Night Diving - I don't get it

[TSandM]

Perhaps surprisingly, I actually find moderately low viz is less annoying at night, because you don't expect to see very far anyway, so you don't spend any energy trying to peer through the murk.

If you are primarily diving wrecks with very little marine life on them, I could see why diving them at night might not appeal -- especially if you are doing it in the open sea, with swells and current. In fact, a lot of the places like that where I have dived don't permit night diving. On the other hand, if you are diving areas with a lot of marine life, it's really fascinating to see the diurnal/nocturnal changes that occur in species and activity. Night dives in Puget Sound have become some of my favorite dives, because of the types of critters we see in the dark.

 

[Karibelle]

I find a wonderful, peaceful feeling of aloneness while night diving. (Aloneness - a made up word) I love to close my light against my chest and see what there is to see OUTSIDE the glow of a dive light... it's wonderful. During big moons, amazing. On the other hand, nights with less moon provide a darker, more critter rich environment. More lobsters, crabs, shrimp out during darker evenings.

Oh, and i love basket stars.

 

[3D diver]

It's fun, a little spooky, you see different critters, and is a good excuse to sleep in the next day.

 

[ajduplessis]

Its the same for deep dives. The believe is that there is nothing to see. You wont know until you try!

 

[Tigerman]

To put the whys into one word...
ZEN

 

[islanddream]

I've only been on night dives in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. It's truly amazing to see critters that you never see during the day. In November, I bet we saw 8 - 10 octopus on a night dive. It's cool how they turn colors when a light is on them. Also, I didn't realize how big they can spread out over a piece of coral...just amazing! We've also seen gigantic crab and lobsters on night dives along with much smaller marine life that we don't see during the day. If you've never gone on a night dive, I'd suggest trying one that doesn't have more than four people in the group. It's much easier when it's dark to keep track of the group if it's small. One dive we did last year had about 10 people in our group. Other dive boats dropped off their divers close to the same spot where we were. Wow, it got way too confusing for me to be able to keep track of our group. Luckily, I have a great dive buddy and together we managed to stay close to our group.

When we dove a couple weeks ago, our dive master wore one yellow fin and one blue fin. It was easy to find him by shining my light on his fins. It's amazing how everyone looks alike at night.

Give night diving a try....you'll probably be hooked like the rest of us!

 

[fnfalman]

I love the night dive, I gotta boogie...

 

[Oldbear]

Life does not stop when the sun goes down...it only changes.

 

[fnfalman]

When we dove a couple weeks ago, our dive master wore one yellow fin and one blue fin.

Differently colored fins come in handy when a neon yellow wetsuit isn't distinctive enough underwater...

 

[Oldbear]

Differently colored fins come in handy when a neon yellow wetsuit isn't distinctive enough underwater...

Maybe the different color fins are the result of the dive being at night and they grabbed the wrong one in the dark...I don't know what to say about that wet suit