February water temp at Grand Cayman?

[pepperbelly]

I may be going on a cruise with my brother February 5th. We plan on diving on the Kittiwake.
What is the average water temp in early February? Would I need a wetsuit?
I dove Cozumel last January, along with Belize and Roatan, and just wore a shirt and swim trunks.

 

[Tokenwiz]

It was 80 degrees F on Friday. I was comfortable for long dives in a 5mm. Others wore 3mm. Some might tough out a short dive without one but it will likely be colder in Feb.

 

[pepperbelly]

I was trying to decide if I needed to pack a wetsuit.

 

[Divetech Cayman]

It's such a subjective question. Not to plug ourselves, but literally yesterday on our Twitter account, we posted a photo of 2 of our instructors diving. One was in a rash guard and bikini bottom, and the other was in a drysuit. The water is 80 degrees.

 

[pepperbelly]

I was comfortable last January in Coz and Roatan in just trunks and a shirt. I think the water was around 80-85*.
If the water at the Kittiwake will be about the same I won't bother dragging a wetsuit along. It's just a cruise ship excursion so it won't last over an hour, probably less, depending on our air hog.

 

[mi000ke]

I dove there in February the past couple of years with water temps at depth of about 78. I used a 5mm full suit, but then I use a 5mm in 85 degree water as well (no hood, though). About half of the people I dove with had 3mm or 5mm full suits and the rest had shorties or a couple of folks with no wetsuit. So truly it is whatever your own sensitivity to cold is. I assume you will be going with a dive op who can rent you a suit if you don't want to pack one.

 

[Dish]

@pepperbelly , as you can tell from the responses, and as Divetech mentioned, it's more a personal requirement. I have dived Caymans in rash guard and board shorts or 3 mil full suit. I'm certainly warmer with the 3 mil. When I dived with just the shorts and rash guard, first dive - no problem, but If I got chilled during the surface interval, the second dive would be a bit chilly for me. If you only do one dive, then rash guard and board shorts should work fine based on what worked for you in Coz... particularly if you were drifting in Coz.

 

[scubadada]

I'd be diving my full 3mm