Strategies, tips and training to make night diving less terrifying?

[Trace Malinowski]

Does Dee Scarr do night dives on Bonaire? She will definitely make the ocean less terrifying.

Take a night diving course with a good instructor is the obvious first step.

Some divers are afraid of the dark. Others are afraid of the what might be in the dark. If dark scares you, be a small picture diver. Focus only on what is in your beam. If you are afraid of sharks or other creatures, avoid watching Jaws or other negative images. Fill your head with positive diving images and visualize your dive to be fun and safe. Confront fears such as sharks or the expanse of the sea (Thalassophobia) in daytime, first, if they exist. Visit Cristina Zenato on Grand Bahama and do a shark dive at UNEXSO. Dive walls or blue water in the daylight and appreciate the vastness of the sea.

If you really have a problem with night diving, never put yourself in so much stress that you will panic underwater.

I don't mind night diving in Europe, CA or FL, the islands, in lakes, rivers, and caves. Or, from dive boats on shipwrecks. But, even after 35 years and an SSI Platinum Pro Award, whenever I shore dive in New England I feel very much like bait. Thank you Peter Benchley.

Bonaire has amazing night diving!

 

[CryHavoc]

Don't do a florescent dive if you are not comfortable night diving. Your mask will be covered with a filter and you will use what is essentially a black light. The visibility will be far less. My wife and I did one a few years ago in Bonaire. I loved it. She hated it because she was constantly dioriented, even though we had done several day and night dives on the sight previously. The difference is I am comfortable and experienced in low viz and night dives, she is not.
I'm a believer in the axiom that if you want to be a better diver, dive with good divers. And that has true especially for limited viz and night diving

 

[Neilwood]

From what you say I think you are probably a "blue water Diver" ie you have only dived in good visibility and in warm water.

I think part of the issue is probably down to the reduced vis as you are limited by your lights. I had very little issue on my first night dive as, having done all my prior dives in UK waters with vis <10m (with a large portion of them sub 5m or lower), anything above that was a bonus. The lack of visibility can be an issue as it can be pretty easy to become disorientated. I was pretty lucky in that I found my first night dives to be some of the most relaxing dives I had done as even limited by torchlight was better than normal UK vis.

Take baby steps with it - as suggested by some, a dusk dive might be a better idea as you can slowly get used to the lowering light level. Make sure you have a plan before you dive and stick to it. Make sure you are relaxed prior to starting the dive - you were hyped up before it and it got worse. Talk about your fears with your hubby. It might help to maintain fairly close contact with him - try holding hands and see if it helps.

If you are doing a dive and feel panicked at all, slow right down and breathe slowly and fairly deeply. Concentrating on slowing your breathing right down will help you calm down.

 

[cneal]

Clear water and a full moon are a big help. My first night dive was in Andros and the full moon was bright enought to navigate without a light. Made it a very easy dive.

Another trick I have learned is to hang a spare light in a white plastic bucket on the anchor line. Easily knowing where to exit can help a lot.

 

[Damselfish]

A night dive course where the instructor doesn't go with you seems lame, I wonder if it even meets the standard? I took a (PADI) night diving class long ago (coincidentally at Captain Don's in Bonaire, for the price of the light that was included!) I don't recall if there were one or 2 dives, but the instructor was definitely in the water - although I was made to plan a night dive and "lead" a group, made up of the instructors girlfriend and other stray divers he picked up.

I think being with more people helps. If you can do a night boat dive, lots of other divers and lights around can make it less intimidating. And there may be a good briefing too. Or a night dive or 2 with a DM or just someone who is reasonably experienced and comfortable with it. Maybe try dusk dives, getting into the water while still light and diving into when it gets dark. Even diving with a fairly full moon, if you have the opportunity.

Make sure you have good lights. In clear water brighter is not always better, but a wide beam is helpful for both seeing more of what's going on on the reef, and maybe feeling more comfortable. You'll often see bright/narrow beams touted on this board, and they have their place (especially for cutting through murkier water, signaling, or being of any use during the day.) I suggest having one of each.

FWIW, I was never terrified by night dives, but it was definitely hard for me at first at first, and took a long time to shake all the nervousness of jumping into a black ocean.

 

[Top_Gun]

hmm I was super excited for my first night dive and I loved it. I thought it was awsome to cover my light and black everything out . It was just me and my dive instructor all alone in the Casino Point Catalina dive park. The sealife was spectacular! Only problem is I can't find a dive buddy for some more night dives

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I will dive with you any time off Catalina if you fly me out! Definitely one of the best dive locations in the world.

 

[homerdoc]

interestingly enough I did my first night dive at Captain Don's also. I was with my brother and what we did to make sure that it was somewhat stress free was plan it out to a tee (he has several night dives, I had none). Go down the rope, take a left, check out the wreck, come back, go back up the rope. It kept me even keel having a plan on a dive I have done multiple times in the sunlight. The only thing I didn't like was those dang tarpons. They kept any reef life hiding unless they wanted to become lunch.

I do recommend getting two very good lights and putting a small strobe (not the right word), but a small light on your buddies tank, so you can always keep track of each other.

After that first one I was very comfortable with night dives. One tip, you have to shine your light at your hand to signal.

JJ

 

[lunula]

Thanks a million for all the advice - really, really helpful stuff.

I'm not afraid of the dark, though all my diving has been in high-visibility situations and I do not like anything overhead and I get very stressed when I can't see the bottom (or it's really far down). My husband has no worries that I'll ever put myself in a situation where I knowingly feel uncomfortable because I'm very vocal about not going on dives where I feel unsafe. I'm a bit high-strung like that.

That said, I do want to challenge myself and I don't want to give up on something just because it was unpleasant the first time.

I'll definitely not to a UV-night dive, will try and find a guided night dive in a smaller area and will also make sure we do some pre-dawn dives and some dusk-time dives w/ a good plan to get used to lower light levels. We have some pretty good lights and they will have fresh batteries, and we have the small glow stick things on our tanks. I'm guessing he won't be overjoyed at getting up before the sun, but I think I can talk him into a late-day dusk dive.

Thanks again, everyone - really useful tips!

 

[Clayton122]

As most have said here.

1.) Dive the site you want to dive at night during the day first to familiarize yourself with it.
2.) Go with a guide who is familiar with the area.
3.) better lights
4.) early splash in time. I was in the water before sun down, and just spent some time taking nice long deep relaxing breaths waiting for everyone. This helped me the most really, was just working out a nice deep calm slow breath before diving.