Barbados in May 3m or 5mm

[Badal]

Hi all,
I am going to Barbados in the next 4 weeks and will do quite a bit of diving over there. It’s a first time for me in the Caribbean and not sure what wetsuit to bring. Will I get away with 5mm? Or will it be way to tick? Thank you good people

 

[d^2b]

It depends on you a bit, but I would think a 5mm would be too thick. May is into the heat of the year in Barbados, so overheating (mainly on boat trips) is a concern.

 

[jmark18]

If it is sunny a 3mm is good. My last trip was rainy and windy and I couldn't get warm

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I personally, if planning on doing a lot of diving, would take the 5 mil. And if that turned out to be too warm, rent a 3 mil there.
Each person's tolerance to cold is different. What is not different is that heat loss is cumulative. Doing two dives a day -one in the morning and one in the afternoon- would probably not result in that much loss because you have sufficient time to warm between dives.
Change that to 4 dives a day over 3 or 4 days and you are likely going to start seeing issues.
My GF who has a very low tolerance for cold used to take a drysuit to Turks and Caicos for a liveaboard in August. And the first day would get laughed at. By day 3 and 4 some of those muppets would be sitting there shivering and offering to buy the drysuit.
With a 5 mil you can always pull the neck seal and flush the suit with a bit of water to cool down. If you start getting cold in the 3, you don't have an option to warm unless you end the dive.
I would also consider the 3 mil with a 2 or 3 mil core warmer vest you could add when needed. That's if the 3 mil is a good fit and not allowing a lot of water to flush through.

 

[davecampbell]

my wife ran into some overheating issues topside while using a 5mm in May (albeit in Jamaica). She ditched the 5mm and resorted to a rental shorty for the remainder of the trip. Our next trip with similar temperatures, she was sporting a new 3mm. I was in 3mm the whole time, and quite fine, on all our Caribbean trips. (Jamaica, Grenada, Barbados, Curacao). Suits were all Henderson thermaxx for info's sake.

 

[noserider]

I normally dive in a rash top only in Barbados all year, occasionally have used a shortie on the stavronika (35m+ dive), a 3mm will be perfect if your feel the cold and I am sure a 5mm will be overkill. I would also take a 1 or 2mm rashie as you may find that this is all you need.

I normally do 2 dives in the morning and often another 1 in the afternoon and have never felt the need for a full suit

 

[Badal]

Thank you so much for all the replies! I was leaning towards 3mm and rash vest but own super well fitting 5mm. I was toasty in Tenerife last year so I probably will get 3mm. Thanks guys.

 

[living4experiences]

And when you return, would love a trip report. Have fun!

 

[Badal]

And when you return, would love a trip report. Have fun!

Thanks Will do!

 

[noserider]

And when you return, would love a trip report. Have fun!

Barbados Blue or West Side Scuba are both great and do shout if you need any restaurant selections been going every 18 months or so for over 15 years