Whaddya wear?

[Lunahippo]

Hi Florida divers- I'm headed to Venice for new years and have never gone diving in 60ish temps- any reccs on what to wear? i tend to get cold even in warm waters....

thanks for the help!

 

[SOFDiver]

We (Venice Area) are entering our winter weather pattern. While air temps can still get into low 80s, water temp has dropped significantly. O2 temp is in the mid 60's now, and went as low as mid 50s last winter. IMO the minimum wet suit for winter is 7mm with a hooded vest under. My dive buddies and I all have dry suits, and will dive dry when air and O2 temps are low. A semi dry suit would also serve well during the winter here, and is not as expensive and complicated as diving dry suit. We dive all year round, and find that winter is best for spearfishing. Hope this helps, I'm sure there may be other opinions, but as I said we dive all year round.

Capt. Dan Sansiveri

 

[Lunahippo]

thanks capt. dan! i do have a 7mm. that i bought for MA diving- but haven't gotten myself into the cold blue with it yet- just bought my 1st BC, reg, etc ever- for a PNG trip in july and want to try it out at least once before lugging everything across the planet so into cold venice waters i go...

 

[Reef_Haven]

SOFDiver,
Your oxygen seems to be missing some friendly hydrogen. Just Sayin

 

[Salmonboy97]

I normally dive dry when temps are below 65.
I have a 7mil Semi Dry Mares suit for sale, make me a reasonable offer! It is almost new, size large, and comes complete with a hood, neck seal and garment bag.

 

[tbone1004]

I dive dry if I can for anything, but for mid 60's I'll wear a 5mm with a 5mm hooded vest. no need for 7mm on arms and legs, I think it restricts way too much movement, and the 10mm on the core is plenty

 

[Lunahippo]

ok, maybe i should rethink this lol. may be too cold for me! salmonboy, i'm 5'3 120lbs, so the large would be too big for me. thanks everyone for your responses!

 

[tbone1004]

if you get cold in a 7mm in the 60's then youre SoL in the wetsuit department... Especially with recreational diving. You should be able to do a half hour dive in the low 70's with a bathing suit, and a 7mm steamer is what a lot of my buddies wear down into the mid 50's and stay warm...

 

[2TH DIVR]

The water temp at the Venice pier is 57
Will drop even more tonight
Unless we have a real warm up, 80's for a few weeks, don't expect the water temp to rise much.

 

[Lorax]

I normally dive dry when temps are below 65.
I have a 7mil Semi Dry Mares suit for sale, make me a reasonable offer! It is almost new, size large, and comes complete with a hood, neck seal and garment bag.

I bought myself a 7 mil (hey it was on sale!), but not my beloved dive buddy - we are planning (hopefully) on being in the Tampa area over the MLK holiday . . .I would be interested in purchasing the suit for him. We want to do one day diving with the mantatees but will also have another day for a couple of ocean dives . . .any recommendations? Email me katevehoo@yahoo.com