Visiting late dec - thermal needs?

[Doctorfish]

Actually, I'm going to GC in a few weeks and will pack a 5 as well as a 3.
You can call me a pansy, but I'll be a warm comfortable pansy.

 

[Daev]

I'm going to Grand Cayman the same week, and to be honest I'm going to dive dry. My wife gets cold invariably, and always goes dry. I would expect to be comfortable in my 3mm full wetsuit, as I always am in the Caribbean this same week in December, but she is getting tired of being the only strange one on the boat. I'll show some solidarity this time around. Maybe I'll see you around.

 

[AggieDiver]

I dove there for a week in late October and the water temps were consistently around 84F. I was diving in shorts and a long sleeve rash guard. I was only chilly on one dive (3rd dive of day). The water temp now is showing 82F at the Little Cayman Buoy (NDBC - Station 42089). Based on that, If I were going in another week or two, I would be planning on taking a 3mm full or a 3mm jacket and john, not only because of the water temp, but because the air temps at the surface are cooler and winds may be up. The surface interval can be pretty chilly if you have 15 knot winds and cloudy skies, even if the air temp is in the upper 70s or low 80s. If you get chilly easy, a 5mm would be a reasonable choice also.

 

[zf2nt]

Actually, I'm going to GC in a few weeks and will pack a 5 as well as a 3.
You can call me a pansy, but I'll be a warm comfortable pansy.

Doctorfish, I'd love to meet you and shake your hand! When do you get there? I'll be there after December 29. My house is the last one the boat passes on the south shore before it gets to the lighthouse. Or, it is the 2nd house on the left after Pirate's Point. Also, I tend to go to the bar at LCBR late afternoons with my laptop so I can use their Wi-Fi.

Bruce

 

[Doctorfish]

Sorry, I'm on Grand for the week. There with my brother and it was his call as to where to go. Prefer LC personally, but can always find some OK diving on GC.

Will probably be on LC in the spring but have not set dates as yet

 

[BUDMANOK]

CB water temp was 82* this week and we dove in shorts and t-shirts/rash guards no problem

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Two points missed so far....

Most of the rental wetsuits are shorties. I worked in a GC dive shop and we didn't even have a 3mm full suit to rent out. Shorties only. YMMV.

December, particularly the later half of the month, brings the Christmas Winds. Topside may be quite breezy and you may find it warmer in the water some days. Bring a windbreaker you can put on during the surface interval.

Peak water temps are usually late October. By mid December expect 82 degree water.

 

[KeithG]

Being too hot is easy to solve (unzip for a few minutes), too cold is just miserable.

Your need for thermal protection is mostly dependent upon the amount of diving you do.

I have seen several people do 5 dives a day on a Caribbean liveaboard with just a t-shirt. They only did 20 minute dives.

One dive a day? No suit required.

4 or more hours underwater each day and you will find a properly fitting 3mm suit is a little cold. A poor fitting one will be very cold.

 

[GAFUN]

I am in LC now until next Tuesday. The water temp everyday has been 82 or 83. I brought a 3mm and wanted to bring my 1.5mm.
I am glad I didnt,with the winds and some clouds, I think I would have been chilly on the boat.