diving suits in the Caribbean

Question
I am doing research for a short story.  What kind of diving suit
(material/equipment) is needed to explore underwater caves in the Caribbean?  
Can you suggest any good Island?

Answer
Hi Jo,

First, let me apologize for the delay in getting back to you.  We were heavily impacted by Hurricane Ike and my computer needed to be repaired before I could get back online.

First, most of the caves I'm familiar with are actually on the mainland on the Western side of the Caribbean and not on the islands themselves.  These caves are part of underground river systems.  This is different from some of the overhangs and deep recesses which can be found in many of the tropical islands.  Diving in these two environments requires requires very different gear.  Diving in a true cave requires double and triple redundancy in most of the scuba gear.  Since the water in these caves is usually much cooler than the water found in the recesses connected to the sea, heavier wetsuits (or drysuits) are required to prevent hypothermia.  The warmer water of the Caribbean calls for much lighter wetsuits.

Jo, I know this isn't very much information but I will need more specific details in order to provide a specific answer.  If this is a fictional story, then we can "create" a scenario and put cave divers in a ficticious cave on any island you'd like.

Once again, I'll need more information in order to provide a better answer.

Best of luck with your story.

Mike Giles
Mike's Dive Center