Wetsuit Requirement?

[tracydr]

I've worn a 5 ml in Hawaii each time I've been there. It was not quite enough and if I go again, I will bring my drysuit. That said, I'd probably be the only person diving dry. My husband alternates between a shorty and full 3 ml and he's fine, no hood or gloves.

 

[DiveMaven]

I've worn a 5 ml in Hawaii each time I've been there. It was not quite enough and if I go again, I will bring my drysuit. That said, I'd probably be the only person diving dry. My husband alternates between a shorty and full 3 ml and he's fine, no hood or gloves.

I had to chuckle at your dry suit comment since I've been threatening for years to buy a dry suit for winter diving on Maui!

 

[Steve Eady]

There is a winter time on Maui LOL I have used a 3mil full with no hood or gloves and only got chilled once after doing 4 dives. Cant wait to get back and get out of this 51 degree local H2o temp.

 

[nharring]

I just came back from the Big Island. I recommend a 3mil


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[freewillie]

The short answer is that it depends on your cold tolerance. Some may find a 3 mm just fine, others are still cold in a 7 mm.

Personally, I dove Kona last August in a 3mm full and did just fine, except the second dive of the day I noticed I got just a little chilled towards the end. My dive computer put the bottom time at 65 minutes so we were down just over an hour. My daughter took her 7 mm and did fine with no complaints, even though it was a little small and we didn't zip the back up all the way.

If it doesn't tip the scales for excess weight take the 3 mm and if you need you can rent a 5 mm. Or, take along a neoprene vest to layer under. If you have the 5 mm I'd recommend taking it but wouldn't recommend buying one just for Kona unless you think you can use it on other dive trips later.

 

[safetygurl]

Safetygurl...... what were the water temps in Puerto?

G

The water temperature was between 70-75 in Puerto Vallarta

---------- Post added January 20th, 2014 at 03:21 PM ----------

The short answer is that it depends on your cold tolerance. Some may find a 3 mm just fine, others are still cold in a 7 mm.

Personally, I dove Kona last August in a 3mm full and did just fine, except the second dive of the day I noticed I got just a little chilled towards the end. My dive computer put the bottom time at 65 minutes so we were down just over an hour. My daughter took her 7 mm and did fine with no complaints, even though it was a little small and we didn't zip the back up all the way.

If it doesn't tip the scales for excess weight take the 3 mm and if you need you can rent a 5 mm. Or, take along a neoprene vest to layer under. If you have the 5 mm I'd recommend taking it but wouldn't recommend buying one just for Kona unless you think you can use it on other dive trips later.

Thank you so much for the input...we have decided to purchase 5mils because we found diving in Puerto Vallarta multiple dives we were starting to get chilly...so will definatly use them for other trips.

 

[Shaka Doug]

I hope you're not diving in Hawaii today! It's only 65F at my house as I write this!! First time I have ever seen that in the middle of the day in Kihei in my 16 years of living here!! Talk about a Cold Snap! The water must be a lot warmer than the air... maybe I should go dive after all... in a 7mm!!

Global warming? Global Shmarming!! I'm freezing!