Equipment for Cenotes Guided dive

[spencerthePA]

I am taking a trip to Cancun with my girlfriend in July and will be diving one to two days in the Cenotes with a guide and then possibly diving off the shore on our own.
I am wondering what gear I should bring for the Cenotes dives? I am planning to bring my backplate and wing, jet fins, along with other essentials (mask, regulator, gloves, boots, wetsuit, and safety equipment).
What thickness wetsuit do people recommend for the cenotes? I am a divemaster from Oregon and now teach in Southern California, so I have a good tolerance for cold water.
I am possibly going to bring everything as a carry on so I would like to keep the equipment to a minimum.

 

[gfaith]

3mm for me l/s shorty. My wife/buddy does a full 5mm. Water temp was around 77 degrees F.

Be sure to dive "The Pit" if they take you to "Dos Ojos" they are pretty close together. The halocline in the pit and the H2S cloud are crazy cool with a big old tree sticking up from a long ways down. We stayed above 100' as we doing 32%.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I used a 5 mm, but I'm probably less tolerant of cold.

The obvious other item of equipment is a light (or two).

 

[Andrew Donn]

Water temps were in the high seventies (F) when I was there last week so you can probably get away with a thin 3mm wetsuit.

 

[rongoodman]

For a short tour, 5mm should be fine. For longer dives I add a hooded vest. If you have a primary light, bring it. The more light you have, the more you'll be able to see. Definitely two lights apiece. Although you theoretically can always see daylight in the cavern zone, some of the dives really stretch that point.

 

[driftwood]

Agree with the lights and remember that you will be going very slow in the cenotes. I am fine in a 3mm but my wife uses a 7mm.

 

[miikey87]

5mm was perfect for me, few people just went in their board shorts and rashvest but I thought it was too cold for that!

 

[scubadada]

My son and I dived Dos Ojos on a day trip from Cozumel, where we were diving in our full 3 mms. To keep things simple, we just added a hooded vest, and were fine for two, 1 hour dives at 77 degrees. If I was just diving the cenotes, I would use my full 5 mm. One, good light a piece should do it. Enjoy.

 

[outofofficebrb]

When I was there in Sept 2015, the water was about 75F. That is a 5mm with hooded vest for me, or if you don't want the hood, a 7mm - I run cold. It's a lot of slow going.

If you have a light that you like for night dives, bring that. There were areas that were pretty dark. There were also some tighter areas that we had to squeeze through so if you have things dangling or flinging around, bring some double ended bolt snaps to secure/clip things off or just remove altogether. You don't need the snorkel - very little surface time and that surface time is just at the beginning, middle, or end of dive when you are up admiring the formations or starting and stopping. The water is so calm you can easily inflate BC and just kick back and relax.

If your hands get cold easily you could bring some gloves.

 

[Bogtrotter]

If you want to keep gear to a minimum I just rented a 5mm to do the cenotes last time I was down there- no hood or gloves. The shop provided torches too.