Is the water temp fine for snorkeling without a suit in Feb/March timeframe on BON?? I see lots of folks discussing "shortys"
What exactly is a shorty??
We have snorkeled BON in MAY and found the water temp wonderful with just our suits.. Please help as we are trying to do a last minute trip.

A shorty is a light weight wetsuit usually with short arms and knee lenght pants. We use shortys in March. Water temp should be in low 80's. Depends on your tolerance to cold what you use.

Thanks Corney!! Low 80's sounds a heck of a lot better than ICE here at home..so do you think it best to get one of these shorty's or skins on island? or home??

Hi Joe,

I suspect that you will not need a shortie in Mar/Feb, the last time I looked at the UW webcam (you do know about it right?) the temp was 81deg-f but it does depend a lot on your tolerance to cold. You can rent a shortie at any dive shop on island but if you are sure you want one, I would visit some dive shops near home and buy it there. Fit is important. If you do use a wetsuit of any kind, it will drastically change (increase) your buoyancy so if you like diving down and hanging around the bottom you may find you need to add weights as well.

Thanks Herman!! yes, i know about the cams, and hope that I dont see it crowded with boats like Nassau someday.. ugh..

Joe,

Keep in mind the more work you do, the less cold you feel. I dive in a full 3mm wetsuit and a 2mm hooded vest at the Aquarium of the Americas and if I'm scrubbing tanks, I overheat. But if I'm just hanging out and feeding the fish on the dive, I get chilled. The water temp in our tropical tanks runs in the high 70's to low 80's.

I think I read recently in Alert Diver or Scuba Diving that 80F water cools the body to the same degree as 42F air.

Ken

Wow!! That is some statistic!! oh well, when i was there in the month of May so many years ago, I cant recall being anything close to chilling and was able to stay in for hours without so much as a suit.. maybe like you said since I was doing lots of moving It never chilled me..

Joe, it really does depend on your tolerance...I can last in our winter water here 55F about 20 minutes with a 7mil suit, 5mil hood, gloves and booties...in the summer when it warms up to 65F or so, I can last about 45 to 50 minutes...on Bonaire I wear my skin, 3mil and booties...neoprene hood to control the "hair factor." We do 2-4 dives a day...so it also depends on how many dives a day you plan to do...the more dives, the more your body core temp is going to be affected after a few days...now my husband wears a t-shirt and shorts while diving on Bonaire and is hot...BTW, I think I remember paying about a hundred bucks for my 3 mil a few years ago...regardless, you will enjoy yourself!

Joe, we wear 3mm and sometimes more for diving in Bonaire in Feb. Last Feb my brother in law and his girlfriend who are snorkelers "broke down" and gave in to shorties and both said they were more comfortable. Like everyone else has said it really is a matter of personal preference and body temps. If you get on island and decide that you want a shorty you can rent one. We were looking at prices of various items on our last trip in Dec and found that Carib Inn matches or beats our shops here at home so you can always check with them if you decide to buy. And what a great souvenir!!