How to pick the right wetsuit for diving at Similan.

     Wetsuits are designed for specific sports or activities. A wetsuit will protect you against water and weather conditions. Also, the scuba diving environment sometimes has a potential for scrapes, stings and burns. Exposure suits help you retain heat and provide protection against incidental skin injuries and sunburn. A diver need to know what kind of wetsuit is the best for the diving environment in order to feel comfortable while you are diving.

     Wet suits come in many styles, shapes, thicknesses and sizes. It is nice to have your own wet suit to avoid the worry of renting one. You can get one which fits nicely and gives you both warmth and freedom of movement. As an experienced diving instructor I known that unfortunately, many scuba diving certification courses do not spend much time explaining how the wetsuit works and how to choose it for all kind of diving conditions due to the little time we have in the classroom. I really hope this guide will help you to choose the right wetsuit for your next diving holiday to Similan.

     For me as a woman, I get cold very easy. This is what happens to almost all of the female divers I've met on the boat in the last 10 years of diving in Thailand. We need the  long john wetsuit with a minimum thickness of 5mm or 3mm with a hood. I'm not kidding, on the the live-aboard we do 4 dives a day, with the last dive being a night dive. The water temperature is 27 degrees centigrade and sometimes we have a thermocline. Water can transmit heat up to 20 times faster than air, so you cool rapidly in water. You will not need a hood for day time diving but you will be happy to have a hood for night dive.
    
     For male divers, I rarely see European male divers having problems with the water temperature at Similan, however some Asian male divers do. Most of you are happy with a 3mm shorty or 3mm long john wetsuit. For shorty wetsuits, I recommend that you bring a lycra bodysuit to wear under it, to protect you from scrapes, stings and burns. Even if you have good buoyancy, you can not avoid the tentacle from the jelly fish that are sometimes floating around.

      Have a good live-aboard trip.