The Thrill of Night Diving
Written by Juli Cole, 21 May 2024.
My first night dive was at Shark Point in Perhentian. We had done three dives and I saw on the board a night dive was offered. “Can we go?” I excitedly asked. We made a quick break for some dinner and agreed to meet back around 7pm just before sunset. I talked my dive buddy’s ear off, teasing about the sharks we would see and moray eels and what ever crazy sea creature came to mind. We met back at the dive center, received our briefing on how the dive would go, then took our gear to the boat. We were joined by another diver from the dive center doing their dive master certification. It was their first night dive too. By the time we got in the boat and began the very short journey to the dive site, the sun had set and it was dark enough to see the first stars in the sky. Suddenly I was not so excited, I was really apprehensive, especially when I looked out at that dark, dark water. It seemed the longest boat ride and the quietest. Even the other diver with us was not saying anything. We arrived and looked over the side of the boat. We had dove in the same spot earlier in the afternoon, but that was with the sun sparkling off the water and you could look down to the relatively shallow reef. Now it looked like a black hole and I was supposed to fall backwards into that off of the boat.
I did it, made that first back roll at night, and we descended with our torches on and it was beautiful! We were able to see creatures in action that are normally hiding or resting during the day. On that particular dive, I saw a cuttlefish take out a large snapper and saw a large scrawled filefish for the first time. The staghorn coral was lit up with the red eyes of glass shrimp and porcelain crabs sparkling in the light from my torch. Big eyes (type of fish) were swimming leisurely around.
I have been on many night dives since that time, from the shore in Bali, on a LOB in Thailand, house reef in Mabul island, many more times in Perhentian. I love them! Even after a long day and I am tired, I am still up for a night dive. Why do I love them so much? You see creatures you just don’t get to see in action during the day. Moray eels are active at night – that is when you see them live up to their fierce predator reputation. One time we saw a large moray eel and a large grouper together – we thought they were fighting, but we found out later they will actually hunt in tandem. Same for lion fish – they are no longer sleepily drifting in a crevice but are out in full display looking for dinner. Other predators are groupers, cat sharks, and cuttlefish. Fun to play around with in some areas is the bioluminescent plankton – you turn off your torch (under direction of the dive master) and wave your hand around and the plankton lights up. Weirdest thing are the sleeping fish – sometimes they are wedged in places in the coral, sometimes upside down and you think how did they ever get in there and how are they possibly ever going to get out without major injury to themselves?
My favourite part of night diving, however, is the peacefulness of it. Everything calms down – all the little reef fish go to sleep, and the ocean itself just seems to calm down. Its visibly quieter and sound wise quieter. You see the torch lights of the other divers as little bubbles of light floating around, so it’s easy to keep track of where everyone else is. I get so distracted on a day dive, especially with good visibility – as I have mentioned I want to see everything! So on a night dive I feel more focused or more limited to what is highlighted by my torch so that maybe is another reason I find it more relaxing. And when you surface under the stars – that is just the cherry on top.
So what do you need to night dive? PADI does offer a certification for it and there is some basic knowledge you need to know about such as communication and safety. Obviously you need a good torch and attached to your BCD – my dive buddy and I also carry a backup which has saved us a few times. Make sure they are charged and carry extra batteries with you on the boat (not in the water). We also invested in safety signal lights that attach to the back of our tanks. This way we can identify each other. We also carry extras of those, which came in handy on one night dive with a larger group. Our dive master attached one to his tank and it really saved us from getting lost in the confusion of crossing paths with another group of divers. We could see his light going the other way. Exposure protection including gloves is good in case you float next to something unexpected like a lion fish or scorpionfish. It saved me one time when we were diving around a pier and there were quite a few scorpionfish out when I accidentally placed my hand on one.
A night dive would also not be the time to try out new equipment! You want to use equipment that you are familiar with. If you are renting, be sure everything is in working order and you are familiar with the setup. Same of course with your own gear. Accidents and emergencies are scary enough during the day – they are ten times more frightening in deep dark water. One friend of ours lost their second stage mouthpiece during their first night dive– just popped right off. Kudos to them as they kept their presence of mind to grab their octopus and let someone know they needed help. Surprisingly we found the mouthpiece too!
If you are gathering your courage to try your first night dive, go for it! I will not lie – that first jump into that black water goes against all reason – but once you make it past that, it is a fun and relaxing experience and you will be like me, lets do it again and again!
So sign up now for your night specialty. And did you know that with 5 specialties and 50 logged dives, you can now automatically get a free upgrade to Master Scuba Diver rating? What are you waiting for? Get certified now!
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