Like the guy said. Night diving is coooooool. My favorite type of dive. If your dives in Bonaire are like most Carribean diving you will be with a DM. Usually on a shallow reef. The night dives I have done, they attach a blue chemical light stick on your tank and a red one on the DM. You can rent a good light and carry a spare just in case. Hard to get lost since you will be following the DM around. The boat should have flood lights on it and a strobe should be on the dangly line. Biggest problem I have had is that other DorkDivers like me keep running into me, trying to get a better look at some sea creature or take a picture of it.
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dkatchalov
Contributor
To the OP - you are planning to do night diving without training/AOW certification?? I think that is crazy and is a recipe for an accident to happen.
Here is a link with the underwater light signals. You and your buddy can learn them here.
Dayo Scuba - Orlando Florida - Open Water, Cavern, Cave and Technical Scuba Training and Diving - Main Page
The exact equipment required is often specified by the boat operator. We are required to each have two flashlights and a chemical light stick.
A lot of boat operators start the evening with a twilight dive. Often it gets dark while we are down on the first dive. That makes getting started easy. Dive number two is a full night dive. If the water is clear, there is more light underwater than you might suppose. Even on a moonless night. I enjoy using a small light over a big one, as my eyes adjust pretty well down there.
Have fun with it.
Dayo Scuba - Orlando Florida - Open Water, Cavern, Cave and Technical Scuba Training and Diving - Main Page
The exact equipment required is often specified by the boat operator. We are required to each have two flashlights and a chemical light stick.
A lot of boat operators start the evening with a twilight dive. Often it gets dark while we are down on the first dive. That makes getting started easy. Dive number two is a full night dive. If the water is clear, there is more light underwater than you might suppose. Even on a moonless night. I enjoy using a small light over a big one, as my eyes adjust pretty well down there.
Have fun with it.
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I'd suggest doing Town Pier on Bonaire as your first night dive. It's a DM-required escorted dive, you've got a pier on one side for visual reference and it's a really great dive - one of the top 10 on Bonaire. Take a camera, the fire cup coral open at night and are really spectacular.
And you'll be in a small group (4-6) so a DM can keep an eye on you both. Worst case, you surface in the harbor and can see downtown Kralendijk a couple hundred feet away. You could even get out at Karel's over the water Bar - j/k...
My buddy has one of those flashers. Most divesites on Bonaire are marked with a ball. He hangs it on the line at about 40-50' and never fails to see it returning. The water is so clear that on a moonlit night you can see without a light.
You could also do several dives from the resort docks, they're all on named dive sites and a couple of them - Habitat and BelMar are two I know of - have lights on/under the water. You'd have to work to get lost.
I have a UK SL4 eLED+ backup light. I loaned it to a buddy for a night dive I sat out on in Curacao last spring (same water clarity as Bonaire) As they came back in along the breakwater I could easily tell that mine was the brightest/whitest light out there - including other bigger UK bulb lights. My other buddy commented that it was too bright given the clear dive conditions.
If you do some of the south dive sites at night, I'd suggest diving them first in the daytime. More to learn where the breaks are through the ironshore out to the reef. I wouldn't want to crawl over the ironshore at night without knowing where to go. But that's only at some sites, others have a nice sand area to enter/exit from. A good trick it to park your truck behind your entry point - at some sites you drive to within about 20' of the water - and hang a glowstick or flasher off the antenna. At most, except for a few scraggly trees, it's the tallest thing in the area.
Some of the resorts do one boat night dive per week. But I wouldn't bother. The reefs along Bonaire parallel the shore at almost all the divesites so you just go out near the ball, drop and make a right or left turn into the current, do your dive, make a 180' turn and then ride what little current (if any) there is back to your entry point.
An exception to this is the sites past Red Slave (Vista Blue etc.) to the south. Sometimes the current is ripping down there in the afternoon - I don't know if it subsides at night. I read somewhere the far north end of the island can have similar conditions.
No gloves allowed on Bonaire so don't grab the ropes/chains at the southern sites - some of them are coated in firecoral.
One last tip - Tarpon often feed in your light. It can be quite a shock when a 4-5' silver fish zips past your head and hits a baitfish 3' in front of you. But they're good hunters, they miss you by a foot and usually hit what they're after. You may encounter this anywhere there's lights in the water and probably near any pier or divedock.
Another cool thing in the ABC Islands is that the Octopii come out at night. If you don't blind them, they'll usually go about their business.
And you'll be in a small group (4-6) so a DM can keep an eye on you both. Worst case, you surface in the harbor and can see downtown Kralendijk a couple hundred feet away. You could even get out at Karel's over the water Bar - j/k...
My buddy has one of those flashers. Most divesites on Bonaire are marked with a ball. He hangs it on the line at about 40-50' and never fails to see it returning. The water is so clear that on a moonlit night you can see without a light.
You could also do several dives from the resort docks, they're all on named dive sites and a couple of them - Habitat and BelMar are two I know of - have lights on/under the water. You'd have to work to get lost.
