New to Night Diving

[Wayfarer2]

In Bonaire do the guided night dive on the pier, or meet some other divers at the resort that have night experience and ask them if you can tag along on a night dive. If you are staying at Buddy’s night diving couldn’t be easier. Do a few day dives on the house reef and the way we would find our exit point was to look at the difference in the hulls of the dive boats that are tied up over the top of the reef. Or talk to the instructors at the resort about doing a night specialty, it never hurts to gain some knowledge.

 

[nhaone]

Excuse me if I offend but with 25 dives you do not know what you do not know. Night diving is not hard but it adds a significant complication and some people freak the first time. Please do not do your first night dive unguided. If you cannot afford a guide do not do it. I do not think hurting yourself is as likely as hating it and not doing it again because you were not ready.

I too am a new diver just a year old and am working on advanced course. I dove my first night dive this year in a quarry with my instuctor.
IMO-It is the same as day but you are in total darkness with the exception of your dive light and backup. I admit I was nervous and feared loosing my DM. to the point his location (at the end of my hand most times) was my second priority after breathing.
There is absolutely, I repeat absolutely no way I would even think of doing a night dive without a guide. And a guide you have a comfort level with. I dont mean to discourage you, but think safety first. I have over 25 dives and working on AOW as I mentioned above and I KNOW that there are many things I dont know and If it costs $50 for a guide which I always learn from then so be it.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

What some people on this board are forgetting is that there's a big difference between doing a night dive in a cold, dark quarry with virtually 0 viz (possibly no underwater landmarks) and doing a night dive in the warm waters of Bonaire where the viz will be as far as your light can shine.

My recommendation is to play it by ear. Get to Bonaire. Do some dives there. You'll probably find that exiting at some of the dive sites even during the day can be a little tricky due to the rocky shore and current wave conditions.

I wholeheartedly agree that a night dive using one of the "house" reefs (e.g., Buddy Dive Resort) would be a great way to start. They're well lit with nice steps into the water. Very easy navigation. Just make sure that you ask for permission to dive their site if you're not a guest there.

The Town Pier, which is a required DM-led night dive, would be another excellent choice.

Ultimately you'll have to decide the conditions for your first night dive (+/- DM, +/- AOW training, site, wave conditions). Take it easy and don't rush things. You are responsible for your own safety and your buddy's. Have fun, but above all else be safe.

 

[Bobyjimmie]

Night diving is by far my favorite, much more sealife to see but you must be fairly decent at navigation and night diving seems to be a bit overwhelming mentally to even the most experience diver the first time in the water at night, I highly suggest taking a night diving specialty course at the very least. I know some places wont let you night dive without it or your AOW because of insurance reasons.

 

[ClayJar]

What some people on this board are forgetting is that there's a big difference between doing a night dive in a cold, dark quarry with virtually 0 viz (possibly no underwater landmarks) and doing a night dive in the warm waters of Bonaire where the viz will be as far as your light can shine.

Hehe, I think you're right. I see very little difference between day and night diving at some of the cold, dark quarries and lakes I've logged, but there's a *huge* difference between day and night diving when I've been out in clear water. You can spotlight things from far away, for one, and it really feels like you're in the night, instead of just in low viz. :biggrin:

(Anyway, it's all in how you feel, I suppose. As long as you don't feel pressured to make the dive, you should be able to make the call on when, where, and whether to do some night dives.)

 

[diverdowndh]

I did a night dive looooong before I took any AOW class and was fine. You've probably heard all you need about equipment from other posters - i say do it and have a good time, you're in for one of the best sides to diving! I never cease to see something on a night dive that I've never seen before... hopefully it'll be that for you too. A recommendation is to possibly dive the reef during the day that you intend to dive at night, that might help. I think we did that on a night dive when I went to Grand Turk - the DM suggested this to a couple that was on the boat we were on. They were asked about the night dive and we dove it as our second dive, then did it later that evening on the night dive.

 

[ClayJar]

By the way, if you haven't seen it yet, my "[thread=212500]Just a little lagniappe.[/thread]" gives my personal account of one recent night dive. It may give you some idea of how great it could be. :biggrin:

 

[khblair]

night diving is definitely an experience not to be forgotten. i had my most relaxing, longest dive ever on a night dive - 59 minutes of pure bliss in Honduras. the things that are out in the dark are phenomenal. :14:

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Blackrock,

So you're probably getting really excited about your upcoming trip to Bonaire. I just returned from a great 7-day vacation there about 2 weeks ago. I did several night dives while on the island with my dive buddies. For our first night dive, we wanted to do something very easy. We picked Buddy Dive's House Reef...and everyone loved it! I stand by my recommendation to do this dive...
Enter by walking down some steps into the water. Swim directly out (towards Klein Bonaire). Drop down after passing the moored boats. The reef gradually slopes away from the Buddy Dive Resort down to about 105 fsw. Our dive party hung a right at about 70 fsw and saw a ton of stuff! There was a very cool octopus that was out hunting. We spied several spotted morays slithering around the coral heads. I even saw my first fireworm. Perhaps the coolest feature of the dive was the omnipresence of the tarpon (big silvery fish that hunt the tasty bait fish that you "accidentally" paint with your light). The tarpon reminded me of greyhounds at the dogtrack (not that I normally frequent places like that). Navigation was a snap. We just turned back around and returned the way we came. Buddy Dive has placed a very convenient rope that you can follow all the way back to their resort.
I can't think of a better site to do a first night dive. To increase your comfort level, I would do the dive during the day first -- just remember to ask for the Dockmaster's permission. Their dive facilities were closed in the evening, so we just did the night dive there without asking.
Have fun feeding the tarpon! Every single night dive we did, we were accompanied by at least 2 or 3 of them.

 

[dschonbrun]

There are a couple things to consider on your first night dive...

1. Make sure you have adequate exposure protection. Consider adding a hat, or hooded vest to your daily suit. Or you could go from a shorty to full length.
2. Get a waterproof light. Don't to nuts and blow 300$ on a HID Cannon. Just get a waterproof flashlight... something like the Torrent from Princeton Tec is fine.
3. Consider taking a chemical light with you, different color for each person, or a Lazer stick. These can be helpful, but are not required. Most people stay closer together and just follow the lights.
4. Make sure all lights are off for about 30-45 minutes on the boat before you enter the water. It will enable your night vision to adjust.
5. Select a site where you can descend and ascend a line
6. Select a night where the moon is out and full, and there are few clouds
7. Use backlit computers if possible.

D