Scuba diving at night

You can scuba dive in virtually any type of sea conditions, if provided training and safety. Since wreck diving ( wich i covered previously ), to drift diving, deep diving, altitude diving ( such as lakes in mountains ), cavern diving - among a few others - one important requirement for them is day light, or sight of day light. But marine life doesn´t stop at night, fish actually kind of work by shifts – diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal – so divers would miss out on alot of underwater action. Thus, the night dive was invented. Most of the divers who start diving at night will probably do it for the challenge, some for curiosity, and others by advice of it´s instructor. But no matter the motive, one can expect a different experience :

• to our senses, it feels like floating in space, and our attention becomes focalized in what the light beam illuminates, with colors and life popping out better than daytime;
  
  
• the underwater life changes significantly at night, from coral reefs - static reefs during daytime come alive, with tendrils and feed tubes, to fish that change behaviour or come out only at night ( most diurnal fish become lethargic, and sleep, nocturnal fish come out to hunt );

Nocturnal fish usually dont swim as fast as diurnal fish, tend to be more solitary and shy, and during the day are found hiding in caves or under overhangs. They also tend to be carnivores ( Diurnal fish are often herbivores or omnivores ).

It also can provide some good opportunities for some amazing underwater photos and videos, as there is no intrusive natural light in the shots – the subject is illuminated by the divers light setup. Heres an example of this :

One can try night diving by doing the adventure diver course, after the open water course. Later, the diver can take the correspondent specialty course. With the help of an instructor, a diver learns about the required equipment, how to function with primary and backup lights, navigate under low visibility, how to communicate via light and hand signals, and how to handle general skills in darkness.

Besides wreck diving, this is also one of my favorite type of dives. I think its both rewarding, and relaxating, and i highly recommend to try it – 10 out of 10.

Dont fear the darkness, embrace it. :)

Atlantic Diver

10 tips for diving safely

1. Dive within your own limits. It´s not only about what your certified to do, but also in your own personal physical/psychological limits, experience in dives, and skill confort underwater;
   
   
2. Most diving accidents happen by poor judgment. Good judgment comes from training, continued education, and experience. Experience comes from dealing with different scenarios and situations, and reflected practice;
   
   
3. Always be conservative as possible in the decisions you make. Put safety above fun ( but never forget to enjoy the dives );
   
   
4. Prefere diving with support from local dive centers or a dive pro – they provide the tools that the diver needs to manage it´s own risk, such as :
    
   • knowledge about local diving conditions;
   • a general dive plan for the spot;
   • logitics as equipment, transportation, food and hidration;
   • complience for local law regarding diving;
   • emergency plans and equipment.
   
   
5. Keep a good physical and mental form, or at least adpot healthier habits. Don´t dive ill or tired – there is no fun in doing so;
   
   
6. Dive with well maintained equipment, it´s your life support when your under there. You can replace equiment, but no your life;
   
   
7. If you feel something is not right during a dive, stop what your doing, take long and slow breaths. When your more calm, find the source of the problem, think of an solution and then make act on it. If you can´t find what´s wrong, keep calm and signal your buddy or dive guide. Any diver can abort, or end a dive at any time;
   
   
8. Take time during some dives to practice a skill. Make sure you tell your intentions to the dive guide or buddy as they can help you. Remember, practice makes perfection;
   
   
9. Get dive insurance, they are relatively cheap and come in handy if something goes south of the border. This is even more important if someone dives abroad; 
    
10. Take the rescue diver course. It will change the way you dive.

Atlantic Diver

I kissed a propeller and i liked it...

Some say that supertition comes from the belief in supernatural causality, that by doing something A, causes B without any related connection. We sometimes do it to avoid bad things, like avoiding crossing a black cat, or bring good luck. Passed down through our culture, folklore or religion, everyone knows some type of it. Sailors also have supertitions, and probably scuba divers do to.

