Night Diving

During our week aboard the Turks and Caicos Explorer 2 dive boat, Erin and I had the opportunity for plenty of night diving. We've both been night diving before and so we know the drill. Night dives are exciting. Jumping off the back of a well lit boat into deep dark water certainly gets your heart going. It's really dark down there.

You never know what you're going to encounter on a night dive. Most of the day-time (diurnal) fish are hiding in holes or sleeping, while other night-time (nocturnal) creatures come out to play, or rather, feed. One of the interesting things about a night dive is that you can only see what your light is shining on. This focuses your attention and sometimes you actually see more than in the daylight. However, it's very easy to get disorientated on a night dive as navigation, which can be challenging underwater at the best of times, is much harder in the dark.

Armed with a flashlight each, Erin and I jumped off the back of the boat. We'd shine our lights below us, descend towards the ocean floor, and start exploring. There were certainly times when we were a little scared, like when we had no idea which direction the boat was. Or catching a glimpse of sharks in the darkness just out of the range of our lights. And remember you can't talk much down there.

Anyway, I tried shooting some movie during a couple of the night dives. I've never done this before, and lighting is challenging. But if you've never made a night dive before and want an idea what it's like, the movie below may help. Be warned though, night dives are not for everyone.