Night diving

[skimphish]

i havent seen too many threads on it, so im not quite sure where to post this.

anyways, i think this weekend or next weekend im going to go for a night dive here at the St. Andrew's Jetties (Panama City Beach, Fl). i have dove the jetties a couple times now, and hear that it is amazing at night. lots of octopus, bioluminescenes, etc. so what are some suggestions for night diving? i know to have a good primary and secondary light (which the ppl im going with have plenty of). but anything else? i have seen some reg. yoke lights from leisurepro and thought those were kinda cool/smart.

so any other suggestions? thanks guys!

 

[BTravlin]

There are many things to consider but I would want to know about the tidal flows along the jetties for the night of said dive. Not a good time for surprises.

 

[skimphish]

ya as the weekend gets a lil closer ill be checking out dive times.

 

[eidol@verizon.net]

It's a good idea to tie a marker light at your entry point
and pay close attention to your compass headings

 

[Pitchblack]

Good preperations (marking entry/exit points, making sure gear is rigged while it's bright and not change any gear config that hasnt been dove with before the dive) and good navigational skills are recuired for a successful nightdive.
Make sure you have a dive plan to follow and an emergency plan, also make sure to have someone at the surface, better safe than sorry.

You should also remember that you wont see anything else than what your divelight lights up for you, therefore you and your buddies should have atleast moderate buoyancy controll so that there isnt any siltout down there. I experienced it last weekend and it wasnt that funny...

Good luck and I promise you, a nightdive at a site you've dove a houndred times at day is a completely different site than before, an explosion of maritime life usually takes place during sundown/night.

Best regards, Pitchblack.

 

[I Dive]

Shore diving at night... I've never thought about this until now, but what about your dive flag? Will it be lighted?

 

[skimphish]

im sure we will put a light on the dive flag. good idea though, didnt think about that either. lol.

i need to track down a marker for the entry/exit point (in this case it will be the same place). im really looking forward to it, but i want to make sure that i have everything in order before we go so everything goes smoothly.

 

[Sas]

-focus on your navigation - it is much easier at night to get disorientated, this was generally the problem I encountered when I first started night diving
-good idea to do it during the day so you can suss out all the hazards (it seems from your post you have done this already). I am a bit guilty of not doing this (some sites I've dived a bunch at night I have never seen during the day, some aren't diveable during the day either) but I make sure I work out how the tide will affect things, hazards and so on by asking people who've dived it, reading up info in books/web
-tie a light to a flag if you have one
-if there are lights on the jetty, note their position and you can use it to navigate - for example, one pier locally has different coloured lights so if we look at the surface (assuming the viz is ok), we can tell where we are based on what colour light is above us)
-light signals are really handy - the ones me and my buddies use are you wave your light in a circle to ask 'Ok?' and the other diver needs to return this in kind if they are ok, for getting their attention, wave your light back and forth fairly slowly across their beam, and if you are in trouble do the same thing but rapidly
-really make sure you and your buddy/ies are on the same page in regards to lost buddy procedures. At night it can be harder as it is dark, and there might not be people on the surface around to help you

Anyway, hope you have fun! I much prefer night diving to day diving as there seems to be heaps more marine life out and also I like the dark

 

[skimphish]

now i have some questions regarding entry/exit marking. for the jetties here it dips down to about 65ft, but the entry/exit point drops down to about 35-40ft. you enter/exit through a small opening in the jetties (rocks on either side), and dive pretty much straight down. we usually like to hug the bottom due to more wildlife down there, fishing lines at the top, boats, etc.

so, is it best to take a couple glow sticks and secure them to a rock that is on the ground? or how would you go about it?

 

[I Dive]

now i have some questions regarding entry/exit marking. for the jetties here it dips down to about 65ft, but the entry/exit point drops down to about 35-40ft. you enter/exit through a small opening in the jetties (rocks on either side), and dive pretty much straight down. we usually like to hug the bottom due to more wildlife down there, fishing lines at the top, boats, etc.

so, is it best to take a couple glow sticks and secure them to a rock that is on the ground? or how would you go about it?

That's probably a good idea. For your first night dive, you probably also want to do it transitional, i.e. you hit the water just before sundown when it's still light and are in the water when it gets dark. This allows you to get your bearings, comfort level, etc... before it goes dark. This also means you are only navigating the shore when it's dark once, on the way out!

Another consideration-vehicle keys. I know many divers who hide a key to their vehicle under a rock or something during a shore dive. Personally, I think this is insane. I have a spare key zip tied to my gear that I use. Anyways, if you are a "hider", you need to make sure you can actually find your keys when it's dark, and I don't recommend marking the location with a glow stick! For your own good, please don't post up here where you plan on keeping them...