Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Why is risk scored near wreck diving?
Lost buddy, boat props, and disorientation show up in incident literature. Combining night with wreck or cave is worse.
What is the Kona manta night dive?
A well-known Hawaii product: lights on the sand attract plankton, then mantas. Distance rules are the etiquette.
How many lights?
A primary and a backup is the usual teaching. A tank-marker or stick light helps the boat.
Do people need a specialty card?
Not legally in most places. Shops may require one or a minimum log count.
Is a full moon easier?
More ambient light, different animal behaviour. Not a safety system by itself.
Night incidents cluster on lost buddy, missed boat, and panic when a light dies. This is not a briefing or medical advice.
A dead primary without a backup is the end of the dive, not a reason to follow someone else’s beam into a hole.
Hazards
- Lost buddy — Easier than by day and more frightening.
- Boat props — A dark head is invisible.
- Light failure — Disorientation and a fast ascent risk.
- Stinging hydroids and lionfish — Night walkers on the reef.
- Disorientation / vertigo — No horizon, silt, or a spinning beam.
- Combining night with wreck or cave — A risk multiplier this atlas scores separately for a reason.
Rules
- Two lights or no dive — The whole rule.
- Closer buddy than by day — If you cannot see the signal, you are too far.
- Known site only — No exploration brief at night.
- Surface light discipline — The boat’s pattern, not a disco.
- No unplanned overhead — Holes look like rooms in a beam.
Red flags
- A shop offering night as dive one — Walk.
- A buddy whose light already flickers — New light or no dive.
- Feeling lost for more than a few seconds — Ascent on the plan, SMB, boat.
- A manta or turtle changing path because of the beam — Back up.
First response
- Lost buddy at night — The taught search is short; then surface and the boat’s plan. This page is not the drill card.
- Light failure — Backup, then end the dive.
- Not medical advice — Stings and DCI are clinical.
Night safety is redundancy and a short leash. The dark does not forgive a sloppy day habit.