My First Night Dive Didn't Go Too Well

[AZjohn]

This was my 5th dive of the weekend (but my very first night) and became comfortable with my new diving buddy and the dive con who is leading this night dive. The dive plan seemed simple, my dive buddy, the dive con, and myself descend from the back of the boat strait to the bottom (40 feet) followed shortly afterwards by 2 other experienced divers (total of 5 divers). We then would head in a north direction staying between 30-40 fsw for approx 30 yards then circle back.

The 3 of us jumped off the back of the boat (lights on) and floated until we were all ready then signaled to start our decent. As soon as I deflated my BC I could see we were all just below the surface but was a little shocked how the blackness engulfed everything and visibility soon was nil. Still dropping I could see only one other flash light but continued down. It was the strangest feeling not having any visible reference which direction was up/down/sideways but could tell I was dropping because of the pressure in my ears.

I discovered holding a flashlight in my right hand, checking my computer on my left wrist, shinning the light to see my bubbles, looking down/up/sideways, pulsing my air fill to the BC, and equalizing my ears/mask was very awkward and stressful. My last check of my computer showed a depth of 45 fsw and still descending and my thought was pulse the fill button more on the BC because I should be at the bottom. So I did and then aimed my flashlight towards my fins and all of a sudden I see the sandy/silt floor and boom, I hit it with my feet and a huge plume of silt explodes around me (not what I needed to happen).

So I'm just frozen there for a moment trying to see anything, mostly my dive buddy and the dive con. After what seemed a couple of minutes I see another diver hit the bottom just like I did. I shined my light but couldn't tell if it was my dive buddy or the dive con initially but soon realized it was my dive buddy. We both gave each other the OK sign and then started to look around for the dive con, using the 360 maneuver. Soon a 3rd diver came down but still not the dive con, it was one of the divers from the second group behind us.

At this point is where sadly my brain started to freak out from not knowing where the dive con was and the overwhelming feeling of the blackness all around me. I don't know how to write in this post the exact feelings that was hitting me but I do know my breathing was accelerating and adrenalin was flowing high. I started to do another series of 360's and next thing I know is I don't see anyone anymore? I can't find my dive buddy or the 3rd diver that was there a second ago. All my brain is doing at this point is sending false signals that I am all alone in the black darkness and that I'm in serious critical condition.

The only sane thought that I can gather at this moment is to try and slow down my breathing, start a slow accent to the surface, and don't get myself into a panic mode. I need to share this last point is easier said then done and really had to focus with all my will not to loose it because the result would be a real bad situation. So I aimed my flashlight to find my bubbles and then started a slow gentle kick of my fins in that direction. I then moved my flashlight to look at my computer to check my accent rate which was good. But when I did this I lost the direction of my bubbles and started to freak out again not knowing which way was up/down/sideways. I finally decided to just keep the light on my computer and this will tell me if I'm heading up or down and that seemed to work a lot better.

When I got to 15 fsw I stopped kicking to start my safety stop but soon noticed my computer read 13 feet... 11 feet... 9 feet, and then it hit me "dump your air in your BC stupid". By the time I dumped my air my head popped up above the surface. All I could do at this point is cuss myself out for about a minute (lol). The captain of the boat asked me what was the problem and I just answered I lost everyone and freak out. He said everyone is right below me just go dive back down. I said "no thanks, I'm done for tonight and proceeded to clime back on board.

A couple of minutes after getting back onboard I see another diver come up to the surface, it was the dive con. She came swimming up to the boat and the first thing I asked is "where is my dive buddy" and she said she paired her up with the other two divers while she came up to check on me. She then asked what happen with me and explained the whole story the best I could. The dive con explained that she was having troubles equalizing her ears and had to stop her descent twice before she could make it all the way down. She then told me I made a really fast descent, or how she put it "you rocketed to the bottom".

She then asked if I wanted to try it again, which I replied I'm not comfortable doing this. She then suggested that we descend using the anchor line and we go slowly down together and keep a hold of the line. I thought for a second and then said I'm good with that. So got my gear back on and swam over to the bow of the boat and proceeded to go down using the anchor line.

This time I felt much more comfortable. My brain had a visual marker to tell me how fast I'm going down and which direction my body is at while holding on the line. Once we got to the bottom (without hitting it and creating a plume...lol) it was a totally different experience. The dive con held my arm for the first few minutes and once my breathing was controlled to a nice slow pace she released me and we both just stayed close to each other while looking in a the little bolder crevices for all kind of little critters.

After the dive and all 5 of us were back on board I got to review with everyone what went wrong and what I could learn from this "first" night dive experience. A couple of key points were I should have used the anchor line for the first descent, I should have gone down the exact rate of my buddy, and I should have slowed down period. There are more things I learned but have taken enough room with this post.

I only wanted to share my experience with everyone that can take something from it. I always try and learn something new with every dive. What I learned from this was how fast my brain can twist an unfamiliar experience into a panic situation. I could have sworn that this first night dive experience lasted over 10 minutes, when I checked my computer it said 3 minutes??? Kind of strange what my brain can come up with (lol).

