In Reply to: Dry suit advice needed posted by Dick J on August 01, 2005 at 07:56:05:

Remember, Dec water is warmer than June's, though Miguel is always on the chilly side. I've found my 6.5 mm fine for water down to 48/49 F IF I swim...staying in one spot looking for bugs or photoing can make one chilled - that's when the hot tub starts looking really attractive.

As a thought, you may want to check out a semi-dry suit (with attached hood) as an alternative. The better ones have longer wrist, ankle, and face seals that stop the flow of water plus if they leak its not a big deal as you still have that 7 mm neporene insulation. I tried one on this past weekend and immediatly started to sweat. Add 5 mm gloves and you should be fairly warm. Suggest renting one and try it out (Ventura Surf and Dive rents Excels).

Even top of the line ones are about 1/3 the cost of a quality dry suit (like DUI). I'm looking at some inteh $500 range. Plus you don't have the ongoing cost of replacing the inevitably torn seals. One guy I dove with got a spectacular deal on eBay for a new industrial quality drysuit ($600) - Shell Oil was selling off surplus suits. That would be something to keep an eye out for.

Not sure about weighting for the semi-drys...as you know this is a passion for me these days. My guess is that I'd add 2 to 4 lbs to compensate for some of the trapped air...maybe not.