anyone done a night dive with dive house?

[d56nut]

Hi All,

We are heading back to Cozumel on May 23rd. We were there at the very beginning of February and we dove with Dive House and stayed at Fiesta Americana and we were extremely pleased with Dive House. We will be diving with them again in May. We have signed up to do a night dive this time and it will be our very first night dive. Other than telling the divemaster that we haven't done one before what else should we know in advance? Hubby is a bit nervous about the night dive and not know what is around him. Have any of you done a night dive with Dive House? I know that during the morning dives when we came up to the surface (and we were usually the first ones up cuz hubby is an air sucker...but he's getting much better!) if the boat wasn't right there it showed up within a minute. How the heck does the boat see us when we come up? Do we wave our lights at it? Are there lights under the boat so that we know where it is most of the time? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Scubagal]

Michelle,
We did 2 night dives with Dive House while we were there in February. You can rent lights from them if you don't have dive lights. The boat will come to you once you surface, our DM signaled them, or if you surface prior to the DM, you can shine your light at them. They will go over light signals to use prior to your dive. Just follow the DM and you should be fine. Enjoy!

 

[ggunn]

Night diving is wonderful. It's not scary at all, contrary to what I thought before doing it for the first time.

When you ascend after the dive, you do so with your lights pointed at the surface, which makes bright pools of light in the water that he boat captain can easily see.

 

[getwet2]

Hi All,

We are heading back to Cozumel on May 23rd. We were there at the very beginning of February and we dove with Dive House and stayed at Fiesta Americana and we were extremely pleased with Dive House. We will be diving with them again in May. We have signed up to do a night dive this time and it will be our very first night dive. Other than telling the divemaster that we haven't done one before what else should we know in advance? Hubby is a bit nervous about the night dive and not know what is around him. Have any of you done a night dive with Dive House? I know that during the morning dives when we came up to the surface (and we were usually the first ones up cuz hubby is an air sucker...but he's getting much better!) if the boat wasn't right there it showed up within a minute. How the heck does the boat see us when we come up? Do we wave our lights at it? Are there lights under the boat so that we know where it is most of the time? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Just follow the instructions they give you and you should have no problem. Remember not to shine your light in other divers faces and don't drop it, you'll have a great time!

What did you think of Fiesta Americana, I was there in March and would not recommend it to anyone who likes to eat, plus we had problems with our room that they didn't seem too worried about fixing.

 

[d56nut]

Hi,

We loved the Fiesta Americana. We did the all inclusive plan and other than one meal, we enjoyed all the food. We did go in to town a couple of times for lunch but we ate all of our dinners and breakfasts (and several lunches) at the resort. We had wonderful fajitas, great tortilla soup, filet mignon, and one night was mexican fiesta night...it was awesome with live entertainment. The only problem with the hotel we had was that when we got there we were given a non smoking room and we are smokers...took a little while to get it straightened out but it was finally taken care of. I considered this trivial...why let this one small thing ruin a whole vacation. I loved being away from town and when we wanted to go to town it was only 5.00 to get there by cab. Our room was great...big bed...not too hard...plenty of towels...gorgeous balcony with two hammock type chairs and a small table. Great maid service. We are going back in May! Can't wait!!!

 

[Dive Monkey]

I would take a backup light and a chemical light ( you know the ones the kids have at Halloween ). The chemical light isn't necessary, but it helps identify you buddy incase you get seperated.

Thats just my two cents....later

 

[d56nut]

Thanks for all the great tips and suggestions everyone!!! I sure hope we get to go through with the night dive. I can't wait to do it but I'm not going to push hubby into something he isn't ready for. He's feeling somewhat better after reading your responses!

 

[ggunn]

Thanks for all the great tips and suggestions everyone!!! I sure hope we get to go through with the night dive. I can't wait to do it but I'm not going to push hubby into something he isn't ready for. He's feeling somewhat better after reading your responses!

Blue Angel (at the hotel Caribe Blu) conducts guided night dives from shore. Maybe as a first experience this would be something you could get him to do.

 

[swim2mi]

Hi Michelle:

I just couldn't resist this thread. I have been to Cozumel 3 times and 2 have been at the Fiesta Americana and Dive House. I have made several night dives during my stay and to tell you the truth, I would rather dive at night than during the day. If I could arrange a trip with only night diving I would be a happy camper, Divorced, but a happy camper.

As stated before the DM gives exact instructions on how to use the light with signals. I believe when you surface you hold the light over your head and the boat comes over to pick you up. I don't know how they do it but my experience has been the boat is always right there.

It is also amazing to me how much you can see at night even without the dive light on at all. If you husband is concerned about the dive you can always stick right to the DM's fins. They really do not mind and the advantage is that they are looking for unusual stuff for you to see anyway. The other suggestion I might make is to find an operator that does a combo "Twilight and Night Dive". You can use the Twilight dive as a warm-up with enough ambient light to acclimated to the surroundings without just jumping in to the dark abyss. You also get to see the change in marine life from day creatures to night creatures. When I was there the last time Dive House did not offer this combination but maybe they do now. There are many other operators that do and will pick you up from the Fiesta dock.

I would suggest you purchase a tank light or glow stick for the back of your tank as just an extra margin of safety. I bring a small second light as a backup. I would also purchase your batteries prior to your trip as they are very expensive in Cozumel.

I am going to back to Fiesta in July and will try to get as many night dives as possible.

Have a great trip and enjoy the night diving. It is really awesome.