Cleaning wetsuits in Roatan

[chillyinCanada]

I wash my suit in the machine too, after every trip. When I can't do that, into the shower with shampoo or another gentle soap of some kind. Rinse rinse rinse, hang to dry. I love dive shops that use Dettol in their rinse tanks. I love the smell of Dettol in the morning! Unfortunately, that seems to have stopped being the additive of choice. Try your best not to pee in your wetsuit. It can be difficult ,

I know.

 

[GreggS]

Anthony's Key has showers in a little open air alcove at the docks as well as separate rinse tanks for various items. Rinsing your wetsuit shouldn't be a problem.

I don't know what the water temps will be in mid-March, but when my wife and I were there the last week of April last year, we wore skins the first day of diving and then just our bathing suits and a rash guard the rest of the week (except of the night dive. Wore our skins on that one just for the added protection.) Water temps were in the low 80s at that time.

 

[NDL_Diver]

I had this done, too, by Terrapin. What I found was that you really need a particular kind of bathing suit to do this maneuver. Neither board shorts nor jammers were conducive to "exposing myself to the fishes." Maybe a Borat mankini?

Agree, until you hike up you shorts in you wetsuit on zip side while putting it on. Then you can reach around.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Agree, until you hike up you shorts in you wetsuit on zip side while putting it on. Then you can reach around.

Thanks for the imagery.

 

[drl]

It’s not true that your wetsuit won’t stink if you don’t pee in it! It will stink differently. A lot of the stench is decomposing ocean microorganisms, which exist whether or not you pee in your suit.
We used to swear by the McNetts that Hoag recommended but haven’t been able to find it lately.

 

[Hoag]

We used to swear by the McNetts that Hoag recommended but haven’t been able to find it lately.

Mine is from "a few" years ago and unfortunately, it is almost empty.

 

[dmaziuk]

- anyone have better suggestions to keep the funk at bay?

1. Don't pee in your wetsuit.
2. Don't leave it in the shop's locker overnight, hang it somewhere there's air.
3. Soak in wetsuit shampoo (there's plenty of options, I think our last one was from Bare) in the bathtub after the trip, rinse and dry well.

Works for me.

 

[dmaziuk]

Mine is from "a few" years ago and unfortunately, it is almost empty.

McNett is now GearAid.

(And I still have a few tubes of their shoe glue bought on sale back when they rebranded and were dumping "McNett" stuff.)

 

[tursiops]

My wife brings a small fill-it-yourself spray bottle, puts in a mixture of Sink-the-Stink, and sprays her already-rinsed wetsuit at the end of the day before she hangs it up. Her suit smells a lot better than mine.

 

[Doc]

(time now to drag this old one out?)

There are two kinds of divers:
1) those who pee in their wetsuits
2) those who lie about not peeing in their wetsuits

I have not done definitive research on this subject matter,
but I think I might like divers better who are in Group 1

(those lacking in S.O.H. are now free to wail)

In that many newer divers have difficulty with initiating this otherwise basic act of peeing underwater, I will be conducting my own >>PADI Distinctive Specialty<< in April at CCV@RTB. Suggest that the squeamish avoid the South side, But for those who have enjoyed the warmer temps of the outflow of nuclear cooling facilities, please swim by. It is very similar, a bit less green nuclear glow.

BTW- Water temps in Roatan are predictably 80-82°, year round. This is from oceanographic records, not our fellow divers looking at gauges at various depths.