Dry Suit in Caribbean?

[dtdiver]

i always bring a 3mm hood, 5mm full suit . id rather be warm than hypothermic
less risk of decomp problems too.
they dont give awards for toughest diver

 

[spc751]

difference diving wet is you can flood the suit and cool off......

I have never, ever, been warm enough in a wet suit that I wanted to cool off!

---------- Post added December 22nd, 2014 at 09:22 AM ----------

I have made a number of trips to Riveria Maya and was always cold in a 3 mm wetsuit. This November I was diving in Hawaii in a 3 mm wetsuit and was always cold. In all cases some people were diving in swim trunks, some in 3 mm and some in 5 mm. It all depends on your personal tolerance to the cold.

I don't know if I am going to Riveria Maya again this winter but if I do I will be taking my Fusion drysuit with me.

 

[FinnMom]

I've used a drysuit for diving 28C water and surface temps in the 70s and 80s, but I don't own anything else just now.
It couldn't have been that radical a decision because all our Egyptian guides were diving dry too, at least more the majority of dives. A membrane suit with just long underwear (sports/"technical" stuff that does not hold moisture) on underneath is comfortable is surprisingly warm temps. I'm also not so sure a drysuit is any hotter in the sunshine than a full wetsuit, it's also comfortable no matter how nippy a cold night dive, morning dive or wind might feel and really easy to rinse your hair, step out of the suit & go - no wet skin & no wet swimsuit.
Keeping the suit and seals in proper repair is however a bigger concern whereas a hole in your wetsuit isn't a big deal.

 

[TSandM]

Yes -- the real downside of a dry suit for travel is the possibility of a failure you can't fix. I had a zipper go on a Mexican cave diving trip; not only was it not possible to rent a dry suit in the area, it wasn't possible to rent a thick wetsuit, either. All rentals were geared toward people who do short dives and few of them, so they were shorties and 3 mil full suits, which won't do me much good on 3 hour cave dives. Using a user-replaceable seal system solves the issue of torn seals, though, which is probably the biggest risk. Most shell suits can have small holes patched rather easily using duct tape as a temporary fix, so it's the seals and the zipper that can give you real grief.

 

[Rhone Man]

Appreciate some input... I'm heading to Grand Cayman... any reason not to dive Dry or do I leave the drysuit home and go 3mm. I don't have issues with the temp and if I did dive dry I'd not need my inner liner just the shell.

Thoughts?

Only one negative: you will be mocked (in a nice way) by everyone else in your group. But actually dry divers are becoming less and less rare in the Caribbean.

---------- Post added December 23rd, 2014 at 01:24 PM ----------

... and the hassle of humping it down there of course.

 

[TSandM]

In fact, my dry suits (any of them) do not weigh significantly more than a 5 mil suit (my minimum) and a set of X-shorts (for pockets) and a set of booties for my feet. We have weighed them all.