Polartec for snorkeling in Hawaii?

[mystang52]

DW and I going on Hawaiian cruise July 9. We are doing 2 snorkeling excursions (one at Molokini Crater). I've heard that the Pacific is colder. We are former scuba divers and have thin Polartec "shorties."
Will we need them for snorkeling there?

 

[RockyMtn]

nope

 

[Meadbh]

Just wear your bathing suit.

 

[W2R]

It's up to you.

A small percentage of people like wearing a thin wetsuit top for SCUBA diving there. Maybe 10%-20% of people? That would be my guess. I never saw anyone use one for snorkeling.

I did a LOT of diving off Oahu back in the 1970's and 1980's, and although I had a thin wetsuit top like that I didn't use it much, even for longer dives. I really preferred to just dive in my bikini and a t-shirt. You can easily get too hot wearing a wetsuit in Hawaiian waters.

I did wear a wetsuit in waters off Virginia, though. Brrrrr. And northern California.

 

[audreyh1]

DW and I going on Hawaiian cruise July 9. We are doing 2 snorkeling excursions (one at Molokini Crater). I've heard that the Pacific is colder. We are former scuba divers and have thin Polartec "shorties."
Will we need them for snorkeling there?

We just wore rash guard long sleeve Ts over our swimsuits and I wore Lycra workout bottoms to my knees. This was more for sun protection that anything, and it provided a little extra floatation which was nice. The water was not that cold, not even early in the morning, in April.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We wore longsleeved rashguard shirts on the Hawaiian snorkeling excursions on our December cruise. It was really comfortable (I get cold). Not sure what the water temperature difference would be between December and July.

 

[mystang52]

Great! One less thing to pack. Thank you all so much.

 

[audreyh1]

Costco Maui had some really nice rash guards for sale. We each got one that had a very stylized Hawaiian crab god on the side. They were great for snorkeling.

 

[grasshopper]

We snorkel in rashguards no matter we we are.

 

[Kimo]

Lived here for over 25 years, leave everything except the bating suit at home!
Aloha!

 

[skipro33]

We go to Maui a couple times a year, stay for 2 weeks minimum. We fit everything in a carry-on bag. If you are bringing more than that, you are bringing too much. Ha!

No, you don't need anything other than a swim suit for the ocean. We were there in February and while windy, the water was still very warm.
BTW, in February, there are a lot of whales. Literally look out at the ocean and within 15 to 30 seconds, you will spot a few at least. We went on a whale watching dinner cruise and I gotta say that was the highlight of any trip I've ever taken on Maui. It was out of Lahaina.

Bring binoculars and take them where ever you go.

 

[audreyh1]

The Pacific ocean is quite cold along the US west coast and Mexico's Baja California due to the current from Alaska. But Hawaii is far away from that.