Bahamas current water temperature???

[JaneDoe]

We're leaving tomorrow for a week on Blackbeard's Cruises and I'm going back and forth about which wetsuit to bring. I have a 4/3 mm and a 7mm. I'd really like to bring the 4/3, but I get cold fairly easily and Blackbeard's recommends a 7mm this time of year. I'm used to diving in California, so I should be able to tough it out...but considering we're going to be doing multiple dives for 5+ days, I'm not sure if the 4/3 will be sufficient. Does anyone know what the current water temperature is in the Bahamas right now?

Thanks!

 

[ONESPEED]

Should be 73-75 degrees. Thickness of your wetsuit depends entirely on your personal tolerance to cold. I dive the Bahamas and Florida in a 5mm w/ a 3mm hood all winter with no problem.

 

[ONESPEED]

Another tip since you're doing a liveaboard, bring both suits, that way you'll always have a dry one to get into.

 

[Papa_Bear]

7mm! maybe the smaller top too? Better to be too warm than too cold! You can unzip! You will have fun!

 

[JaneDoe]

Wow, thanks everyone for your quick responses. I also have a separate hood and a 7mm shorty with an attached hood. However, I think I'll bring the 4/3 full, the 7mm full, and maybe the separate hood. And that should take up about 90% of my suitcase. = )

I just checked my logbook...it was upper 70s when we dove in Costa Rica and I was in a full 3mm and never got cold. It was low 70s in the Dominican Republic and I wore a 3mm shorty and FROZE (despite the dive shop telling me that no one ever dives in more than a 3mm shorty). However, I've never been on a liveaboard, and with 3-4 dives a day for several days in a row, I'm trying to plan for the "coldest" case scenario.

 

[Dantheengineer]

73 F on the yesterday of Clifton wall, Western New Providence. I'm in a new 5mm at the mo and just about snug.
3mm short? forget it!
good luck
Dan

 

[deepstops]

73 F on the yesterday of Clifton wall, Western New Providence. I'm in a new 5mm at the mo and just about snug.
3mm short? forget it!
good luck
Dan

Hijack alert:
Who were you diving Clifton Wall with?? Also, there's three or four wrecks on the other side of the cruise port. What charter operation will take you there??
(I dove all of these with the Juliet but I don't think Stuart Cove will take you there)

 

[Dantheengineer]

I didn't. i just happened to be down the pub with a load of the guys from Stuart Coves last night. It came up in converstion. I'll be out there Sunday though if my luck holds!
Coves goes there all the time. (more specifically they go to DC3, nari nari, etc all in the vicinity of that stretch of wall just off Clifton pier).
Are we talking about the same area? it's only about a mile from Coves base.
There's a shed load of wrecks here abouts. the only ones close together near the cruise ship port on New Providence (Nassau) that i can think of are called the ship yard. I believe three number wrecks, just off the north coast of Paradise island.
Charter op? i'm not sure. I still cant get any much joy out of Paradise charters. Custom Aquatics'll do it but you'll spend half your day cruising round from the far side of the island to the site. this'll be annoying since the site is only about a mile from shore!! Bahama divers go there fairly regularly. At least that's who i last did it with. It was a while ago.
Hope this helped. Anything further, just ask!
If i don't know, i'll find out....
Regards
Dan

 

[deepstops]

Slight mistake on part, it was Lampton Wall we dove, not Clifton Wall.
As I remember it, we were inbound to the cruise ship harbor and we dove Lampton Wall before we got to the entrance and then we dove "Three Ships" past the entrance and on the north side of the harbor. We spent the night in Atlantis and then dove the Cutter Wreck as we departed. The Cove boats were near us at that site.

 

[Dantheengineer]

I've heard of lampton. I'll get numbers from a friend and send them on. I'm collecting site Lat and Longs if you have any? just, today, got a 12' rib which my 25Hp should fit nicely! Hope to check out more and more of the northern sites. Coves has the south sewn up and the north hardly gets dived. The fish life is as abundant as south, but the fish just dont seem scared by the presence of divers!
I cant wait! bring on the summer! beats the hell out of being back in Blighty!
Regards
Rex.