rcwei:
Hi there,
Typical schedule for a two tanker is to do a dive prior to sundown and then hit the water again for the night dive maybe a half hour to forty five minutes after sundown. Starting times will vary during the year as the sun falls. Right now most of the ops doing two tankers are meeting in the 3:00 to 3:30 range for the most part. February may be a bit later, but not substantially. Everyone pretty much times their meeting times to coincide with the appropriate time before sundown to make the second dive together (the more light the merrier for this dive). Meeting times will vary a bit due to group size and boat speeds. Most of the operators do operate on more or less the same schedule. Some operators do a single tank dive on occasion for a slightly reduced price. I would recommend to most poeple to go for the two tanker unless they've been diving earlier in the week. A night dive is no place to try to get used to diving or your gear again.
The daylight dive tends to be more of a lower light type of dive. You will get all of your day fish, and the night time fish will slowly start to poke their heads out in the deeper areas and towards the end of the dive. Mantas are often seen cruising the area during the first dive. You shouldn't bother chasing them, if you do you could run them off, and in general, if there are mantas during the daytime, there are mantas at night, you wouldn't want to jeopardise that. If you have a pocket light handy, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring it along to help see things color-wise, colors may not show as nice as earlier in the day. It's an interesting time to do the dives.
Whaleshark... you never know. They seem to be more prevalent around the first of the year as opposed to later in the year, and the bay is an area that we see them.
Thanks to Chris for the kind words.
Have fun,
