in the Caribbean because I don't dive a full wetsuit but My first dive at a fairly local quarry (3.5 hours south) I didn't know what to expect so I wore a full 5mm with gloves and hood. Bottom depth was 29 ft and temp ended up being about 85F. I lasted about 10 minutes before I had to surface due to feeling like I was about to vomit from being too hot. After I regained my composure about 45 minutes later, I stripped to a swimsuit and rash guard and dove the rest of the day comfortable in that. Seeing as water temps in Cozumel are roughly the same, I've not dared to dive there in a wetsuit for that very reason.

 

[BalekFekete]

From my (sole) warm diving experience earlier this month in Bermuda and St. Maarten, my wife and I dove in 3mm full suit and shorty respectively. Water temperature at depth (40-50') was 82F and we were never cold but also not sweltering on the surface. Granted, we made sure to stay under cover on the boat and had relatively short SIs. There was a couple in just swimsuits and a rashguard and admitted to getting chilled - not dive-cancelling cold tho' - during the latter portions of the second dive. Ultimately, like everyone else has said here, YMMV to a large degree.

 

[Outbound]

Not in the Caribbean because I don't dive a full wetsuit but My first dive at a fairly local quarry (3.5 hours south) I didn't know what to expect so I wore a full 5mm with gloves and hood. Bottom depth was 29 ft and temp ended up being about 85F. I lasted about 10 minutes before I had to surface due to feeling like I was about to vomit from being too hot. After I regained my composure about 45 minutes later, I stripped to a swimsuit and rash guard and dove the rest of the day comfortable in that. Seeing as water temps in Cozumel are roughly the same, I've not dared to dive there in a wetsuit for that very reason.

Yeah, but that's in 85 degree water and with a 5mm suit on. For the Caribbean, temps are generally between about 78 and 82 degrees year round. In those temps, the vast majority of people will feel perfectly fine in a 3mm fullsuit. Some may want a 5mm, and some can go with a rashguard and bathing suit, but the latter would likely still feel comfy in a 3mm fullsuit.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Not in the Caribbean because I don't dive a full wetsuit but My first dive at a fairly local quarry (3.5 hours south) I didn't know what to expect so I wore a full 5mm with gloves and hood. Bottom depth was 29 ft and temp ended up being about 85F. I lasted about 10 minutes before I had to surface due to feeling like I was about to vomit from being too hot. After I regained my composure about 45 minutes later, I stripped to a swimsuit and rash guard and dove the rest of the day comfortable in that. Seeing as water temps in Cozumel are roughly the same, I've not dared to dive there in a wetsuit for that very reason.

In 85F water, a 3 mm would be nice for me. But if I were too lazy or too cheap to switch wetsuits seasonally, I could get by with a 5 mm and use @Outbound 's trick of letting a little water run down the neck into the suit. If there is a single suit that, uh, suits me for all my tropical diving in all seasons, it's the 5 mm. My go-to suit. Granted, I have a lower cold tolerance than average, and I'm not saying it ought to be everyone's go-to suit. As I think I mentioned above, I see more 3 mm suits than anything else.

A temp of 85F at depth is about as hot as the water ever gets anywhere in the world. Sure, maybe Coz and places like Key Largo get that warm at the height of summer in some years, but year-round temps average several degrees below that. Coz probably averages, what, 81-82. I can't say I have dived everywhere in all seasons--I have tried to avoid the Caribbean in hurricane season, for example--but it's interesting to note that my dive computer has never registered a temp as high as 85F in all my trips.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Yeah, but that's in 85 degree water and with a 5mm suit on. For the Caribbean, temps are generally between about 78 and 82 degrees year round. In those temps, the vast majority of people will feel perfectly fine in a 3mm fullsuit. Some may want a 5mm, and some can go with a rashguard and bathing suit, but the latter would likely still feel comfy in a 3mm fullsuit.

The other part of this is due to my body composition, even in a skin, I already require about 20 lbs for descent.

 

[dmaziuk]

... but it's interesting to note that my dive computer has never registered a temp as high as 85F in all my trips.

Mine has, in Guanacaste CR, and it was the highest I've ever seen on it. That was at SS depth, on that same dive we got into a cold surge where it registered 75 or something equally scary... the lowest I've ever seen on it. People in 5 mil and hoods were just as uncomfortable as I was in a 2/1 shorty, and when we were out the DM commented that it's the temperature change that knocks the air out of you.

I expect I would have gone hypothermic if we stayed in it for more than a few minutes though, while people in 5 mm wouldn't have.

 

[wildbill9]

So many replies and advice but I guess I will dive in what I always wear is a huge smile! Just glad to be there.....But that's just me, oh and a skin guard or shortie but always a smile. Bill

 

[Hank49]

So many replies and advice but I guess I will dive in what I always wear is a huge smile! Just glad to be there.....But that's just me, oh and a skin guard or shortie but always a smile. Bill

That’s the spirit!!
My two baht...I live in Belize.
.I wear a full 1.5 in summer. Lycra hood
Farmer John open cell, full 2 mm, two piece, with hood in spring and fall
Full 3 two piece, open cell, hood from Nov or so thru March.

I’m kind of a skinny old fart and mostly free dive now, which keeps me in the water for up to 6 hours a day.