December Water Temps

[falnangel7]

Does anyone know what the water temps are like in Dec around St Thomas, St Maarten, and Antigua? I plan on diving at least twice on the cruise and I'm trying to decide if I should buy a light wet suit before I go or if I should take my chances and try and rent?

 

Any recommendations for a comfortable thin skin for a woman? I tend to dive only in the Caribbean and Florida. I'm looking for something that will protect me a tiny bit from scrapes.

[bruce-r]

Let me as you a question, what is your tolerance to cold?

 

Asking what kind of wetsuit to buy without giving any details is like me asking you, "which car should I buy"?

 

I'd expect water temps between 78f - 80f in December. For me a 3 mm full suit is barely warm enough. I was cold in Grand Turk last December and wished I had brought my 5/4 mm suit.

 

As for renting a suit, you are unlikely to get one that fits as well as if you bought it ahead of time, not to mention people are much more likely to pee in a rented wetsuit. That might bother some people.

 

The minimum suit I'd recommend is this Bare Brigade Full Womens 3/2 Wetsuit from scubatoys.com

 

A better choice would be this Bare Womens 3mm Progressive Stretch Suit It will stretch easier to fit you better.

 

IMO Bare makes a high quality product, better than the over priced Henderson brand.

[falnangel7]

Thanks for the input Bruce. :)

 

My tolerance to cold is fair to good, I guess. I have enough extra insulation on my own to ward off the shivers most of the time. So the extra-strechy nature of that second suit sounds like what I'd need. I usually dive with just a tee shirt under my bc - I know it doesn't add much warmth, but it does protect my skin from the straps.

 

My legs get cold that way, but otherwise I'm alright until the end of the dive. I don't notice that I'm cold until its about time to surface. I tend to get a little colder when doing a second dive.

 

Is anyone familar with how the sizing of the suits works for women? I see a 14 and a 14+ then 16, 18. In clothes I wear between a 14 and 16, average height, if that helps.

[bruce-r]

Is anyone familar with how the sizing of the suits works for women? I see a 14 and a 14+ then 16, 18. In clothes I wear between a 14 and 16, average height, if that helps.

I'd give Scubatoys a call. They might be more familiar with the sizing. Toll free 877-728-2243 If you order over the phone, tell them you are a member of http://www.scubaboard.com and they will give you a 10% discount.

 

When I ordered my suit from them, I choose the size I though would fit but it was just a bit too tight. They were happy to exchange it. They didn't even charge me for shipping the second suit and they shipped it the day I called. They didn't wait for the first suit to arrive back at their store.

[Orcrone]

Grand Turk is a bit further north than St. Martin, Antigua, etc. When I was in Jamaica the last couple of years in Nov and Dec the water temp was in the low 80s. The divemasters and about half the divers used thin wet suits and half the divers didn't. Of course the divemasters were in the water several times a day.

 

I didn't feel like I needed a wet suit, but I'm pretty tolerant of cooler water and only did one dive a day.

[ScubaJim]

I went to St Thomas on the first week of December. The water was warm enough for just a 1mm wetsuit.

[daldog]

Not sure if the OP is coming back ... to me rental suits = icky. From a woman's perspective, I have found you usually have to size up from your street clothes size. (and usually the "+" after a size gives more hip room if you're shaped that way.)

 

I'd also say that better quality manufacturers tend to do a better job in fit for women (cheap suits tend to try and fit everyone like a man - not working for me!). And, they also tend to have pretty accurate size charts, so for example if you're intested in the Bare suit bruce-r recommends, I'd check out their web site for the women's size chart - go with your measurements, and if fall in different columns depending on weight/height/measurements, go with the bigger size.

 

Also, bruce-r mentioned scubaboard.com ..... a good site to search the women's board. (It's where I finally read the best suggestion to deal with the long hair problem!)

 

Last comment - what temps do you dive in a t-shirt? (I'd freeze my butt off no matter what in a t-shirt.) For you, 3mm might be overkill. Maybe a 1mmm skin. Or a shorty - both take up less room packing and if you typically do only warm water diving you'd probably get more use out of it in the long run. I love my shorty - and in the rare times it might not be quite enough, I wear a long sleeve thermal skin top under - which I'd also recommended on it's own for the times you just wear a t-shirt. A little bit of warmth for your core will help on your second dives and would be more comfy under your BC I would think. Still less bulky to take, and you can add it just for the second dive if you want.

[falnangel7]

Thanks for all the great input everyone. It looks like I won't be diving for awhile though - I just found out that I'm expecting! :) Only down side is that we're probably going to have to reschedual the trip - I think I'll be too far along for the cruise line to allow me to travel by Dec.

[daldog]

Congratulations!