We're leaving for Bonaire this Friday. What is the water temperature and what exposure suits are recommended?

Webcams have local air and water temp. Check out the link.
http://www.bonairewebcams.com/

Water temp average is 80 degrees. Beautiful! Dove in full 3mil while there and was quite warm. Exposure is a very personal preference though. It depends what you are used to. Being from Minnesota, 80 is bathwater! Didn't have to use my drysuit all week!

Trish

When I tend to go (fall), the water temps have been between 78 and 82 with 80 being typical.

I tend to dive with a t-shirt and swim trunks and, maybe, a beanie. That keeps me fine for about 3 to 4 hours of dive time a day (although I may spend some time in the sun to warm up). In the same conditions, my brother gets cold in a full 3mm with a beanie. And I have seen people in a full hood and farmer-john before.

So, it all depends. How prone to cold are you? How many dives a day will you? How long and deep are the dives? How much swimming do you do the dive?

I think a full length 3mm is a pretty nice choice with some sort of hood being a big help. That said, I love the ease of just jumping in with my trunks and t-shirt.

3/2 mm full or shortie will do fine this time of year. I like full, while hubby and son prefer shorties. If you are doing more than 2 dives a day, go for the full, gives you added protection against jellies and such too, not to mention sun protection too.

In Cayman for a 4 day trip I usually wear just a swimsuit. In Bonaire a few weeks ago with 6 days of diving I wore a 3mm full suit and was perfectly comfortable.

We're taking our 3mm full suits plus 3mm vests to layer just in case. With planning to do 4 dives per day and an occassional night dive, we'd rather have the ability to add a layer than get cold. My guess is the vests won't leave the condo, but that's okay too. ;)

I've always used a 3mm when diving in Bonaire and never felt like I wore too much. And its especially nice to think of all the knee scraps I've probably avoided because my 3mm has padded knees. I'm sure I'm not alone in experiencing a slip here and there especially when exiting some of the southern sites.