Night Diving Again

[Padaxes]

Ive just ordered a

Princeton Tec Shockwave LED and a Princeton Tec 40 as a backup torch.

Plan some easy night diving, close to the beach lol

Any advice for a first time night diver ?

My plan is to a: go somewhere with houses and lights and no major features (like a nice sandy beach), sheltered and I know it well from day diving.

b: get a glow stick for my float.

c: not go out very far, hug the shore.

d: call the coastgaurd and let them know what im up to.

Anything else I should do ?

 

[devondave]

Take a compass , catch fish .

 

[Caghan]

go with a partner who can look after you if something goes wrong? only takes a second or two for a fun night to turn ugly. i would love to go night diving but unfortunately not allowed to spearfish at night. rules are rules

 

[Padaxes]

I would take someone but that would just make it worse none of my mates have the gear lol

Compass ! Good point Dave , Ive got one im going to fit to my float, ill make sure i do that before I go.... there are lots of lights on the shore however so getting lost shouldnt be a problem.... i hope

 

[devondave]

Compass is a last resort kind of thing , power cut , fog/sea mist , heavy rain , even boat lights out at sea can be confusing . Take a bearing , know which way the shore lies , night diving can get disorientating , then a compass becomes your best friend .
Good hunting .

 

[Padaxes]

Maybe invest in a flare or two ?

 

[hyeparis]

I usually go to spots where I have dived in daylight - the more the better. Do not aim the flashlight at fish directly (if night spearfishing is allowed at your location at all) - keep them in the corner of the light range. Otherwise they get scared and flee. Based on my night diving experience in the Med and in the freshwater in Russia

 

[Padaxes]

Is that right I always though from the vids ive seen the fish almost totally ignore the torch is that not the case ?

It arrived today im going to go for a day dive now and scout the vis with an eye to maybe getting in after dark.....

 

[Old Man Dave]

My advice is slightly different in that I think you have too much gear. I don't use a float for instance nor a back up torch or a marker light/glowstick. I use a gun with only a half wrap of line, a short stringer or even a fish ring and try to avoid having to use beach shoes/sandals.

Night diving need KISS approach.

Dive shallow water sand near reefs in a bay out of the tide. Fish come in close at night and often where they do not venture in daylight. Try low tide on dark and get in at last light (not too early) and fish first hour tide rising and first hour of true darkness. That's peak time IMHO.

If the vis is good fish from the surface using your torch to scan the bottom. My PT Shockwave LED 170 lumens will light the bottom down to 15 foot and sometimes 20 foot from the surface if the vis allows. Otherwise dive down and swim near the bottom (5 foot up approx) and scan ahead with the torch. Don't swim too low as flatfish are easier to see from above than side on.

Most UK fish ignore the torchlight but bass sometimes are spooky especially if you approach from behind.

Good luck.

Dave.

 

[Padaxes]

Interesting stuff OMD thanks I was considering ditching the float and just using a stringer....

Ive got the 400 lumens version so should be ok on half light mode to hunt from the surface , tides not to good tonight but im going to give it a go anyway Im really keen to get in

Im still taking the backup torch though

 

[foxfish]

Just dont be complacent in any form as night diving is potentially extremely dangerous!!

 

[Padaxes]

That was great Torch off, lots of phosphorescence, not a cloud in the sky, thousands of pollack , a few bass , saw some good sized mullet but didn't get a shot off. Came home with just one red mullet (my first) but with a great experience.

That torch is insane felt like I was lighting up the whole bay, subtle it is not lol

The vis wasn't too good most of the time but I was buzzing anyway, i'm hooked.

Only down side was i put dud batteries in my Go Pro, c'est la vie.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Glad you enjoyed it. Takes a while to get sorted. Like foxfish said though - safety first.

Congrats on your first red. I have seen a mere handful of them in over 40 years of daytime diving but at night, in 3 years I have seen hundreds.

Where did you get your shockwave 400 and how much if you don't mind me asking (it's on my Chrissy list )?

