My first post on BT and it's not really a Bonaire related question! However,I will be returning there next month and have started to linger on this site. I remembered what happened on my last dive in Aruba (oct 03) and thought maybe someone would have some advice. Toward the end of the dive, the skin on my neck started to feel very hot and irritated. When I came back to the boat, I had a horrible rash from what seemed to be the neckline from my wetsuit.I remember it felt like my neck was inflamed and the collar was getting tighter. There is no smooth lining like some have, just the neoprene, but I have used the same wetsuit on approx 40 dives and never had that reaction.
The DM gave me some neosporin and it cleared up in about 2 hours.

Has anyone had this happen to them, and if so is there a special ointment or cream that you can recomend to use before the dive? I don't think I want to go out and purchase a new wetsuit before I go, but am fearful that it could happen again at the beginning of my dive week and become uncomfortable and annoying.

I would think that you got hit by a tentacle from one of the small jellyfish with a mild sting. I have gotten zapped on the face and it is annoying for a couple of hours and then just goes away. You may want to think about a light weight hood with a skirt to protect your neck if you are worried about having a recurrance.

That would definatly make sense. Hopefully that was the case and I wasn't developing an allergy/irritation to the material.

It was either that or I was eating too much on our honeymoon and began to balloon in the wetsuit!

If you're wondering if it's an allergic reaction test it at home. Put your wetsuit on for a little while. If you get too warm soak in the bathtub for awhile. Better to find out at home rather than on vacation, eh? If you have an allergic reaction then you have alternatives before your trip to Bonaire. You could use something like a polartec that will provide some thermal protection, there's no neoprene in it at all, and it's neutrally buoyant.

I'd give the wetsuit a real good rinse first. There weren't any thimble jellies in the waters of Aruba, were there?

No jellies that I was aware of.

Think I will take a soak in the tub for awhile and see what if anything happens, good suggestion.

The husband makes sure all the equipment is rinsed thoroughly, so if there was anyone who hitched a ride home via my wetsuit, they should be long gone by now.

Adara, sometimes it's not the jellies that cause the problem, their larva cause the problem.
I remember a jellyfish larva that looked like tobacco bits in the waters north of Honduras. I was not bothered, some other divers on the live-aboard were. They experienced welts at the neck-lines of their wetsuits, some had welts at their upper lips (holding in the regulator made a small fold in the skin and the little buggers irritated there!).
Whatever it was (is) I hope you don't get bothered by it (them) again.
-Mary