Shortie wetsuit or dive skins for Little Cayman?

[nwflyboy]

We're headed off to LCBR next week, and I'm wondering if we might be uncomfortably warm in the 80 degree water diving in our wetsuits. I've got a 3 mm shortie, my wife's is a 3 mm shortie with a 5 mm core. We've been pretty comfortable in these suits in tropical conditions before (Coz, Thailand, Indonesia) but now I'm wondering if we might be "over insulated" for the Caymans in March.

We don't own dive skins (yet), but I see several places that have "Neosport by Henderson" skins for under $30, and am tempted to go there. Any opinions on these particular skins?

Would we be more comfy in just skins rather than our wetsuits? I don't get cold easily but the wife does (that's why she's got the 3/5mm suit). I'm thinking it would be nice to leave the wetsuits at home and just bring skins (less bulk and weight), but don't want to be chilly.

Opinions?

 

[keyshunter]

Warmth in any suit is highly personal, so I will not make a recommendation. I will say that in March at LC I dive in a 3 mil full suit, and, particularly for night dives, sometimes add a 3 mil hooded vest. Since this time of year can be pretty windy, I do recommend a light windbreaker or sweatshirt to wear between dives.

 

[mbs]

Lets see here... Wife gets cold easy and you want to save weight. Sounds like you are setting yourself up for a problem We were there in Oct and were fine in 3mil fulls doing 3 dives a day. I personally would rather let a little water in if hot than to be cold. Your call...

 

[Becca_007]

We were there first week in February. I wore a full 3mm and he wore a 3mm shortie. We were both comfortable in our choices. Maybe more helpful is telling you the water temperature was a constant 81F.

 

[nwflyboy]

Yeah. Well, I just ordered the cheap dive skins for us, so we'll bring both. We can always just use the skins to avoid sunburn and stay warm on the boat. Thanks - especially for the report of constant 81 degree water.

 

[nwflyboy]

By the way, nice photos...definitely helps whet my appetite for next week!

 

[Alex777]

Like many locals, I do not wear any wetsuit at all. Perhaps you should bring the wetsuits but try diving without them first; use them if you need to.

 

[nwflyboy]

If the water's warm enough, I might be tempted to dive with just a swimsuit and a t-shirt (to avoid the inevitable sunburn) but that still leaves parts exposed to both sunburn and things that do unpleasant things to exposed skin. I just watched some online videos of people penetrating the wreck of the Keith Tibbetts in just swimsuits, scraping along walls and even bumping coral with exposed skin - not my plan.

I'll probably see how it feels and maybe just dive with the skins. We will be doing 3 dives/day, and I suspect at least some of the time we'll want some neoprene. Thanks.

 

[Becca_007]

By the way, nice photos...definitely helps whet my appetite for next week!

Thanks. We had an awesome time and can't wait to get in the water again. It's just a little too cold here in Michigan right now. We stayed at LCBR, dove with Reef Divers, and did the 3 dives/day.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The dive skins will make you COLD on the boat. The evaporative cooling from a wet dive skin is pretty significant. It is great when it is really hot because you can repeatedly wet it and stay cooler than wearing nothing. 81 degrees..i would be wearing a full 3 mm suit and a hood.