Night Dive

[Mossman]

Eh, I'm with mstevens on the subject of tank lights. IMO, there's already way too much light from the average group of divers. In clear water, Sue Sue's penlight is plenty. It's easier on the marine life and helps one focus on finding stuff rather than just lighting the whole place up.

And IMO, there's absolutely nothing more jarring on a night dive than a tank strobe. If someone wants to disco at night, they should go to Señor Frog's.

 

[Mike]

A strobe versus a glowing light on a tank are a lot different. Strobe on a tank is like a quacker crazed diver.

---------- Post added June 5th, 2014 at 08:24 PM ----------

One really fun thing to do is feed the coral and anemones--when the little fish and worms start swarming your light, take the light close to a coral head or anemone and watch the feeding frenzy. I filled up three large anemones in just a few seconds.

That's interesting, I've never seen that.

---------- Post added June 5th, 2014 at 08:30 PM ----------

Something you just try for yourself, but, me personally, I have done a couple night dives (Cozumel and Roatan) and am still trying to understand what the big deal is. We did see several crab, lobster and octopus, however the dives overall just didn't seem too interesting.

I am going to try again, really hoping something sparks or I assume I'll just quit night dives all together.

I go through phases in regard to night diving. They are nice to do for something different and the chance to see different marine life than during the day, but the older I get the harder it is to motivate to do another dive at the end of a long day, especially if its that time of year when it gets dark later. After 5:00 pm there are too many other things that seem to become more appealing than putting on that cold wet suit again.

 

[Chilidog11]

Well unfortunelty I did not get to do my night dive and actually had to cancel a total of 5 dives. My husband and I got deathly sick and i couldn't even leave the room for 36 hours. Still sick now. Oh well, i'll just have to go back.

Thanks again for all the tips, i'll keep them all in mind for next year.

Chili

 

[robint]

Well unfortunelty I did not get to do my night dive and actually had to cancel a total of 5 dives. My husband and I got deathly sick and i couldn't even leave the room for 36 hours. Still sick now. Oh well, i'll just have to go back.

Thanks again for all the tips, i'll keep them all in mind for next year.

Chili

well, that really sucks. I guess you drank the water. Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[PatW]

I did a night dive at Paradise Reef in Cozumel. Because the site is pretty fertile from pollution, there is a bunch of life there. We saw morays, large crabs, lobsters and a bunch of octopus. It is an easy dive in shallow water and little current.

Night dives seem initimidating. But your eyes adjust and even modest lights work just great. I prefer dimmer lights at night and strong ones for lighting under ledges during the day. If you go slow and stick with your buddy, you should be just fine.

 

[cvchief]

Well unfortunelty I did not get to do my night dive and actually had to cancel a total of 5 dives. My husband and I got deathly sick and i couldn't even leave the room for 36 hours. Still sick now. Oh well, i'll just have to go back.

Thanks again for all the tips, i'll keep them all in mind for next year.

Chili

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you can get back soon. Food borne illness?

 

[Mike]

I did a night dive at Paradise Reef in Cozumel. Because the site is pretty fertile from pollution, there is a bunch of life there.

a lot of pollution, really?

 

[scubafanatic]

Expect to love it. Some of my lowest SAC rates are on Cozumel night dives. My son prefers to do them with his light off the entire time if there's a full moon - he's a complete night dive addict.

I hate, hate, hate tank lights. They're distracting. Besides, I've watched two large groups collide (with us in the middle, just waiting for them all to sort themselves out) when everyone had a tank marker light. If everyone has one, it won't help with keeping track of your buddy in such a situation. There are typically 3 of us and a DM, so it's not hard to keep track of everyone.

If you do use a tank light, at least don't use a Blinking one......the strobe effect is highly annoying !

 

[Chilidog11]

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you can get back soon. Food borne illness?

Not sure. We did split a ham sandwich at the hotel and that was the only food we ate in common. No one else in our group ate that or got sick.

Thanks for the well wishes

 

[alewar]

During my first (and so far only) night dive I tried in bane to call the attention of my insta-buddy by moving the light horizontally. I did it several times on purpose to point him to some critters but I wasn't successful any single time. Be sure to establish some sort of communication protocol before entering the water. Another small thing is that you'll have to point your light to the computer in order to read depth & time, during descents/ascents you also have to use your inflator while reading your computer... a goodman handle for your light helps a lot with this. If you don't have one, you can clip your light to your computer or compass.