2/3mm wetsuits - okay for warm water diving?

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Alice Mutasa

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I gather that the 2/3mm wetsuits (Gul, Sprey etc) are probably aimed more at surfing & other surface sports than diving, but has anyone used these for warm water diving - i.e. around 27 / 28°? (Caribbean; Indian Ocean etc). I was looking for a new 3mm, but I'm wondering if just having 3mm on the body & 2mm on the arms & legs will make a lot of difference - & I like the idea of a lighter wetsuit that's easier to get into! Views would be appreciated....
 
I wear a full 3mm Henderson in the tropics. I have been warm on some dives so I flood it at the neck opening. Helps protect from stings also.
 
I use a Bare 2/3mm wetsuit in south Florida in what passes for our 'colder' months in the winter; I usually use a shorty in the warmer summer months.
 
If you don't normally feel cold in a 3mm, then odds are good that you'll be just fine in a 3/2.
 
27 is 80 degrees... which is NOT that warm. You will probably want a neoprene hood if you are doing more than one dive or want to be comfortable should the weather turn cloudy, rainy and cool.
 
Exposure protection is a very personal issue. If I dive multiple days in a full 3, I may use a hood on second and subsequent dives. My wife dives a 5 mm in 80 degree water. Better a bit warm than chilled 30 mins into a dive.
 
It depends on the person. I saw a dive in Hawaii where a girl was freezing wearing a 7mm suit and other people were happily diving in cutoffs and t-shirts.
 
I love my Bare 3/2 mm full suit--it fits me very well--and use it when the water is warmer than about 80F (27C). Just below that temperature, I use my Bare 5/4 mm. Bare is a Canadian brand, and marketed mainly to divers as far as I know, not surfers.
 
I get cold in a 2/3mm at 80 degrees diving with people who were diving in a bathing suit for an entire week - highly individual

Remember though, there are differences in the structure and function as a diving and surfing wetsuit.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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