What weight wetsuit for Ginnie Springs?

[Brewone0to]

waters 72 ish and I did my dives in a full 3mm suit, locals froze and used beanies-hoods gloves and still looked cold, I was fine.
Brad

:huh: I don't know which "locals" you saw when you were there, but when I go there(or any of the other Florida springs) I usually wear a 2mm shorty and do just fine.
Although when air temps drop below 75, I don't waste any time getting out of it.
For those people that are alittle cold blooded, There are warm/hot showers in the bathouses located a couple hundred feet from the most dove springs.eyebrow

 

[tlawler]

Sorry to jump off topic here, but anyone going up to Ginnie for the weekend(28 & 29)? The trip I was going to make kind of fell through, so I decided to go camping and diving at Ginnie. I want to get a few more practice dives in before I go for cave intro.

 

[cyklon_300]

really presenting yourself as 'average' in terms of thermal tolerance? Most people would be severely uncomfortable in 70F water with that little exposure protection.

I guess we're now waiting on someone to tell us how they're 'toasty' in a 0.5mm skin.

I dive FL caves in a drysuit, multiple layers of 200 wt fleece, hood, and gloves. In Oct, most of the wetsuit guys I saw at Ginnie were using either 5mm two-piece or 7mm suits and had chattering teeth.

Being cold sucks in many ways.

 

[H2Andy]

i now dive dry, but i used to dive Ginnie with a 3mil farmer john (so really
6 mil on my chest), and on top of that i'd wear a vest with hood (so really
9mil on my chest).

that was enough to get me by, but i'm a cold wus.

 

[prittykitty]

I'm a Florida resident and usually dive springs with a three mil and hood (just to keep hair out of the way). I'm usually fine for about an hour under, but getting out is another storyenguin:

 

[PerroneFord]

I dive Ginnie (twice a month) in a 5mm Farmer top. Most people I dive with are in 5mm full suits or similar. I don't get cold easily, as I've done those dives with the air temps in the upper 30s. I'd say bring a 5mm and a hood to be safe, or a 3mm and a vest or something. But the hood DOES make a difference.

 

[piikki]

Just came back from my Florida trip. On last day we clocked 3 dives in Ginnie and I was very happy I decided to bring my 7mm. I dove with gloves and hood every dive, and would not have left the hood on the picnic table for the money. Buddy used the same suit but without hood & gloves and was happy too.

The air temp was 80F but noway was I jealous of the blokes who went in with 3 mm shorties and kept coming back after 25 min dives... Some persisted but there were awful lot of people who did very brief dives - same happened in Blue Grotto. Maybe that explains some too. We generally make 60 min dives, if you plan to stay max 30 mins, you might not need so much rubber even if you aren't so exceptional thermo-wise.

 

[dug037]

I dove Manatee Spgs. on Christmas. My fiancee and I both wore 3mm suits with hoods/gloves and were fine in the water. Like others have said, the chill hits when you get out.

 

[slingshot]

Hi Gene:
I was there about the time Ron63 was. Being on the surface for snorkeling with manatees, if that is part of your plan, you don't exert that much energy. I used a 5/4 suit and a 3mm hood, and was quite toasty for my 90 minutes or so in the water. I think a full 3 would be about the minimum I'd want. Some in the boat wearing full 3mm suits were getting chilly, but they also didn't have much bioprene. In the springs, expect 72 degrees. Again, for me, the 5/4 suit was perfect for that, but other divers ranged from 3mm to 7mm based on their preferences. Do you dive in NC in a 3mm?

 

[Brewone0to]

Well you may have a point as to my thermal inclination,as I have spent many a 2-3 hour periods freeswimming in many of Florida's springs(no wetsuit,just shorts or trunks)
Also,When I went to Weeki Wachee on New Years Scubaboard dive.I wore my 3m on the first dive,then my trusty 2m shorty on the second dive(way over 1 hr)
maybe they had the heater on,you think??