First night dive tonight.

[Protist]

Very excited. Will be attending my first night dive tonight. My buddy and I are meeting a dive group at the beach. They will be supplying the surface beach lights for exit and entry.

I have been diving this area quiet frequently, so I have a good idea on the layout and such.

We have Two lights each. One canister and one secondary. We will be going out a little later to pick up some glow sticks.

Would anyone be able to supply any tips/advice? Is there anything im not thinking of?

Thanks in advance!

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

Stop by your LDS and get a strobe for each of you. They are pretty inexpensive, and just attach them with the lanyard to your tank valve. Sounds like you have everything else covered.

You are going to be stoked during and after this dive! If I could choose, 3/4 of my dives would be night dives. With a full moon, it's great to see as you look up at the surface. Have fun and dive safe.

 

[natew]

IMO, don't bother with the chem sticks. The LED markers are much much better, they can be had for $10-15 at your LDS which is the cost of 3-5 of the disposable chem sticks. If you really really want you could buy one chem stick and keep it in your pocket incase you find yourself adrift at sea waiting for a coast guard rescue but that's about the only use I can find for them. But honestly if you're in that situation that 400+ lumen canister light is going to do a much better job at flagging down a coast guard chopper or clipper than a chem stick.

 

[jrwalsh20]

Have great time, my first night dive was a shore dive as well in Lauderdale by the Sea, FL. Lots of fun stuff comes out at night, i second the idea of not using the glow stick, just use the LED marker as already recommended.

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

IMO, don't bother with the chem sticks. The LED markers are much much better, they can be had for $10-15 at your LDS which is the cost of 3-5 of the disposable chem sticks. If you really really want you could buy one chem stick and keep it in your pocket incase you find yourself adrift at sea waiting for a coast guard rescue but that's about the only use I can find for them. But honestly if you're in that situation that 400+ lumen canister light is going to do a much better job at flagging down a coast guard chopper or clipper than a chem stick.

I agree with you on the LED strobes, as I mentioned above. Protist is going in a group, knows the area from daytime dives, and should do just fine. I don't think they will be calling the Coast Guard if they stay within the area they dive quite often.

We do carry a chem stick in our BC pocket if all lights fail, which is very rare. They have a light, a back up light, and if they tie on the strobes, the batteries last for hours.

I think they will do fine if they take their time. Have you had the opportunity to do a night dive yet? It's fun. If you haven't, get a few more dives under your belt and give it a try with some of your crew that has done some night diving. You will be addicted. Dive safe.

 

[Hatul]

Very excited. Will be attending my first night dive tonight. My buddy and I are meeting a dive group at the beach. They will be supplying the surface beach lights for exit and entry.

I have been diving this area quiet frequently, so I have a good idea on the layout and such.

We have Two lights each. One canister and one secondary. We will be going out a little later to pick up some glow sticks.

Would anyone be able to supply any tips/advice? Is there anything im not thinking of?

Thanks in advance!

My tip: when entering and exiting surf, have your hands free. You want to be able to get your fins on/off quickly and be able to crawl out if necessary.

Adam

 

[natew]

Have you had the opportunity to do a night dive yet? It's fun. If you haven't, get a few more dives under your belt and give it a try with some of your crew that has done some night diving. You will be addicted. Dive safe.

Once a week sometimes twice a week if I can. I think I've done more night dives this month than day dives. And yes, it is very addicting especially since I am a night owl type anyway and enjoy just hanging out in the dark. Though i am still learning a bit.

A tip I didn't think of earlier: I highly recommend a mask light, OMG from not having one to having one at night was such an amazing thing. Light, always where you need it without ever thinking about it.

 

[tracydr]

I love, love, love night diving. If I could get my husband to stay up all night I swear I'd do all my dives in places like Bonaire as night dives. I told him last time, can't we just dive the new place at 5pm, switch tanks and night dive, then do another tank or two in the same or other location, sleep late and do it again tomorrow?
The most interesting is full moon dives. All those creatures come out to spawn and other creatures come out to eat them.
Where is your dive? Ask questions about navigation, marking your exit point and using the computer. Relax and enjoy the quiet darkness!
BTW, we usually hang a chemlite on our truck bumper or a bush to mark our exit point. Then, after safety stop we come to surface to look around, get another compass heading to the marker and go down below the waves to sim back to our exit. Of course, we are usually all alone so navigation skills are key.

 

[tracydr]

Turn off your lights while at depth and wave your hands around. If you're lucky you'll get to see bioluminescence.

 

[BioLogic]

Also watch the plankton swimming in your light beam. Very cool.