My wife and I are headed to Bonaire for the first time in April. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what we would be most comfortable diving in. I realize that a lot of it is personal preference/tolerance for cold. Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

Jim,
I think you answered your on question. ;))
I prefer a 3mil but that is because I am very cold natured.
Ida

I may split the difference and get a 3/2 jumpsuit. I just hate to be overdressed.

Jim

Jim,

My wife and I live in CO, and dive Bonaire often as can afford. We are both surfers and use those wetsuits for double duty as they are more flexible (but that's a story for a different subject thread). Our suits are 2mil core with 1mil arms, and are shorties - for Bonaire. I find this is a bit warm on day one and two, but by the end of the trip we are fine as the repetitive diving aspect kicks in. The only time we are cool is deep wrecks or night dives after many days of diving.

My suggestion would be to wear a shorty (if you are warm by nature) to handle the multiple dives per day for multiple days. If you are cold by nature, wear a skimpy full (1 or 2 mil).

Have lots of fun (10 months and counting),

John

I'm being a ditz, but what is a 3/2 jumpsuit?

I wear a skin, and I'm always comfortable.

Kelly, I didn't know either until I started researching but a 3/2 is 3mm core and 2mm extremities for greater flexibility. John, I am headed out to keystone for a ski week in Feb how has the weather been?

Jim

Jim,

Funny you should ask...we just got hammered with another storm coming midweek. Denver has been cool and dry, with most of the precip hitting the mountains over the past weekend. Keystone/Breck got a foot around new years eve, and the big storm is coming now with the southern mtns expecting a mind boggling 2-3 feet tonight, and our central mtns expecting another 6 - 10 inches, and that starts tonight for them as well. They are predicting 4 days of snow up there so might be a doozy. Late Jan- Feb is my favorite time to ski, since its still cold and the snow is dumping...you should be treated to a good one this year. We have a better than usual year so far, but nothing like the Sierra's are getting (9 feet last week).

Take care,

John

And boy you should see Kelly's skin...can spot her a mile away, and she causes a ruckus on the boat dives ;-)

Jim, I wear a skin, with a full 3mm on Bon, husband wears a t-shirt and shorts and is hot. We dive a lot locally, and wear the heavy duty stuff year round.

John, you are getting the storms we've had the last couple of weeks. Rained all night heavy again, and this morning poured...so get ready!

On various trips to Bonaire I have worn a 2ml shorty, a 1ml full and a 3ml full. I no longer use the shorty after getting rolled once getting out at Andrea II and getting pretty scratched up. Last Dec I used my 1ml, in Feb I used my 3 and last summer back to my 1. The only time I was cold was late in the trip in Feb after multiple dives.

Also depends how long your dives are and how much you move. Bonaire has tons of great macro life and you can spend a lot of time barely moving, just staring down into a mountainous coral head at all the critters. I started with a dive skin only on my first trip but now both my wife and I use full 3 mm suits and find it much more enjoyable on our long hour+ dives. If you ever get too warm you can always unzip a little and flutter some water in there. I would hate to have to cut short a Bonaire dive due to being cold!
Steve.

I just dropped down to a full 2ml and hubby wears a shortie 3ml. I get cold a repetitive dives and on entry and exit, prefer the full. Hubby won't even consider it. Says shortie works fine even on night dives. I find the 2ml is more flexible.

I started out diving Bonaire with a 2 mil but got cold on a late afternoon dive @ The Lake and cold on some of the night dives. I switched to a Henderson Hyperstretch full 3 mil and have not had a problem with getting cold since.

I use a 3 mil shorty and it works just fine day or night. I carry a 3 mil full suit just in case.

I have worn my skin- my polartech - and my 3mil full suit and various combinations thereof. I agree- if you are really focused and not moving much you get colder faster-esp towards the end of the week. I don't much go in just my skin anymore. (you'd think the fat would insulate you better!!!) I do love my polartech if the water is pretty warm- I can usually go nearly the whole week with it (but using that under the 3mil is pretty sausage-like)

I use a polartech skin or a 1mil skin, they are interchangable as far as warmth. Dave uses a 1/2 mil skin or a 1 mil skin and is always comfortable. of course he primarily uses a skin for entry and exit and to protect his skin from the coral. Smaller people usually need more warmth protection than us big people. Andy

My 2 cents here. I'm just back from two weeks and in December, the coldest water temp month (avg 83 F) to my understanding, I wore a 2.5 mm full suit and was always comfortable. Almost all my dives were pretty slow moving photo or REEF survey dives, 60-90 min. Actually, I had two suits with me, I wore an old compressed one (150+ dives) on the first dive of the day and a brand new toasty one (yay!) on the second tank. Third (etc) tank, I tried to wear the thicker one if I could bear to pull on a clammy wetwet suit. Night dives I wore a thin hood just to make sure not to pick up any phototropic critters. I've noticed some dive guides wearing 5 mm suits, for whatever that's worth, as well as guests comfortably boat diving in swimsuits and T shirts. Like you said in your initial post, Jim, your personal thermostat has a lot to do with what to choose.

Everyone, thanks for the info. Sounds like somewhere between a Speedo and a 3mm full should do the trick. 86 days and counting.

Jim,

Keystone got 8" last night, you'll need a light parka, helmet, goggles, insulated pants, dry weave water wicking long undies, a comfortable shirt, and sturdy socks.

John, thanks for the snow report. Sounds like we will have good conditions next month. I have to be careful not to pull a "agony of defeat" while I am there. I am excited about the trip. Only one thing better than skiing and that is diving. By the way it is partly cloudy and 70 here in ATL.

