Solo at night?

[tropitan]

After many wonderful daytime solo's, the thought of a night dive while solo intrigues me. For those of you that do, are there any special precautions or additional equipment considerations? Where I live in Kona, visibility is usually excellent, and not an issue.
Thanks for your replies. Happy New Year, and good diving...

 

[redacted]

I carry a third light, and enjoy.

 

[Charlie99]

I do solo night and dawn dives in Maui, with no extra equipment other than adding a light in addition to the one I always carry. My only problem so far has been getting a parking ticket for having my car in the beach parking lot after hours.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

In the summer the little sharks come to you from the lights so in your area check to see if the sharks like it, you do have mantas that love light from what I have seen.

 

[floridakid]

Treat it like a cave dive, 3 lights minimum and redundant buoyancy. If at all possible have a way of alerting the authorities if you are unable to get back to your boat or the shore. If that is not possible, at least have someone that knows when you would be out of the water and has instructions to alert the authorities. Flashing strobes are great. If you are shore diving, attach a strobe to the diver down flag. It is a great idea (maybe overboard idea) towing a small, one person inflatable raft with a dive flag attached with a USCG approved life preserver and a rationalize of water is a great idea. It may be squirrelish, but if you are in an area where getting swept out to sea by tidal influx is a concern and you can't get back to shore, you will be glad you had it.

 

[drbill]

The only two changes I make for my nocturnal solos is to carry an extra light and let my housemate know I am going and when I plan to be back. Usually an LA County Sheriff comes down on their rounds and greets me as I climb back up the stairs, asking what I saw.

 

[Hatul]

I've done shore night dives solo here in S Cal. Yes take 3 lights, and I've learned not to do any long swims under water where there are no landmarks to navigate by. Explore a small area and keep navigation simple. And of course, take a pony tank as for a day solo dive.

Adam

 

[Charlie99]

My third light is a tiny 2 AAA light. Without any other divers around you will be amazed at how much you can see using just moonlight. And my "4th light" is my dive computer backlight. In reality I can safely abort the dive and return to shore with no lights at all, so at some point adding extra redundant lights is just excess baggage to drag through the water.

I'm happy with a primary, a 4 AA UK Q40, and the 2 AAA which is the one I use for the middle of the dive when puttering around on the reef.

 

[DevonDiver]

Carry an extra light. No other special considerations required, beyond normally solo diving planning, preparation and equipment.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Navigation is much harder at night, you can not judge the bottom slope as you can in the day and you are often more tired at night than in the day, so keep the dive in a very well known area, try to avoid making a dive that requires a lot of exertion or complex navigation and realize that if you come to the surface at night, it may be much harder to identify your desired exit point (if going to/from shore).

Also, you tend to move slower and look at the smaller things at night, so don't expect to move as far as you do in the day. I would carry 3 lights if i had them.