What lures you to go night diving

[Z Gear]

I found that I am really intrigued and lured to night diving. I got into it at first from going on lobster hunts. There is just something challenging and exhilarating about going out into the black. This to me is just a whole new experience than diving in the day.

As for myself, I really enjoy night diving I think it brings out the adventure part in me. I wonder what lures you to go night diving. Why do you like to go out into the black. There a lot I know that would not dare go night diving. Would you say that we are thrill seekers?
Or is it just that we like challenges and over coming the dark is just another type of challenge? Perhaps we are just curious of what night creatures we will see at night and we are driven by our sense of exploration. May be its all three?

Why do you think you like to night dive? Do feel any difference as far as your experience as I do? Or do you feel there is not much difference except for the different species which come out at night.

 

[jcaplins]

Everything comes alive at night.
And only being able to see what is illuminated by your flashlight focuses you attention on one thing at a time and really see some details you might otherwise miss.

It seems as if the seas and everything else is more calm at night. Less people in the water too.

 

[TSandM]

Some of our sites are decent dives in the daytime, but come alive and become fascinating at night. Octopuses seem to be more out and active at night. Lumpsuckers are primarily found at night. Market squid are most often seen at night, and ratfish congregate in the dark. Sailfin sculpins, which are beautiful fish, are nocturnal. I love diving at night.

Of course, a lot of the time, anything below about 60 feet is a night dive in Puget Sound even in the daytime . . .

 

[Papa3]

I love entering the water just as sun sets and seeing the change from "Day shift" to "Night shift". As mentioned your field of view being restricted to your light makes for a much more focussed experience and personally I find the tranquility of diving exponentially increases at night. Interestingly I use less air on night dives, no idea why.

 

[Steyr]

Photography is so much better at night without the blue/green glow of sunlight through the water tainting the colours of everything. Water backgrounds are nice and black, helping to give contrast against the colours of the subject. Plus, with a wide angle video light, many critters can't see past the light you're shining at them, so you can get much closer to them before they realise there's a big animal behind the bright glare.

 

[rhwestfall]

No different than why I will go night skiing, sometimes its the only opportunity I get to go diving...

 

[drbill]

Too darned many ill-supervised snorkelers at the Casino Point dive park during summer days drove me to focus most of my summer diving at night. A whole different shift comes out then and makes for some very interesting video. Fish like wrasses and blacksmith, prevalent during the day, go to sleep at night to avoid nocturnal predators. Normally "aggressive" fish like nesting male garibaldi become sheepish at night and don't defend their nests. Morays and large kelp bass come out to hunt. Plankton and small reef-based crustaceans are more obvious (including bioluminescent forms) at night. Some species seem to spawn primarily at night. These days I start night diving in mid-spring and often don't end it until late fall (the drive home can be a bit chilly in my golf cart).

 

[Dhboner]

I love night diving but I really wish "casual" divers took it a wee bit more seriously. I have been on night dives at resorts where nobody discussed light signals or buddy discipline. Once in the water everyone was all over the place and if anything had gone pear-shaped it would not have been pretty. I think it is possible to be enthralled with the beauty of a night dive without compromising safety.

 

[Colliam7]

Or is it just that we like challenges and over coming the dark is just another type of challenge? Perhaps we are just curious of what night creatures we will see at night and we are driven by our sense of exploration. May be its all three? . . . Why do you think you like to night dive?

I think you have captured much of the essence, at least for me, of night diving. I do enjoy the night ecology. I do think that there is something about night diving that represents a bit of a psychological challenge, and is something that I want to periodically re-assure myself I am 'up to'. And, I have learned that night diving is probably the most relaxing form of diving I can pursue. Several years ago, I was with a group of 10-12 colleagues on a night dive on Bonaire, and I got ahead of them when they stopped to look at something, to the point that I was no longer seeing their lights, except when I turned around. So, I turned my light off, and continued my 'solo', lights-out night dive, on a clear sky, full moon night. Ever since, I do several such dives during my annual week in Bonaire. It is serene.

 

[Storker]

Night diving is - along with wall diving - among my favorite types of dives. The fact that many critters are more easy to see at night, and that many fish species are a lot less skittish in the dark is just a bonus. What really fascinates me is the feeling. You and you buddy are alone in the world, and the universe consists of only what can be seen in the beam of your light, and your buddy's light out there on the left flank. Everything else is pitch dark, non-existent. Sure, some times it's more demanding, I'm quite a bit more task loaded than during a daytime dive (particularly if I'm bringing my camera), but that feeling of just yourself, your breathing, the light cone and your buddy's light is... fantastic. It's on the same level as when on a wall divie, you're gliding out over the edge, exhaling and sinking down towards the dark abyss below.

Did I mention that I just love night diving?


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