Scuba diving at night is one of the options in the PADI advanced diving course. With diving at night, you need to be comfortable with your scuba diving equipment given the limitations of it being dark. So is scuba diving at night scary?
Yes, scuba diving at night can be scary. It is more a mindset that scuba diving at night can seem scary or eerie. Even the idea of descending in dark waters with limited visibility with only a dive flashlight for light can seem scary. It is something that you gradually get used to as you go deeper and get your orientation right.
In today’s post, we will go through in more detail is scuba diving at night is scary, so let’s get started!
Read more on common questions asked by divers
Is Scuba Diving At Night Scary?
Yes, it can be scary. Scuba diving at night can seem scary or even eerie. Even the idea of descending in dark waters with limited visibility only a dive flashlight for light can seem scary.
Once you start the dive at night, you gradually start to get used to the dark environment. And once you get your orientation right. A lot of marine animals are nocturnal, so you can see a wide variety of life you may not see during the day.
Night scuba diving should be done by experienced divers and requires a dive buddy. You do need to be comfortable in the water and know your equipment given the lack of light.
Is Scuba Diving At Night dangerous?
Scuba Diving At Night Tips
There are a number of tips that can help to keep you safe while scuba diving at night. Remember that accidents when scuba diving tends to happen when divers become complacent or arrogant and ignore the basic safety procedures. These tips are as follows.
- You need to plan your dive (gas, depth, time, navigation, and contingency plans).
- Bring a good dive light and compass. And bring a spare dive light for backup.
- Use the safety procedures you learned via your training.
- When scuba diving, stay within the diving limits of your training and experience.
- Stay up to date with the emergency and contingency procedures.
- During the dive, always know the situational of your air levels, depth, time, and your buddy.
- Don’t give in to peer pressure when you are not comfortable undertaking the dive.
- Be prepared to abort any dive, for any reason, if you don’t feel comfortable.
- Adhere diligently to the buddy system as a fail-safe for emergencies.
What Do Night Divers See?
A lot of marine animals are nocturnal, so diving at night you have the chance to see a wide variety of life you may not see during the day.
Eels, lobsters, crabs, and other marine animals come out at night, so you get to see them out and about rather than hiding in holes during the day.
Do You Need a Dive Light?
Yes, you do need a scuba diving light especially if you are diving at night. As more experienced divers know that as you are descending deeper it gets darker after 8 meters during the day.
Can Open Water Divers Do Night Dives?
Yes, it is part of the PADI advanced open cert where you can night dive and learn to navigate underwater. This will help you to navigate in the dark while underwater.
Do Dive Lights Attract Sharks?
There is a good chance that lights will attract sharks. Sharks have good eyesight and they may mistake the light reflected off an object as prey.
Wrapping Up
Finally, scuba diving at night can be scary. It is more a mindset that scuba diving at night can seem scary or eerie. Even the idea of descending in dark waters with limited visibility with only a dive flashlight for light can seem scary. It is something that you gradually get used to as you go deeper and get your orientation right.
And that’s it for now! I’d love to know if this guide on is scuba diving at night scary has helped you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is more to add.
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