Night diving- full moon or no moon

[supergaijin]

Apparently the moon is closest tonight than any other night of the year- a perigee moon. Got me thinking about night dives- which do you prefer?

Me I like little or no moon- too much plankton in the shallows on full moon nights.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I think it's cool when I get out of water under a full moon. It's an interesting feeling walking back from a shore dive with the light shining on everything.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

We enjoy night dives generally, but there is something unique about a full moon night dive. Not only is it a neat experience to look at the overhead moon from beneath the surface, but it is a real convenience to have the "extra light for set up and breaking down gear if you are doing a shore dive in a fairly remote location. Not as much when doing a night dive from a boat, especially a liveaboard. No that you raise the question, I guess I will time dive trips during which we anticipate night diving to coincide with a full moon if I can !
DivemasterDennis

 

[Doc]

I'm with DDennis, above.

We plan our trips around full Moons.

The moon attracts plankton that you mention- that's what everything feeds off of, and isn't that what you came to see? The food chain in action?

U/W navigation can be aided by the position and visibility of the moon- I have kept myself oriented many times on night dives by noting it's position, much as you would use the Sun.

Many times, we have been diving in your Maldives on a full Moon, and on a calm night, we turn off the lights and just observe in the shallows. It is amazing what you can really see when you aren't focusing only on a 6' illuminated circle. When your eyes adjust, it all becomes quite visible. An Octopus hunting naturally atop a Coral head.

One of the most single spectacular dives of my life, drifting along in a 2mph current, at 45fw and a gently sloping reef in the Philippines- Full Moon and lights out- watching the zillions of Chrinoids looking like sparkling Christmas Trees- the plankton exploding as it hit their outstretched arms.

 

[RonFrank]

I like full moons as well. The Werewolves are out and the moon can turn blood red, a ghoulishly good time....

Diving when the coral is spawning is on my bucket list.

 

[diveprof]

Love full moon night dives. I've have some in Coz that were magical. We dove w/o using our dive lights. Awesome.

 

[Quero]

I like diving when the moon is big and bright, but only at slack tide. We get substantial water movement here during full moon periods.