Night diving: how and why?

You have probably wondered, during a dive under a beautiful sun warming the surface, what could look like the same place during the night ... The same thing in the dark? What interest after all? Think again ... diving into the night, even on a spot that you know by heart, will give you the impression of discovering a new dive. So why not take the plunge?

But before you start, be careful! Obviously the night dive does not deal quite like day. When the sun shines, we do not really get lost, or at least we see at 360 °. There is (almost) always a way to find your bearings. The night is something else. You can get lost very easily, even at a place where you have spent dozens of times. And this is largely due to the fact that everything you see is in the beam of your diving lighthouse. It is enough that on your way, you meet a nice inhabitant of the planet Sea, and hop ... after making two turns on yourself, you are totally disoriented! So much to tell you, it is better to book this activity at a place that you have already explored for a long time, even more if you dive outside the structure, and even on board.

It is of course important to equip a good lighthouse, with a preference for me, for a wide beam, which will illuminate a larger area in front of you. Be sure of the autonomy of it ... or plan an emergency lamp. Opt for an LED lighthouse, which will have a battery life of several hours, against fifty minutes for a halogen most of the time. In addition, the LEDs have an intensity that gradually decreases when the headlight is unloaded, halogens usually surprise you ... There are also small loupiotes (flashlights) that emit at regular intervals a fairly powerful flash, which allows to easily identify your pair, but also mark you effectively when you resurfaced.

It is good to take a knife with you. The field of vision being reduced, a fishing net will be seen only a few meters depending on your lighting, but also depending on visibility. Better to predict the worst!

Do not lose sight of your partner, observe regularly and think about communicating. The senses are put to the test during a night dive ... But then, would you tell me ... why bother to want to dive in these conditions ???

Night diving offers, on the one hand, new sensations. Sink into the dark with the only window of your lighthouse. Strangely, I notice that at night, we hear a lot more underwater noise ... maybe in the dark the senses that can work develop ... you will experience!

On the other hand, and this is for me the most important, the night is a special moment in nature. While some animals, camouflage, take shelter to hope to survive the first rays of sun, others come out at last. This is how one can observe a large number of species that can not be seen during the day. For example, the long-arm octopus, much less known than the common octopus that attracts both divers (and hunters ...), is an exclusively nocturnal species. Just like the sea urchin diadem.

In the sandy bottoms, it is a whole fauna which appears, whereas during the day, this zone seems desert. Fish lizards, bright, helmets, murex, anemones, shrimps ... and so on! With a lot of luck, we can even observe the wreaths that burrow in the sand ... Look well ... at night the wreaths, yet so many by day, have disappeared!

In the open water, you will even be surprised to see the fish sleep, like the atherines, still, that you can almost point the finger ...

Go, try experiment, you will see, you will discover a new way to dive!

Good bubbles to all!

(Find the article on my blog, with many photos taken at night)