I have a UK SL4 eLED+ backup light. I loaned it to a buddy for a night dive I sat out on in Curacao last spring (same water clarity as Bonaire) As they came back in along the breakwater I could easily tell that mine was the brightest/whitest light out there - including other bigger UK bulb lights. My other buddy commented that it was too bright given the clear dive conditions.
If you do some of the south dive sites at night, I'd suggest diving them first in the daytime. More to learn where the breaks are through the ironshore out to the reef. I wouldn't want to crawl over the ironshore at night without knowing where to go. But that's only at some sites, others have a nice sand area to enter/exit from. A good trick it to park your truck behind your entry point - at some sites you drive to within about 20' of the water - and hang a glowstick or flasher off the antenna. At most, except for a few scraggly trees, it's the tallest thing in the area.
Some of the resorts do one boat night dive per week. But I wouldn't bother. The reefs along Bonaire parallel the shore at almost all the divesites so you just go out near the ball, drop and make a right or left turn into the current, do your dive, make a 180' turn and then ride what little current (if any) there is back to your entry point.
An exception to this is the sites past Red Slave (Vista Blue etc.) to the south. Sometimes the current is ripping down there in the afternoon - I don't know if it subsides at night. I read somewhere the far north end of the island can have similar conditions.
No gloves allowed on Bonaire so don't grab the ropes/chains at the southern sites - some of them are coated in firecoral.
One last tip - Tarpon often feed in your light. It can be quite a shock when a 4-5' silver fish zips past your head and hits a baitfish 3' in front of you. But they're good hunters, they miss you by a foot and usually hit what they're after. You may encounter this anywhere there's lights in the water and probably near any pier or divedock.
Another cool thing in the ABC Islands is that the Octopii come out at night. If you don't blind them, they'll usually go about their business.
Damselfish
Contributor
Taking AOW couldn't hurt, but at the least I'd try and read the night diving section of the book or search around here for tips (though they'll likely all get repeated in this thread.) There's lots of little tips like like not shining your light in your buddies eyes and blinding them. How to signal, that's different.
Need, no. I see people on boats all the time doing their first night dive, they get a good briefing then off they go. I don't know that I would want my first night dive to be completely on my own with a buddy who hadn't done it either. You could maybe rent a DM for your first night dive, or maybe you can find a find guided night dive to go on. Or find some folks who will let you tag along (but don't push if they don't really seem to want to - some folks will enjoy taking a newbie on their first night dive and some will not be comfortable with this.)
Well, it's dark.
It may creep you out at first, or not. There is a bit more task loading, from using a light if nothing else. One hand will be occupied with that. Depending on your gauges/computer you may have to illuminate them. You will see different critters, and you will probably focus much more closely on smaller area of reef. Buoyancy control is something to watch out for - even if you feel you have this nailed down, without as much visual reference you may find that you really don't. Watch out for floating up or crashing. Be careful of knocking into things in general, have to stay aware of what's around you, that's harder in the dark.
You don't need them, but it doesn't hurt to have a marker light and if it makes you feel more comfortable why not. I am against using strobes for this though, as they can be annoying to have in your view at close range as well as to any other divers in the area. (If you were on a boat dive, they often mark the anchor line with a strobe, so strobes on people can be confusing to others a distance away in that situation.) You can get constant on marker lights pretty cheap, no need for glow sticks.
Sometimes people put a light or strobe someplace, like tied to a mooring line or whatever works, occasionally we have. (A better use of a strobe than on your person, IMO.) But if you are diving from your hotel in Bonaire, most if not all have a line running from the dock to the dropoff and down the slope. You will see the line on your way back, it's pretty hard to get lost, even at night.
For tropical diving they're certainly fine, I wouldn't bother buying anything other than LED at this point. Just too many advantages.
dkatchalov
Contributor
Everyone has their own level of comfort. I intend to continue diving until I either get bored or am unable to do it anymore. And I intend to continue to progress through diving to wreck, tech, etc. My attitude is that you cannot take shortcuts in this sport and I would never even consider doing a dive I've never done before without formal training/instruction first. AOW happens to provide that training, hence I mentioned it.
To each their own I suppose.
That's an understatement! Have you met Charlie?
Dive the site first during the day. If you are staying at a resort on the water, you'll probably find other divers in the water as well.
I think you'll also find some sites more suitable for night diving than others. Many dive sites are a real challenge to get in and out of through the coral. Find the friendly sites and you'll have no problem. One of my favorite night time spots is Yellow Submarine, about 1/4 mile up from Town Pier (another EXCELLENT escorted night dive). Real easy entry and exit.
highlandfarmwv
Contributor
No biggie. Go in front of your resort the first time. Leave before dark. If you come up left or right of your resort, just swim to it or get out where you are. You will be able to see the lights. You'll be surprised at how close you will be. Even if ALL your flashlights go out, you can head for shore by the shore lights on top of the water.
I hate to see those gargantuan lights that some folks use, then they make matters worse by shining right in the eyes of the creatures (with sensitive eyes) like octopi. bonaire is super easy for night diving. You'll love it.
I hate to see those gargantuan lights that some folks use, then they make matters worse by shining right in the eyes of the creatures (with sensitive eyes) like octopi. bonaire is super easy for night diving. You'll love it.
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