Jim

Hello everyone! I am going to do my first warm water diving in lovely Bonaire. I just got certified, but that was in a drysuit in Whittier, Alaska at around 45 degrees water temperature!

A friend and I will be going in mid February, and I can't wait! There was a lot of good info here on what thickness wetsuits to wear. I just bought what I hope will be comfortable for me, a 2mm shorty. I found that the full were too much for me as I'm only 5'2" and suffer from the big butt syndrome, and it was really hard to move. Does anyone know of a brand for women on the short side, size 10? I'd like to get a full suit eventually, but the rolled up ankles, cuffs, and the sagging crotch would really get to me.

Really wanted a 3mm, but they didn't have what I wanted and I prefer to try on what I am going to buy. I am normally pretty warm-blooded when it comes to being in the water. I guess I'll find out! What's a polartech? Is this like normal long underwear? Educate me! Thanks!

Diane, I tried lots of wetsuits to find the perfect fit. I am 5'3" and "pear shaped" so those that fit on my lower body were often too large on my upper body. I have a shorty that is just OK (fits better lower than upper) but my favorite is my Henderson Hyperstretch 3mm. I love the way it goes on without dancing all over the place to try to pull it up and it really does conform to my body. I do not have to roll the ankles or cuffs. Some folks do not like the hyperstretch because at depth they do compress a bit more and I also have a friend with a hyperstretch that did not have seams that held up after 100plus dives. Enjoy the switch to warm water -- I have given up on diving here at home because I do not enjoy pulling on a 7mm!

Thank you Susan!

I did try on the Henderson Hyperstretch 3mm, and it seemed way too big (length-wise). You DO have that whole inch on me! ;) I might go back and try on a size smaller if I decide I want to get a full suit for further adventures. I went with the 8, and I'm thinking it could have been tighter still.

Ahh, I'm really looking forward to this!

I have found that a 1/2 mm works well in warm Bonaire waters. I have done most dives in a local lake with temps ranging from 60-78 degrees, so Bonaire seems wonderfully warm. I choose the skin because of the freedom of movement it affords and the ease of dressing for dives. I use both a 1/2 mm seaquest and a combo 1mm/half mm by xcel (both full body) -- I then have a dry skin each dive if I alternate ... both provide about the same exposure protection.

gosh Diane- if you certified in a drysuit then I salute you!! If I had to do that I would have NEVER gone in the water- I am strictly warm-weather-water!!! Do they even sell polartechs anymore? I am shaped like a small woman is (aren't we all rather pear?) and I hated for a LONG time the feel of any thickness around my neck- it just intensified that panic that a beginner can get- and a skin wasn't really doing the trick (and the shorty was making my thighs look enormous, but that is a personal thing)- so I found a polartech. Its like a skin but a little thicker (a 1mm?) and it has a warm fuzzy inside-. It dries really fast and stretches really well; of course NOW I can stand my new 3/5 because I have grown up and I appreciate it more- but I still can't stand to put a hood on. Freaks me out.

Tami,

You're making my head swell! Ha! Nah, I like the cold weather. I grew up in MN, and do all sorts of winter sports. Going ice climbing on the 29th! The dry suit was really just because I was going to AK to visit family and just thought why not do it there. It was more expensive, but worth it. Minus the jelly fish sting on the only bit of skin exposed...my upper lip!

I've been told that I will enjoy warm water diving so much more. I know I'd rather have about 8-10 lbs of weights versus the 45 lbs of weights! That was a bugger to take off and put on in the water. I used up half of my air just trying to do that! I'm glad that you go gloveless in the warm water. Talk about no dexterity.

I think I did see a polartech yesterday. Very thin neoprene with like a fleecey lining. Do you think a person could wear like a thin undershirt under a wet suit? Has anyone ever done that? Would it even help? I have a thermal chamisole (kind of an oxymoron huh?), would that work if for whatever reason I did get a bit chilly in my 2mm shorty? Isn't that the same concept of the polartech? I'm not too worried though. I used to swim in a 73 degree pool when I was in Iraq. I think people thought I was crazy! Perhaps I am...a bit.....but aren't we all?

Humans strapping compressed tanks of air on their backs and swimming with the fishies? That would have seemed a bit crazy at one time!

Diane -- time to stop fretting about the wetsuit! You will probably be fine in the 2mm shorty but if after a few days you are cold you can always rent one. I would skip the camisole (I love my thermal camilsole for chilly days because I can wear it under my work clothes) as it may just end up feeling clammy. One thing that I do find helpful is to have a long sleeve shirt for when I get out of the water, especially after several days of long dives. I sometimes find that is when I get chilled and the dry long sleeve tshirt helps. Having been trained in cold water as well, you will love the water in Bonaire and the freedom from so much weight -- shore diving at home in a 7mm with 24 lbs of weight I always want to call a crane to help me out of the lake! Can't wait to hear how you like Bonaire!

Thanks to everyone! I know, I know, it's just vacation. No worries.

yes- what is to concentrate on is how lovely everything will be as you float along with hardly any weights!! I usually start out with the bare minimum(!) of my skin and progress to more stuff as the week goes on and I dive more...just like a woman- I have to have lots of clothes!!

Just returned from a week of diving in Bonaire, dove all weeek in just skins over a tee shirt. The one exception was a night dive at town pier, just to be different I wore a 3mil hyperflex hood on that dive. This wasn't a gorilla dive trip, if you doing a lot of dives more thermal protection might be needed. But it's all personal, in November in Cozumel there was a diver who was cold in hood. gloves, and what looked to be a heavier than 3mil full suit.

John