When i was diving the SS thistlegorm in the red sea, i was told that kissing the trailing edge of it´s propeller would bring good luck. Hmmm....yep seems legit, so i did it....and i still havent won the lottery ( although i did have some fine dives that week ). My buddy also did the same - reluctantly i might add, as he wasn´t very keen on removing his regulator at 28 meters of depth - but also without any effect. We did have some laughs afterwards - we did in fact kiss the Thistlgorms bottom....
Oh well, i guess i´ll try on other wrecked ship propellers. Who knows, i might really bring me luck...

I wonder if there are other kind of scuba supertitions....

So pucker up....

Atlantic diver

Why i think wreck diving is awesome - part I

The MV Dori wreck ( formely known as liberty ship Edwin L. Drake )

It´s not the Thistlegorm, but this ship participated in the invasion of Normandy in 1944, as a troop carrier. Later converted into a cargo ship, this 800 meter ship sank around 1964,in São Miguel island, in the Azores. It lies on a sandy bottom, around 25 meters of depth. Although the sea hasn´t been kind to this little giant, you can still see big hull sections, the propeller, and the engine. The most damaged part is the bow section.

Why i think wreck diving is awesome

I love exploring underwater wrecks. In these years, i have had the opportunity to explore a few of them, and it´s one of my favorite diving activities. Although i visited a few downed ships, wrecks can be everything man made that sank, like air crafts and cars. These wrecks vary a lot in conservation, some are near mint condition, some are just plain debris by the action of the sea.

These wrecks can be put in two categories :

• intentional – wrecks sunk in purpose to create artificial reefs, or underwater attractions.
• by accident – sinkings caused by accidents like collisions with reefs or other ships, storms, or military action.

They can have both historic significance, and/or be a home to a lot of fish and corals, who seek refuge on the debris/structures. So visiting these kind of spots is always impressive :

• the magnitude of some structures are just awesome, like swimming along one ship and admiring it´s gigantic hull, or sometimes it´s propeller. I specially like to mentally reconstruct the ship as i go along;
• as it acts as shelter to underwater species, it´s also a good opportunity to view them and take some nice pictures and videos.

Diving in these kind of structures require previous training, like a wreck diving specialty, deep diving, or nitrox specialty. The first one helps the diver manage the risks associated with wreck diving, plan the dive, and know what´s the required equipment. Deep dive, and Nitrox specialties might be very useful in wreck diving, as some are deep dives. Nitrox allows for an extended bottom time, lesser surface intervals ( some wrecks are big enough to require two separate dives ), and physiological safety ( less probability of decompression sickness ).

I have had tremendous fun in ship wrecks, and i will continue to explore these man made structures. What´s the most impressive wreck i´ve dived? The SS Thistlegorm in the Red Sea. Besides being one of the top ten in Costeau´s diving spots, it´s relatively intact, with the hull and cargo still in place, and can be penetrated safely.

Have some nice wreck diving!

Atlantic Diver

Stuff on instagram

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5 facts about the history of scuba diving

Breathing underwater isn't a recent achievement. There is recorded use of diving bells in ancient Greece, as far back as the 4^th century BC; later on, the first dive hardsuits, dive dresses, and rebreathers appeared around 1700´s. These apparatus where crude and rather unsafe to use, and where mainly used in military and commercial diving.

In the 1930´s, an American journalist called Guy Gilpatric wrote "The Compleat goggler", considered the first sport diving manual – about snorkeling and spearfishing. It inspired and drawn Jacques Costeau into exploring the sea´s misteries.

Recreational diving was born when Jacques Costeau and Emile Gagnan ( a compressed gas engineer ) invented the scuba regulator in the 1940´s, knonwned as the aqua-lung. Sport diving was initialy restricted to a few intrempid adventurers, and it underwent a series of transformations until the 1980´s, when it became the sport as whe know it;

The development and further perfecting of dive tables was mainly driven by the military, and commercial diving ( like oil companies). With the later popularity of the sport, these tables where adopted by recreational divers. The first electronic dive computer, the Edge, appeared in 1983, by a company named Orca.

As sport diving became more popular ( thanks to the publications of Costeau, and later on through TV shows like Lloyd Bridges Sea Hunt ), it pushed on the developmend of scuba gear, and standartization of diver training through certification agencies. The sport boomed in the 1980´s, and it continued to grow and evolve, even today!

The Atlantic Diver