As the sun sets, you don your dive gear, slip on your scuba mask and bite down on your dive regulator. A deep breath and you step off the boat – into the underwater night. Although you’ve seen this reef many times before, this time you drop into a whole new world and watch it come to life under the glow of your dive light. Introduce yourself to the whole new cast of critters that comes out after the sun goes down. See your favorite dive sites from a whole new perspective at night.

Prerequisites: Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organisation).

The course: Three open water dives.

• Dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and potential problems.
•  How to control your buoyancy at night.
• Entries, exits and underwater navigation at night.
• Nocturnal aquatic life, since many of the plants and animals you'll see are different.

Equipment: Standard scuba gear plus dive lights.

 Materials: The PADI Night Diver crewpack (manual and dvd).

What's Next?

• Take your navigation skills to new levels with the PADI Underwater Navigator course.
• Get your buoyancy dialed in with the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy course.
• Recognize what those critters are on your night dive with the AWARE Fish Identification course.