Night diving is not for all divers, and that’s fine, it’s a strange sensation immersing yourself in complete darkness, not sure what is beyond your light, the creatures of the night, or the site itself. Nevertheless many divers who are apprehensive of the night can take heed of these tips, and perhaps they will help to enlighten them to the delight of the night, and not the trepidation.
- On your first night dive it is important to dive with someone who has plenty of experience in the night. Not only night diving in general, but of that particular site, the currents, the tides and henceforth. Night diving at the full moon can be some of the best diving of all. In Indonesia for example bumphead parrotfish, congregate in huge numbers for one rare occurrence.
- Always be prepared for the night. Many divers take two torches, just in case one loses battery or floods, being prepared are essential. Furthermore other divers swear by strobes on a night dive, attaching these flashing markers to ones tank or laying them on the bottom for navigation purposes will ensure the divers do not get lost. Furthermore try not to shine the torch in the eyes of your buddy, as a high beam torch can cause temporary night blindness.
- You don’t always have to dive in the pitch-black darkness. Many dive centres and divers encourage diving at the dusk or dawn period, this will enable divers to witness the change from day to night, and how the marine species change during this transition.
- Be respectful of the animals. Be aware that the behaviour of marine creatures changes from day to night. For example squid, shrimp and lobsters all become active at night, and are not used to human interactions, so make sure you observe and do not touch. Other species for example Scorpionfish and pelagic fish (barracuda, bluefish, jacks) hunt in the night, so be careful not to interfere with these.
- Be aware of depth limits. Many dive centres advise divers not to recommend divers exceeding a depth of 20 metres due to the fact that the majority of life is in the shallower bracket, and furthermore depth can be dangerous at night if problems occur.
- Be relaxed; diving at night is great fun, it is a different sensation, yet like all good things, can take time to become confident and really enjoy. Make sure to follow these steps, and immerse yourself into a different realm, opening up the other half of the day to create dive memories.