proper exposure suit for Cozumel

[waterduck]

I will be heading to Cozumel in March for the first time.What thickness of wet suit is recommended at that time of year there ?

 

[TV Mark]

I've always gotten by with a full 3/2. Water temp should be around 78-79.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Your best bet is a full Lavacore SKIN (equivalent to 2.5 mil). Works great all year but if you are the very cold cold type just slide a 3 mil shorty on top. March can be a transitional month, coldest I've seen is 79 F and up to 81 late in March.

Dave Dillehay

Aldora Divers

 

[DjDiverDan]

I will be heading to Cozumel in March for the first time.What thickness of wet suit is recommended at that time of year there ?

This is another one of those questions, like "which is the best Dive Op on Cozumel," for which there is no right answer - it depends entirely on the individual. I've been diving for years in Cozumel and I've never worn more than a 0.5 mm "skins plus." And a LOT of those dives were either in March or early December. I also have done a lot of March dives in nothing more than a swim suit and T-Shirt - though with multi-day diving, I was pretty chilled by the second dive of day 3. But I rarely do more than 2 dives a day, and rarely dive more than 3-4 days in a row without a day off.

Everybody is a bit different when it comes to cold tolerance. Bigger people maintain body heat better than smaller people (that's just basic physics, bigger bodies have a higher mass to surface ratio), and I'm pushing 280, plus I carry a lot of my own insulation in the form of subcutaneous fat. ALSO, if you are going to try to do 3-4 dives every day for 5-6 days in a row, the repetitive dives are going to lead to more loss of body heat. And if you are going to dive with Aldora or Liquid Blue or one of the other operators offering Steel 120 tanks and bottom times of 75 minutes or more, you'll lose more body heat on long dives. SO, depending on your body size and type, your tolerance for cold, your dive profiles, how many dives you plan to do every day, and how many days in a row you plan on diving, the "right" answer might be anywhere from "you'll be fine with just a T-Shirt and swim trunks" to "Better bring a full 3mm wetsuit with a hood." It's best just to know what the water temps will be - almost certainly between 78 and 80 F in March - and figure it out for yourself.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

DjDiverDan is right on, the time of dives does vary greatly depending on the dive op and that needs to be considered as well. I'm kind of a fat ass but with the full 3 mil I get cold after 1.5 hours. In the winter I use the Lavacore as stated above and slip a 3 mil shorty on top. The 3 mil shorty is almost the universal rental suit in Cozumel and are easy to come by.

Dave

 

[DandyDon]

Everybody is a bit different when it comes to cold tolerance.

Yep. Whatever you usually wear in 78 degree water. Add a beanie or hood if you get chilled. I carry one of those cheap survival blankets that fit in a pocket folded up in case I get chilled on the boat ride. Used one once, and now it takes a backpack to carry it - no way to fold it up like it was. They're only a dollar each tho.

"you'll be fine with just a T-Shirt and swim trunks"

I've seen a few dive that way. l like a full jumpsuit skin at least to protect against stings from floaters.

 

[deepsea21]

I've never used anything other than a 3MM full suit in Coz year-round. However, as Dandydon said, a beanie or hood is worth its weight in Gold when the water temps fall a bit in the winter.

This is a link to the 2MM tropic Beanie I I bought... http://www.leisurepro.com/p-xssb/xs-scuba-2mm-tropic-beanie. I don't like full hoods as they all seem to squeeze my head too tight regardless of size and screw with my mask seal. I just never could find one that seemed to fit me right but this beanie is fantastic. IT's amazing the difference even 2MM covering the top of your head can make.

The one thing I did need to do to this tropic beanie was take a hot nail and poke/melt a vent hole in the top as clearing my mask always seemed to result in some air getting trapped in the top of it. Hot nail and a little melted hole solved that problem. Best $18 you can spend in my opinion and no need to move up from a 3MM to a 5MM full suit. If I need a 5MM suit I need to find warmer water!

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

We go 2 to 3 times a year. April and October and maybe another time depending on finances. Wife dives a lavacore, I dive a 3/2. We are not huge, but definately not skinny either. We have never been cold in the water but back on the boat or surface interval, on a cloudy day, it can get chilly. Lots of dive ops have parkas. I know Aldora does and maybe has towels too. (Can't remember on the towels) Once I'm dry, all is good. Rainy days just suck....but it beats being back in the office. We will use the parkas then, especially on the boat.

Safe travels,

Jay

 

[DandyDon]

If you have any women in your party, they will probably want more protection than the men. In general, women use less air, burn fewer calories diving, and therefore get chilled easier. I used to know one who wore a dry suit in Coz in August.

The one thing I did need to do to this tropic beanie was take a hot nail and poke/melt a vent hole in the top

I did that, with a hot ice pick. Small holes that you can't see, but put an end to the trapped air problem.

 

[Scubagolf]

3 mm full with a hooded vest just in case, but I have never used it diving Coz.