How soon for night diving?

[The Chairman]

night fall. Then it will be dark enough for a night dive.

HAVE FUN... just make the first one or two simple dives, in areas you know and with buddies you trust. Maybe even do a night snorkle first... those are cool too!

 

[MSilvia]

Not exactly sure, but I think my first night dive was my 20th. I was suprised to find it more relaxing, and Spectre was suprised to find the dramatic impact that had on my air consumption!

Have a great time!

 

[Spectre]

Originally posted by MSilvia
Spectre was suprised to find the dramatic impact that had on my air consumption!

Yea... fish-man... he grows gills during full moons!

night fall. Then it will be dark enough for a night dive

NetDoc...I know you ment it as a joke, but it's actually a good direction...

If you don't have a lot of experience, you might want to give a dusk dive a try. All your gearing up is during the light, and your dive is done at dusk as the light fails... that way your already under and on your way and gradually adjusting to the dark. Along those lines, a full moon on a clear night is a good time to start as well... as it will offer the most light to aid in getting comfortable.

 

[The Chairman]

:tease:

Actually, depending on the angst, a late afternoon dive first might help and then a dusk/evening, and then a full night. I was just pointing out that you should go by your individual comfort levels... not some prescribed number of dives. I did my first night dive with less than ten dives... with gators to boot! Mondo kewl! But I was way up for it, and OK out in the middle of this spring fed lake at night (with gators). On the other hand, I have only done one night dive and one night snorkle dive in the ocean. I sincerely need to get out at night more often... way tooooooooooo beautiful at night to pass it up.

 

[Walter]

That was a cool night skin dive.

 

[divrnr]

I night dive all the time, but for most it's an aquired taste. Be completely comfortable with your skills first because task loading is easily tripled due to fear factor...:mean:

 

[Welshman]

I think it was at about the 20 mark that I did my first night dive. We dived a shore site with which we were familiar and it was great.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

I say sure as long as your comfortable and have the gear read up on some special procedures that way your little bit more ready

 

[wetman]

My first night dive was dive number 3-5 range. I absolutely loved it. It was quieter (no boats anywhere on the lake) and it was an absolutely relaxing situation. I got hooked and night dive at any opportunity now. Thing is, in our lakes near home, all dives are typically night dives past the 20 foot mark so it really makes no difference what time of day you go. The suggestion of knowing where your stuff is by feel is certainly a good one - at minimum know where your backup light is and how to turn it on blind - I've had a few times where my primary has died on me for whatever reason.

steve

 

[large_diver]

I think it depends on the person. In a perfect world, it would be at a site you are familiar and comfortable with, with buddies whose experience you truly trust, reliable lights, etc.

Also -- your night dive is probably NOT the time to try out new gear. Night dives are usually somewhat more task intensive than daylight dives.....so messing around with gear you aren't familiar with can be an issue.

Also, spend some time in advance thinking about a few different situations, namely the conditions/depth at the site and what will happen if you have to make an ascent in complete darkness...i.e. if you are holding a light and/or a flag, how you will handle this. It doesn't have to be a big deal -- I just find it useful to visualize how I will do something like this in advance if I haven't tried it before.

Dive safe.