Tips for… Night Diving
Diving at night time, when under the water comes alive and doesn’t sleep! Many divers ask us why we love night diving so much, as surely you cannot see anything? Well actually you can see loads! Obviously as usual that depends on the visibility, the same as diving in the day time… but when you have some good vis, you are in for a treat!
Whether taking a night dive in the quarry, from shore or from the boat, it is a complete new and calming experience. Being able to just see what is illuminated by your torch, may in some ways sound scary, but it can actually be very therapeutic. In fact we tend to find that the diver who usually uses a lot of air, reduces this considerably when diving at night time.
What do we have as tips for night diving then? Other than giving it a go! Well, the first has to be to get yourself a decent torch! Not much point in taking part in a night dive if you don’t have one of those, and it does not have to be like Blackpool illuminations either! Whilst the diver coming along with a strobe that is larger than their tank and various others positioned on a wrist strap and a helmet may look prepared, sometimes it can be a little too much for our type of diving. The fish don’t tend to like enormous bright lights and you will see more without it. A hand held torch and small back-up will do you nicely.
How do you know where to find things to see? Well, not everything goes to sleep at night time. Yes, you will probably see the fish getting tucked up for the night on the rocks and the dogfish in the kelp, but this is the time of day when lots of other creatures come out: the shrimp being found and easily seen by their bright red eyes; small squid and jellyfish floating through the water and being illuminated by the light scatter; and the lobsters coming out along the seabed to feed.
Another question that we get asked a lot… is it not easy to get lost at night time? Well, actually not so much. It is a lot easier to see everyone in darkness when a torch is shining and so this is definitely not something to be concerned about.
What’s our favourite part of night diving? Being able to head off into the darkness and see the marine creatures that hardly anyone ever gets to witness! The underwater world is hardly explored as it is in the daytime… even less in the evening! Who knows what you will find!
Find out more at www.duttonsdivers.com
