Solo at night?

[r4e]

Learn to use the compass, have a fluoroscent compass and three lamps with you. The total burn time of the backup lights should last the entire night! Remember to have fresh batteries in the backup lamps.

If diving from shore, you might want to leave a light marker for your entry/exit point. E.g. a lit diveflag or the inside lights of your car.

If diving from a boat, you MUST have the proper marine lights on (boat in anchor) and a lit dive flag. I would be especially careful not to venture too far away and to be aware of bottom and/or surface currents and the sea weather forecast. Additionally, if diving a wreck with a broken hull, you have to be very careful of not unintentionally penetrating into the hull. At daytime you might notice this from the increased darkness. At night and/or bad visibility you will not notice the difference until you see the concave curvature of the hull inside. Hope you did not silt your way back with poor finning techniques...

The problem with night diving at sea is that should anything go wrong, the authorities might not begin a proper search until daylight. And there will be far less passers by to help you. This makes hypotermia a big issue. I dive with a drysuit and carry on my belt an EPIRB (PLB) device in a dive canister. Should anything go wrong, I'll fill my suit like balloon at the surface, depress the button on the EPIRB and light my SMB with a backup lamp. I would save the batteries of the primary lamp for serious signalling.

 

[AfterDark]

I carry my cell phone and waterproof GPS in a camera case. I mark my entry as a waypoint on the GPS. If I ever need it I can use it on the surface to return. The shore line can look very different at night. I dived solo night long before cell phones or GPS so my nav skills are adaquate but having some tech is my edge. (I hope) Backup lights and sometimes a float / flag with a personal strobe light on the flag pole. I also know what the tidal conditions are when I plan my dive. I usually plan to start while the tide is incoming and return on slack flood. The cell phone is of unknown effectivness. I don't know if I'd be able to keep it dry long enough to use it and I'm not going to do any drills that might ruin the phone. So lady luck and a lot of focus if I even need to make an aqua-call.

 

[r4e]

I carry my cell phone and waterproof GPS in a camera case...The cell phone is of unknown effectivness. I don't know if I'd be able to keep it dry long enough to use it and I'm not going to do any drills that might ruin the phone. So lady luck and a lot of focus if I even need to make an aqua-call.

I like your idea of the camera case. You might consider a Sonim phone. They are water proof enough (1m/3ft depth) to be used on the surface. Another option would be a handheld VHF marine phone.

 

[Hatul]

Learn to use the compass, have a fluoroscent compass and three lamps with you.
.

No matter how good you are with the compass it's not enough for underwater navigation. The compass only gives you direction and there is no reliable way to measure distance. Unless there are clear landmarks it's best to keep to simple linear navigation to get back to shore at night, otherwise you can end up surfacing in a totally different area or different cove.

 

[mathauck0814]

many of our day dives are not unlike night diving (black, low viz, etc) so same preparations as usual (three lights, SMB, signaling devices, etc).

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Ok, now I'm REALLY jealous tropitan. Our weather has been, well, "poopy" over on the Hilo side....

Special precautions? Well, just be careful not to have TOO much fun!!

1.) Extra light is good.
2.) Extra care on entry and exit (that may just be me, I'm clumsy, and darkness does not help ).
3.) Be sure you can find the exit point in the dark (for those unfamiliar with diving on the Big Island, some shore dive spots really only have one good/safe entry point).
4.) Have fun!!!!

Best wishes.

 

[AfterDark]

No matter how good you are with the compass it's not enough for underwater navigation. The compass only gives you direction and there is no reliable way to measure distance. Unless there are clear landmarks it's best to keep to simple linear navigation to get back to shore at night, otherwise you can end up surfacing in a totally different area or different cove.

I’ll disagree with that. We measure distance underwater by counting our fin strpkes. You 1^st need to find out how many fin strokes it takes to move you along a known distance. I use pace beads to keep track of my fin strokes. I normally don’t need to do this but for precise nav it is how I measure distance.

 

[Hatul]

There is one other hint: put a flashing light at the exit point on shore (assuming a shore dive). The best flashing light I found is an LED bicycle tail light that you can get in most bicycle shops. They're bright and inexpensive.

Adam

 

[tropitan]

LeadTurn, sorry about your crummy Hilo water. You are always welcome to come to Kona for some 'real' diving And don't worry, I try never to have too much fun diving.
Thanks to all of you for your excellent suggestions. It's good information to know what other folks do in this situation. On buddied night dives, I usually hang a few light sticks or a strobe off the bottom near the exit. I also always place a red lantern (to distinguish it from all the white lights) on shore and take a bearing from that. I have seen other folks drop light sticks every ten yards or so to 'blaze a trail'. And, like LeadTurn mentioned, the entry/exit points on most of the shore dives here are very specific spots, so familiarity is paramount.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I like the idea of light sticks or a strobe on the bottom near the exit, and maybe some placed as "bread crumbs" to lead you home .

In the past I/we have used lights on the shore, and or a lighted float.... but also sometimes nothing at all on a clear night with moon or star light because of "local knowledge" of the site....

I could also see placing a light right at the reef dropoff, directly out from the entry/exit, if you want to explore along the dropoff....

It has actually been a few years since I've done any night diving! I do need to go again soon; but as a rule I generally stay shallower than during daytime dives, and don't go too far from the entry/exit point. In Hawaii, at many shore dive locations the reef starts almost immediately in pretty shallow water, so there is often lots to see within a very short distance from your "feet wet" spot.

Best wishes.