Current Water Temperature

[Ouvea]

Hello All:

I'll on Cozumel next Saturday for a week of diving. Have been fairly comfortable in my 3mm on past trips. Heard that it was unusually cold this year in Cozumel. Is this true, or as with most things SCUBA, it's a personal thing. Am I better off bringing a 5mm wetsuit instead?

Thanks,
O.

 

[scubaNYC16]

Hello All:

I'll on Cozumel next Saturday for a week of diving. Have been fairly comfortable in my 3mm on past trips. Heard that it was unusually cold this year in Cozumel. Is this true, or as with most things SCUBA, it's a personal thing. Am I better off bringing a 5mm wetsuit instead?

Thanks,
O.

I’m here now and computer shows steady 79 for last 2 days. To me it feels colder but I hate anything under 82. I’m wearing a Lavacore vest under my 3 mil wetsuit and a hood.

 

[MMM]

My computer showed 81 yesterday. I am wearing a hooded Lavacore vest under my 7 mm suit. I was nice and toasty warm for an 80 minute dive. If my dive times were shorter (say about 50 minutes or so) I would probably be OK in a lighter suit. I have found that I get colder as I have aged. There was a young guy on the dive in shorts and a T-shirt yesterday. But he ended his dive at about 60 minutes or so. I don't think it is all that much colder than previous Marches have been. I didn't dive the day before yesterday but folks on the boat told me they were freezing from the wind at the surface. Thank goodness for boat coats. If your op doesn't supply them to its guests, you might want to bring along something warm to wear on the boat.

 

[tursiops]

There are many threads on the accuracy of a temperature measurement in a dive computers. There are two main issues: the lag time of the sensor (typically 5-15 minutes to equilibrate to ambient), and the calibration/accuracy of the measurement, once equilibrated. The accuracy is typically plus/minus several degrees. Dive computers are not recommended as a way to actually measure the temperature; they are best thought of as relative devices...this water is colder than that, or, when my computer reads less than XX degrees, I will need to add a hooded vest. Because XX will vary for both the individual and the dive computer in use, one person cannot reliably use someone else's dive computer reading to decide what exposure suit to wear.

How to get around this dilemma? Two ways: (1) calibrate your dive computer. Put it in a water bath for at least 15 minutes and compare it to a known thermometer, like a ThermaPen. That offset can pretty much apply to all your dives. For example, my Oceanic OC1 reads 4 deg F low. My Perdix is right on. The problem is that YOUR OC1 or YOUR Perdix will likely be different. Note that most dive computer manufacturers do nnot even give an accuracy spec for their computers, but rather a resolution spec, typically 1 degree, meaning that it is telling you the probably wrong temperature to 1 degree resolution. (2) the other solution is to avoid using someone else's temperature reading (unless they have celebrated their instrument) and instead use independent information, such as Sea water temperature. Surface temperatures on the coast. or Sea Temperature | Sea Temperatures. The latter for Cancun today shows....79 def F.

 

[Snoweman]

Christi's website has port and water temp information on the right side of her page.

Blue XT~Sea Diving - Cozumel Scuba Diving - Blue XT~Sea Diving

 

[tursiops]

Christy's website has port and water temp information on the right side of her page.

Blue XT~Sea Diving - Cozumel Scuba Diving - Blue XT~Sea Diving

Where does she get the temperature information?

 

[Snoweman]

Where does she get the temperature information?

@Christi - Can you answer this question?

 

[mellowwee]

Hello All:

I'll on Cozumel next Saturday for a week of diving. Have been fairly comfortable in my 3mm on past trips. Heard that it was unusually cold this year in Cozumel. Is this true, or as with most things SCUBA, it's a personal thing. Am I better off bringing a 5mm wetsuit instead?

Thanks,
O.

I was in cozumel a couple weeks ago, the temp was 79-81. I found that the temperature closely correlates to the NOAA yucatan basin weather bouy. (if you google it you can see that it now reads 80.6 degrees)

 

[Zman96]

I got 79-81 on my dives last week. Temps seemed pretty consistent with all of the other times we have been there in March.

 

[abos]

I'd say bring the 5mm. I froze yesterday in my 3 mm and was wishing I had my 5mm. I bought a hooded vest today and fingers crossed it will help. This is good for the coral tho, so I will just add another layer.