Night diving - what is it like?

[Dan]

Night dives are my favorite dives, where you dive in shallow for more than an hour seeing lots of neat critters & nocturnal fish. A couple of examples of what you would see in Raja Ampat during night dives.

 

[AfterDark]

Night diving is where it's at! The ocean comes alive after dark. The vis is almost always good because a diver can't see any further then the dive light allows. There are things you'll see at night you'll never see during the day.

Here in RI the best reason to dive at night is LOBSTERS! At night they come out of their holes to hunt. Easy-pezy, pick'em right up off the bottom! RI is the only New England state where diving at night for lobsters is legal. Just don't put not even one shellfish in your bag. Shell fishing after sunset in RI is a felony!

One night a DEM enforcement officer explained it to my buddy who had 6 mussels in his bag along with his lobsters. "I could arrest you on a felony charge for having these mussels now." But being a reasonable officer he didn't, he did make my buddy dump them back into the water.

I don 't do nearly the amount of night diving I used to do, miss it actually. I just don't have a schedule that accommodates night diving anymore.

 

[Diesel_Diver]

Night dives are very cool! We normally grab a pkg of the break and shake glow sticks and hang them off the tank band as well. Helps keep an eye on each other. Completely different world down there after sunset. My first night Dive one of the guys made a joke” just try not to think about what is just outside the beam of your flashlight “ hmmm kinda freaked me out but was still a blast. Did an awesome drift dive at dusk that turned into a night Dive a few weeks ago. Gotta say it was probably my second favorite dive so far. Right after number 1!!

 

[GreggS]

My first night dive was in Cozumel. I was a little apprehensive but was detertmined to do it. We splashed just before dark so there was a transition from light to dark.

As it turned out, it was the most relaxing and fascinating dive I had ever done. We had previously dived the same reef during the day, but as others have said, it was a completely different world. I have since done other night dives and love them.

 

[Dogbowl]

I might get to do it soon in Cozumel....am I correct to assume you generally don't go very deep on a night dive?

 

[GreggS]

We went to around 50 feet on our night dive in Coz. I suppose it depends on what your definition of deep is.

 

[Dogbowl]

We went to around 50 feet on our night dive in Coz. I suppose it depends on what your definition of deep is.

50 feet is not too deep. Did you do it off a boat or as a shore dive?

 

[GreggS]

50 feet is not too deep. Did you do it off a boat or as a shore dive?

It was a boat dive. We were at about 30 feet when we splashed and then worked our way down to the reef, which was Palancar Gardens.

 

[Dan]

The deepest night dive I have done was 70 feet in Flower Garden Banks. That was the 5th dives of the day. All 5 of them are deep (70-100 feet) there. After seeing a guy got bent on the next morning dive, I quit doing deep night dive, especially in the middle of no where, 100 miles off the coast. A diver air lifted off the coast of Galveston, Texas by US Coast Guard on July 16, 2017

 

[Dogbowl]

It was a boat dive. We were at about 30 feet when we splashed and then worked our way down to the reef, which was Palancar Gardens.

Thanks! Palancar Gardens is nice in the day, must be nice at night too!

I think I'm gonna work up my courage and just do it!