 

[Mr. X]

Cool thread. I think Flyflicker suggested sticking a glow stick on your snorkel too (I have quite a lot of the mini glow sticks laying around unused that came in one of the big, cheap Lidl's tackle boxes of gear - super value. Many sea fishing stores carry them.).

If you can find somebody willing to wait around on the beach for you with a torch or fire (the diving equivalent of a "belay slave"? ), they could act as a landmark.

Still haven't had the opportunity to try it - we tend to get up early & retire early in the Summer, when we visit the coast most.

BTW congrats. on the red mullet. My optician was asking about red mullet the other day - I said Guernsey and maybe SW but I've yet to see one. A snorkeller said he a v. small John Dory near where I'd been diving when I came out of the water last weekend - I've yet to see one of those too.

 

[Padaxes]

OMD yeah safety first I checked in and out with the coastgaurd (felt like a bit of a numpty doing that but they seemed happy). Do you do that every time though? I think it may be overkill!

I got the torch from directdivegear.com
Princeton Tec Shockwave LED 1 £73.87 + vat

Mr X, I dove a spot with tonnes of houses in a bay so easy to triangulate your position, plenty of Bass fisherman up the beach with torches too, so location is not an issue.

I took a glow stick with me as a last resort but visibility really isn't a problem using the light cannon lol apparently everyone could see the torch light from miles away lol

 

[SurfnSpear]

I agree OMD, K.I.S, I have an Omer mono stringer setup on my weights anyway, so I ditch the float.
I tape a lidl led torch to my barrel and hold another in my hands.
A torch beam shone at the skipper of any vessel (if need be, as most are at very low speed at night and on very straight lines normally going to mooring) is my defence.
I night dive for flatties and red mullet as a priority on the open sands, and tend to not worry too much about the bass...although I'd hammer one if I saw it. I never really have shot my gun at night(I have poked very many though!), and the one time I did nail a red mullet for some accuracy check, I was too close and the gun recoiled as the spear stopped short in the sand, and smacked me in the mouth...it's hard to laugh underwater so I went to the surface, spat out the blood and laughed up there in the fresh air.:martial:blackeye

 

[Padaxes]

Hehe I know , I was shining my torch at a small pollack from the side last night and it swam off to try and escape and swam right into me , bounced off looking really confused I nearly took on water laughing

I didn't see a single flatty though

 

[winky]

Great thread!

I'm really keen to try this night diving malarchy too....seems great fun and very exciting! Obviously saftey first but great fun none the less!

I'm thinking of getting the Underwater kinetics C4 eLED torch, any one have any experience with one of these?

 

[Old Man Dave]

I haven't seen one but I used to use the non led version and it's a great torch. When I upgraded to LED I defected from UK to Princeton Tec manily as it has 3 x 3 watt LED's and the UK had 1x5watt LED. Both PT and UK are very similar prices but unless they've upgraded the UK is only half the power of the PT. Plus the new PT is now twice the power of the old one. Both called Princeton Tec Shockwave LED but the new one is called the 400 as it has 400 lumens light output. The old Princeton Tec Shockwave LED (like mine) is 170 lumens.

You need to check the light output of the latest Uk and check the price then compare to the PT. Simply scuba sell the new PT 400 and loads of places the old 170 version. Plenty of outlets stock the UK.

Dave.

 

[winky]

I haven't seen one but I used to use the non led version and it's a great torch. When I upgraded to LED I defected from UK to Princeton Tec manily as it has 3 x 3 watt LED's and the UK had 1x5watt LED. Both PT and UK are very similar prices but unless they've upgraded the UK is only half the power of the PT. Plus the new PT is now twice the power of the old one. Both called Princeton Tec Shockwave LED but the new one is called the 400 as it has 400 lumens light output. The old Princeton Tec Shockwave LED (like mine) is 170 lumens.

You need to check the light output of the latest Uk and check the price then compare to the PT. Simply scuba sell the new PT 400 and loads of places the old 170 version. Plenty of outlets stock the UK.

Dave.

Thanks OMD, really appreciate the info - great to have someone like you looking after us newbies!!!!!:inloveroflroflrofl