Thanks,
John

 

[SDiggy]

John,

Thanks for sharing this experience with us. It's amazing what an unfamilair environment can do to a person. Despite the feelings of panic you had, it seems like you handled yourself really well.

 

[seaducer]

Sounds like you had alot on your plate for that first night dive! It is good you went back down and had a better experience. Ascending or descending with no visual reference is one of the harder things to become comfortable with, and you are certainly not alone in experiencing all sorts of anxiety on your first night dive.

Important thing is that kept your head and in the end had fun...

 

[rollerboi]

Thanks for posting, glad you learned a few things. In my night diving class, I found another thing to help was simply letting my flashlight dangle downward on a lanyard while descending, freeing up my hands for the rest of the task loading going on. This also gave me a bit of reference to the bottom or anything else that might obstruct my way).

 

[Teamcasa]

Night dives can be tricky for new divers. Using the anchor line was a good plan and should have been the first choice as well. Holding your location mid-water without any visual reference is indeed a difficult task and not one to practice on your first night dive.

I would suggest that people take their first night dive in a familiar location, predictable bottom, really bright lights and do it early in the evening with a bright moon. This will help prevent that feeling of claustrophobia that can accompany a dark night dive with low powered lights.

I am glad that this has not put you off diving and hope that more night diving is in order. Night diving is exciting, once those initial fears are conquered.

 

[emoreira]

Hi John, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
I did my first night dive (chek-out) a year ago. We entered to the water via the beach. We swam to a boat anchored and we went down to the bottom following the anchor rope.
The visibility was very bad in the first 5 meters. After that the visibility cleared to 10~15 meters. The first 5 meters were a nightmare. I could only see the light of my buddies as a difuse orange banana in the darkness. I started to ask myself what was I doing there.
After that first dive I tought that I would never dive at night again.
However, last week I did a 3 days on-board trip. We did several dives and 2 of them were at night. The experience was so great, I felt so comfortable, so free, I had a beautiful dive, both dives. The pleasure of puting your light against your chest to take it away, move your hand to see the bioluminicence of the plancton like starts in the sky of a clear night. Indescribable. Once back in the surface swimming back to the boat looking to the night sky. Something that will be kept in my mind for ever.
This time it was inverse. I thought we were diving 10 minutes, but it was actually 40 minutes.

 

[Blackwood]

Good post John.

One key point to take away is the importance of maintaining contact with your buddy/ies, and how much more difficult that can be when you aren't yet completely comfortable with the procedures of diving (in this case: checking computer, looking for bubbles, adding gas to BC, equalizing). These are all things that with time you will be able to do without diverting attention from the group (aside maybe from "looking for bubbles," which I'm not convinced is a useful task in most situations - a conclusion you seem to have reached too).

Another is: slow down. There's rarely any reason to "rocket" to depth. Instead of falling vertically in the water, try rotating to your swimming position before you descend. This will dramatically increase your drag, and therefore slow your descent and in general make it easier to control (same goes for ascents as well). Also, just like equalization, add gas to your BC "early and often." Losing buoyancy as depth increases is what makes your descent dicey. Getting an early hold on it will help immensely. Like the dive con in your story, I often have problems equalizing, especially on repet dives. I find that a descent while as close to neutral buoyancy as possible is the best solution.

 

[princessaprilia]

I'm really glad that you went down a second time. I'm not sure that I would have.

Good for you.

 

[BDSC]

My hats off to you for going back down and giving it a second try and I would also like to add what a great job a think the dive con did with you. It would have been easy for her to just stay down and finish the dive and then ask what happened later. But it seems like she checked on you as soon as she could and then made a reasonable suggestion of how to continue the night dive without putting any pressure on you. Great job dive con whoever you are.

I will also give you a heads up on a future night situation that you will likely encounter some day. Chances are you will visit some of the caribbean destinations. A lot of the dive shops/resorts will offer night dives on a particular night of the week and many times they will only want to take out one boat when they do. So be prepared for what can be a "packed house" so to speak. One of the last night dives I went on had 19 divers on the boat and many times because it is a night dive, people have a tendancy to stay closer to the boat than a typical day dive. So imagine trying to keep up with who your buddy is in that situation where people are crowded together. My buddy and I either try to be the first in the water or the last so the crowd can kind of thin out and then we will head off in another direction without going to china and back. You don't have to swim far to see a lot of creatures but you can still try and stay away from the pack.

Good luck with all your future diving and night diving will become a breeze for you with more diving experience.

 

[Calle Roo]

John, thanks so much for sharing your experience. And congrats on not giving up, and giving it a 2nd go.

I will be doing my 1st night dive over New Years, and am nervous about all of the things you said above. Im hoping my buddy doesnt mind me tugging his BCD the whole way down, or for the dive. Its scary enough losing a buddy during daylight, let alone at night.

And welcome to ScubaBoard.com! :wavey: