First Night Dive Experiences

[Lexy]

I'm curious about other diver's first night dive experience. For some of ya 500+ divers, that's probably ancient history...

So..... Where was your first night dive? Were you excited, scared, nervous? Be honest, please!! Everything go as planned? Did you have second thoughts once you began the decent? Do you perfer diving at night or day?

 

[Rick Inman]

I'm curious about other diver's first night dive experience. For some of ya 500+ divers, that's probably ancient history...

So..... Where was your first night dive? Were you excited, scared, nervous? Be honest, please!! Everything go as planned? Did you have second thoughts once you began the decent? Do you perfer diving at night or day?

I remember the phosphoresce on the boat ride to Catalina Island. I remember seeing all the cem. lights tied to the backs of the divers in the water. I remember missing a lobster. It was 1971 and I was 13 and fearless.
My latest night dive was last night, under the Christmas lights at the resort on lake Coeur d Alene. I'm a little older and a little more careful, but both dives were a blast.

 

[mossym]

breakwater, Monterey. Nervous at first, but just hanging there watching two crabs fight over food made me forget my fears and just enjoy it, i love night diving now..

 

[pete340]

I'm curious about other diver's first night dive experience.

I've done two night dives. One on the Great Barrier Reef off of Cairns, Australia, and one looking for manta rays off the Kona coast in Hawaii. I must be missing something, because I was bored both times. No manta rays showed up on the second one, but we did spend twenty minutes in a lightning storm on the way back to the harbor.

 

[AEIOU]

My first night dive was in the winter in Illinois. 42 degree water and it was awesome. Spoonbill coming out of the darkness at you can not be topped even in the warm ocean. Yes I was nervous...

 

[nauifins73]

The dark is not my favorite thing. Being nervous did not describe how I felt the 1st time. Terrified is more like it. My buddy made all the difference - I probably wouldn't have done it without him. My 1st night dive was Hol Chan off Ambergris Cay, Belize. We had dove there that day with an unbelieveable current and when they said that was where we were going for the night dive - I thought "I don't think so!" There wasn't any current that night. But honestly the night dives are the best. The creatures are amazing. Eveything is so different. I still have to find my courage for a night dive and I am always glad I did afterwards.

Becky

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

It was just a shore dive to the Whiskey Wreck(a small wreck about 150m off the beach). I have dived there dozens of times during the day. It was my first night dive and my buddies first night dive. We were nervous, we snorkeled out and there was a phosphorescent wake behind us. We had chem lights on our backs and flashlights in our hands. There were alot more fish, and different fish on the wreck. The stingrays let us get closer too. There were schools of squid, which I had never encountered during previous to the dive. By the end of the dive, we were feeling much more comfortable and went without lights a few times - it was pretty amazing.

We ended up making it a weekly thing during the summer atleast one night during the work week.

 

[scubajoe]

First night dive was on the Benwood wreck in the FL Keys in 1998. I was a little bored after the initial aprehension then a huge crab popped out in front of me and I was hooked. Now I'd rather dive at night!
My coolest night dive was in Turks & Caicos on the Sea Dancer. The lobsters were walking across sort of piggy back. They'd climb up a coralhead and tumble down the other side, then get back in line and go on. Then I saw a large barracuda, then another and then thousands more. It was like a wall of barracuda! I thought a way cool dive but it wan't over. I did a look spin with my light and saw green eyes. Shark! Cool. It was a small reef shark, 3 or 4 feet long. As he got closer I could see he was not happy, back humped up, pectoral fins down and coming straight at me. I thought "ok sharky I'm going to feed you my light". He was within a foot of swinging distance and turned and went about his business. Great dive. My buddy was about ten feet away from me photographing a longhorn nudibrach and never saw any of it!

Joe

 

[scubajoe]

oops double post, sorry

 

[OE2X]

My first night dive was off the coast of NH a long time when I was about 15. The water was clear and we had a max depth of 60'. There was a full moon that lit the water up from about 30' and shallower. I'll never forget rolling over on my back and looking up at the surface ...

Around the NW when vis goes down the tubes you can be on a night dive in the middle of the day. Thats why on every dive we carry our HID lights. Last weekend diving in Nanaimo BC on the wrecks it felt like a night dive at 100' or so.

My coolest night dive of all time though is one that happened just a couple of weeks ago when we had a 9' six gill shark spend about five minutes with us. You just never know what will come out of the dark at night!