Snorkeling Alaska: Cold Water Wetsuit Test
Still dry in my wetsuit Snorkeling in Alaska! This week I wanted to put our wetsuits to the test. Here in Southeast Alaska the ocean temperature is hovering around 40 degrees, unless you get too close to a glacier where the temperature plummets even farther. Our wetsuits include a 7mm bib, 7mm ¾ jacket, 5mm hood, 5mm gloves, and 5mm booties. You are pretty well covered. Even your face is mostly covered by your mask and snorkel setup. Still, it is a wetsuit, not a dry suit. So water does flood inside all of those layers of neoprene but hopefully your body can heat it up and insulate for warmth. This was the test. Our snorkel location and timing were chosen after careful researching of the tides and conditions. Some of the islands off of Cape Fanshaw have been productive in the past so we headed to one in particular where mid-morning we should experience a -4.1ft tide, thus exposing the usual intertidal life above water and getting us snorkelers deeper i...