Scuba, shorty v/s 3mm long

[BonesDoc]

We will be diving the first week of January on 3 of the 4 stops ,Belize, costa mya, and forgot the other one. Anyway I was trying to decide, do we take a shorty or 3mm or even 7mm suits. Has anyone dove or recently dove these areas and can help me out?:confused:

Thanks

[CaribQween]

We will be diving the first week of January on 3 of the 4 stops ,Belize, costa mya, and forgot the other one. Anyway I was trying to decide, do we take a shorty or 3mm or even 7mm suits. Has anyone dove or recently dove these areas and can help me out?:confused:

Thanks

 

We're going to be diving Grand Cayman, Belize and Roatan the week of February 14th. We have 3 mm suits and I had been considering getting a shorty for the Caribbean just because it's such a hassle getting into the long suits. However, everyone at our dive shop has told us that we should stick with the 3mm suits. Our instructor told us that if you're diving only one day in the warm waters of the Caribbean that you could consider a shorty, but if you're diving several days, you should use a long suit because your body will tend to get cooler each day and you won't be able to get warm enough. Also, the shorty leaves you open to getting scratched up on your arms and legs should you hit against any of the coral and such. I defintely think the 7mm would be too much. We used those when we were taking our Advanced Open Water course in water that was about 56 -60 degrees. If you were to go up from a 3 mm, probably consider the 5mm full suit, but that might still be too much. You might want to check some websites to see what the water temp averages for this time of year. Good luck and Safe Diving!!

[unavox]

Over a previous January cruise, we went diving and only used our skins......Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

 

Also, consider how much you want to pack.

 

Personally, I was not worried about lowering my core temp as we were only in the water 2 hours daily.

 

Plan you dive and dive your plan!!!

 

Enjoy!!!

[budaman]

You might want to consider a .5mm full skin. It will give you more insulation than a lycra skin and is so much easier to pack than a 3mm shorty. It also provides the abrasion protection. They also dry quickly. We have used ours for the past 4 years diving in Tahiti, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and our recent trip to the Southern Caribbean. In February, we spent 4 days diving in Cozumel & I took the skin & my 3mm full & never got the 3mm wet. Ours are Scubapro, but I'm sure there are other manufacturers.

 

Mike

 

http://gallery.me.com/csealove

[georoc01]

I dive my 3/2MM full. I like it for the protection as much as the warmth. A skin is probably enough for most dives, but I just like having my arms & legs covered just in case. I also wear a scuba du rag to avoid sunburn on my head which happened after too much sun on one dive.

[budaman]

I dive my 3/2MM full. I like it for the protection as much as the warmth. A skin is probably enough for most dives, but I just like having my arms & legs covered just in case. I also wear a scuba du rag to avoid sunburn on my head which happened after too much sun on one dive.

 

If you like the Scuba du rag, you might want to check this out:

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=SCAP

 

They keep a little more warmth in the head.

 

I couldn't keep the Du rag on my head. We purchased two of these before our Cozumel trip & they worked great . The have nubs in the forehead that keeps them from slipping. Sorry, the girls don't come with them:)

 

Mike

 

http://gallery.me.com/csealove

[BonesDoc]

A lot of good information, thanks folks. I do like the du-rags, since I am bald and use a neoprene hat. But the du-rag looks a lot more comfortable.;)

[CaribQween]

You might want to consider a .5mm full skin. It will give you more insulation than a lycra skin and is so much easier to pack than a 3mm shorty. It also provides the abrasion protection. They also dry quickly. We have used ours for the past 4 years diving in Tahiti, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and our recent trip to the Southern Caribbean. In February, we spent 4 days diving in Cozumel & I took the skin & my 3mm full & never got the 3mm wet. Ours are Scubapro, but I'm sure there are other manufacturers.

 

Mike

 

Something like that sounds really nice. I honestly didn't even realize they existed. We have the really, really thin skins that we got to help us get the 7mm suits on. However, they are so thin that any little scratch and they rip open. Having something a little thicker than that for the Caribbean that would protect your arms and legs, but that you could get on and off easier than a 3mm and that would be easier to pack and would dry quickly too would be very nice. We'll definitely check into them.

 

By the way, your pictures are absolutely fabulous. The colors are so vivid and the underwater pics are just crystal clear. The only problem is how anxious they make me for our cruise to get here. But they also definitely make me realize we made a good decision when we decided to dive 3 out of our 4 ports. Thanks for sharing :).

[jcm996]

The water in Belize and Cozumel will be around 80.

 

All you need is t-shirt and swim trunks. My group of divers have done week long 4-8 dives a day and most of us just do T-shirts and shorts. Always nice to be out of the drysuit and 50 degree water. But in Tobago we meet a lady who wore a 3mm shorty over a 3mm long and was still cold in the 83 degree water. So there is no way for anyone to tell you what you will need to feel comfortable.

[Bellfree Bat]

Just back from diving in Costa Maya and Cozumel and wore a 3mm shorty. Plenty warm for me and it was overcast with not much sun...

[Katdb]

Honestly it is very much up to the person diving. I asked a lot of similar questions before diving in the Caribbean last December, and received a wide range of responses from 7mm to just a swimsuit...

 

I ended up with a 3mm full suit and was hassled a little as I'm from Canada:rolleyes:, but I have to admit that I was a bit cold by the end of the second dives some days. That being said, there were people that were in a 3mm full with core warmers, and people in just t-shirts and swimsuits.

 

I know it's hard when you're trying to figure out what to pack. I figured even if the 3mm was a bit warm, I can add in some water and cool down, but to me there is nothing worse then being cold on a dive!

 

Hope that helps!

Katdb

[NYHartChapp]

You might want to consider a .5mm full skin. It will give you more insulation than a lycra skin and is so much easier to pack than a 3mm shorty. It also provides the abrasion protection. They also dry quickly. We have used ours for the past 4 years diving in Tahiti, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and our recent trip to the Southern Caribbean. In February, we spent 4 days diving in Cozumel & I took the skin & my 3mm full & never got the 3mm wet. Ours are Scubapro, but I'm sure there are other manufacturers.

 

Mike

 

http://gallery.me.com/csealove

 

Terrific pics!

[Roatanfans]

I just dive in a dive skin and have never been cold, but I tend to be warm in the water (that extra layer of insulation may not look so good in a swimsuit, but it pays off underwater!) I been diving with people in full 7mm suits who needed them, so it's a very individual thing. I do suggest full coverage more for sun protection than anything else- it's very easy to come up from a great day of diving sunburned in those clear warm waters!

[topspot]

Personal preference is the most important consideration. Do you get (and stay) cold easily?

 

We dove in Grand Turk in November. Water temp was about 78. I wore a shorty and was fine. DW also wore a shorty and was cold by the end of the second dive. DD wore a full 3mm and was freezing by the end of the second dive.

 

I think you sex has alot to do with it. Females seem to be more thermally challenged:D