Night Diving – A Scary Experience?

Plunging into open water surrounded by nothing but darkness can be a bit initiating for anyone.

Night diving , or diving in darkness, is certainly a bit intimidating. I would even go as far to say it is somewhat claustrophobic. I say claustrophobic because the lack of light and the feeling of the water/darkness against you heightens a sense of being enveloped. Not to mention, disorienting. This can be somewhat claustrophobic.

Fear of what may actually be near you that you can not see is another aspect of the darkness that makes night diving very intimidating.

However, once you are able to get past those fears/hang-ups, night diving offers a completely different diving experience.

Life in and around a reef is much different during the night. Night diving provides the opportunity to observe various nocturnal marine life actively handling their nightly business. They are typically not active during the day. This marine life would typically include octopuses, crabs, stingrays as well as other nocturnal critters.

Watch the clip below for a glimpse an a night dive experience off the coast of Belize.

Night diving is a great experience and enjoyed by many. However, please remember that with a dive torch as your only light source, it is as though you are one step beyond intruding. In actuality, your dive lights are exposing sleeping and hiding marine life to their predators when they are most vulnerable.

Have you done any night diving? If not, please share why you haven’t tried the night diving experience yet.

Images Source: YouTube Clips

Related Posts:

Blackwater Diving

Night Diving – Reef Activity After Dark