Am preparing for our trip to the island this Saturday, the 14th. The Mrs. & I both have full wetsuits (not shorties), boots, etc. What are these "skins" I keep reading about? Are they the thin rash shirts that my teenager wears at the beach in the summer? Do we need them with our wetsuits?

Skins are thin nylon maybe worn under a wet suit or they may be worn instead of a wet suite when the water is warm. Generally worn for protection in that case. Generally provide no buoyancy like a wet suit. But 0.5 mm neoprene wetsuits are like a skin but with some minimal buoyancy.

Put the skin on first and it's a surprising help in getting a wet suit on and off.

Some of the favorite skins that we own were purchased from Dive Goddess. But wait... they are for men too. Check out the site, www.divegoddess.com
enjoy.

Folks:

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/BLRLM.html?Search=op%3ddtSearch%26Term%3ddiving%2bskin%26SearchFlag%3dall%26AdvSrchSortField%3dPrice%26DescSort%3d1%26Description%3don%26Hit%3d1#ReviewInfoTab

Yes Dan,
The Henderson that you found is a dive skin.
Good price too.
We've used skins for years to protect us from sun and the reef from (what must be gallons) of sun screen a day. It's just smart, all the way around.

Babala:
Thanks so much for the tip. I ordered them just now on LeisurePro. I ordered our Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 eLED Plus Dive Lights from them in the beginning of January.
I kicked the skins idea around a couple of months ago and came up undecided. We leave this Saturday morning, the 14th. We are psyched. I know it is a minor issue, but it seems like we are going when the water is at its coldest (or close to it). The again, we are used to snorkeling in the Lower Keys in March/April when the kids are on Spring Break.
Again, thank you.
Dan.

Your welcome Dan,
Have fun!