Night Diving

[ctkell]

I have recently completed my open warer cert and have completed three more dives. I am in a dive group where I work and they are planning on doing a night dive at Hanauma (sp?) Bay. I am wondereing if it is a good idea to join that group of experienced divers or do I need to get PADI trained before I do the night dive? The max depth is about 40 feet and there are ten divers going?
Thanks

 

[TSandM]

I did a night dive as part of my AOW, which were the first five dives after my OW cert. It can certainly be done.

Having just recently suffered through a horrible night dive, however, I have a few tips: Make sure the people you are going out with know that you have never done this before. Make sure there is someone who is perfectly happy to buddy with you anyway, and will be okay if you need to take more time or even abort the dive.

My AOW night dive consisted of applying myself to the side of my instructor with suction cups and desperately trying to cope with the disorientation of not being able to see up or down. It was not my finest hour underwater, nor was the one Wednesday. Being in the water at night is different!

 

[Rick Inman]

Do it! You'll love it!!

Make sure you go over the light signals before the dive.

 

[Divmstr223]

I don't think it's totally necessary to take and advanced class first. But I would recommend you go with a group or dive buddy that has been night diving before. I did my first night dive before I took AOW and I had a great time. Enjoy your dives and let us know all about it....

 

[Xanthro]

Since you are a new diver one warning about night dives, some people become really disoriented during night dives.

That said, night diving is great and really IMO the best dives. I always more fondly recall night dives than day dives.

Final warning, if you fall in love with night diving, the price of really good dive lights will scare the heck out of you.

 

[jeckyll]

I went night diving before doing my advanced.

Having said that, make sure that you are comfortable with your gear and setup. Ensure you pack everything so that it's going to be easy to find and setup (will there be lights where you are putting your gear together at the site? If not, make sure you have extra flashlights (I don't like using my divelights out of the water, rather save the batteries for where I need them).

As has been mentioned, ensure that you go over light signals with the folks you are diving with. Ideally, day dive the site before you night dive it. That can really help your comfort zone.

If you dive a computer, know how to activate the backlight. Your gauges should be 'glow in the dark' so get used to shining your light on them before trying to read them. That's all I got on short notice for advice

Good luck and enjoy your night dive.

Bjorn

Edit: I hope you have 2 lights? If so, practice getting to your backup light with your eyes closed. After all, if you have a catastrophic failure, you'll need to be able to get that 2nd light going in the dark. If you don't have 2 lights, go buy a backup.

 

[ZAquaman]

It might be a good idea to dive the site durring the day first. If you feel comfortable with your gear (you should be able to put your hand on any part of your gear without looking at it first) and your dive buddy give it a try! Be aware of tides, and where the beach is relative to the moon. Night dives are awesome!

 

[jonix]

IMO you can do night...just be sure they (experienced buds of yours) consider this is your first night dive when they do the planning

have fun!

btw, i agree you'll get more frightened of dive light prices than underwater creatures at night

 

[docmojo]

Diving at night is great... Very different from day but with a good buddy you'll have a blast!!!

 

[gcbryan]

Hanauma Bay is an excellent night dive, shallow, no current and more fish in one place that any place I know of. You'll love it. Guaranteed