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Do I need a wetsuit?


drscooby74
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Hello, planning a cruise Feb. 24th, 2019

Will the water be to cold to swim/snorkel at this time? Should I get a wetsuit? If so what mm should I get? I am 95lbs so I get cold easy

Ports

Start: Fort Lauderdale

Nassau

Half Moon Cay

Grand Turk Amber Cove

End: Fort Lauderdale

 

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It depends on what you’re used to. For me it’s way too cold, but for someone from a northern state it may be just fine.

 

Air temperature should be comfortable though. Most likely nice and warm, but if there’s a cold snap sweeping through the US, it will most likely reach the Bahamas. We were in Nassau in December a few years back and it was 48 degrees when we arrived ️!

 

 

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I don't think in my 25+ years of sailing the Caribbean, I don't think I have ever seen anyone wearing a wetsuit
We must have missed each other! In Feb. we always take (and use) a wetsuit. Mine is more of a skin but I also like 80 degree water. My husband uses a short thicker one.

 

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We must have missed each other! In Feb. we always take (and use) a wetsuit. Mine is more of a skin but I also like 80 degree water. My husband uses a short thicker one.

 

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LOL...did you notice I said...."i've never seen", but that doesn't mean that nobody had

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If you get cold easy and plan on snorkeling I would suggest getting a "shorty" wetsuit. On several of our snorkel excursions we have seen people wear them. Not sure what mm to suggest though. We don't use them as we have extra padding on us [emoji16]

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If you get cold easily, a shorty should work for you. If you have more than two snorkel stops, be sure to unzip in between because it will get really warm with the wetsuit.

 

We went scuba diving in Grand Cayman in February. I didn't necessarily need the wetsuit for the water temp, more to protect my arms and legs from coral. I am about the same size as you.

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If you get cold easily, a shorty should work for you. If you have more than two snorkel stops, be sure to unzip in between because it will get really warm with the wetsuit.

 

We went scuba diving in Grand Cayman in February. I didn't necessarily need the wetsuit for the water temp, more to protect my arms and legs from coral. I am about the same size as you.

 

Good post above! (y)

I'm also about your size (94 lbs) ... and get chilly easily.

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Lol 72* sounds perfect! We had a pool growing up (in NY on Lake Ontario) and 68* was warm lol

 

I'd die.

 

lol, seriously, I won't get in our pool unless it's at least 80.

 

It's interesting how different we all are for water temps. I grew up on Lake Erie and remember the beaches being closed if water temp got above 75. 80's water temp seems like bath water to me:o

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One thing to consider if you take your own wetsuit- depending on the room you have it may start to stink. The one time we took ours we had an ocean view room. We would hang them in the shower afterwards. However, the air circulation is not the best and they never did completely dry. Instead we got a smelly bathroom from the constant dampness of the suits. So, I would be careful with an interior or ocean view room. I know you are not supposed to put things on balconies to dry, but I also admit to breaking the rules on our last cruise. I brought clothes pins and pinned our bathing suits to the chairs. This may work well for wet suits. I wouldn't place anything on the railing of the balcony though due to the winds.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I dive the Caribbean regularly (mainly Bonaire) and I always wear a full 3mm wetsuit. In fact, I'd say 50% of the other divers also have full suits on. We went on a 2-week trip and I wore a 5mm the second week.

 

For me, it's not just about the water temp (though 70s are pretty cold, especially if you're doing multiple dives) - but also air temp, number of dives you're doing and how much sun & sea-creature protection you want. If you're doing more than a couple of dives over consecutive days, you'll get colder and colder each time. Also, hopefully you're not wearing sunscreen (unless it's reef safe, and even that isn't a guarantee) which means you're gonna get burned unless you're wearing something and honestly, I've come out of the water numerous times with people wearing shorties or just swimsuits & rashguards with bumps and red marks from things brushing against them and stinging/biting underwater. It doesn't happen a lot, but I've got sensitive skin - so no way I'm risking a skin rash that's gonna burn every time I get in the ocean after.

 

I'll be honest, I had someone on an Aruba dive boat chuckle at me for wearing a full suit - only to see him shivering on the second dive and cutting it short to go get warm.

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I know you are not supposed to put things on balconies to dry, but I also admit to breaking the rules on our last cruise. I brought clothes pins and pinned our bathing suits to the chairs. This may work well for wet suits. I wouldn't place anything on the railing of the balcony though due to the winds.

 

We went to the showers at the pools onboard to rinse our suits off each day and used zip ties to secure them on our balcony when it was nice out. :)

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  • 1 month later...

If you’re used to cooler waters then you won’t need a wetsuit even in February, if you’re worried about sensitive skin get surf leggings and a long sleeve rash guard. I’m violently allergic to jellyfish so I took that option in case of jellyfish on my snorkeling excursions. You can also get thermal rash guards and shorts if you want something with a bit of insulation but will be easier to get dry in your cabin than a wetsuit for diving.

 

 

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Hello, planning a cruise Feb. 24th, 2019

Will the water be to cold to swim/snorkel at this time? Should I get a wetsuit? If so what mm should I get? I am 95lbs so I get cold easy

Ports

Start: Fort Lauderdale

Nassau

Half Moon Cay

Grand Turk Amber Cove

End: Fort Lauderdale

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

 

I would use a shorty wet suit in those areas that time of year.

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