My girlfriend and I will be down in Bonaire in a bit and are hoping to do some night diving, does anyone have suggestions for lights? I have heard good things about the Shockwave LED and the Miniwave LED. Right now I am leaning towards the Miniwave because it is a 4C light whereas the Shockwave is an 8C and that seems a bit like overkill.

There will be a full moon while we are down there, not to mention lugging 16 C batteries around doesn't sound like fun.

for general diving, the dive light does not matter too much...a 4 cell "C" battery model is good - the Underwater Kinnetics is preferrable to say the Ikelite 4C model (in my opinion)...

LED lights maybe be preferrable in photo applications as an aiming, modeling light but again, don't think there is any advantage in those for general diving...

Have a spare as well...you may need light to find your exit point...one night dive on the hooker all my lights died and it took me 45 minutes to find my truck

good luck!

there is a battery store on the web...all-battery.com - they have rechargables and rechargers - a good selection and you can always use those flashlights at home for whatever;)

I think the advantage to an LED over a halogen is the color (blue/white vs yellow) and battery life.

We use Frogman lenser as our main lights (4 x AA) with the smaller version (4 x AAA) as back up with a multi led as a target light for our cameras, with rechargeable batteries life is easy.

In the long run bright white lights at nite defeat the whole purpose, that is if you want to see the reef and it's denizens in their true night time mode... Strongly suggest having a red lens light as your "nightseeing" lamp.

If you wanna carry an aircraft landing light to keep the sea monsters at bay (and the really BIG tarpon diving with you), takeoff and land with the high voltage lamp.. then when on the reef go red and see it as best a diver can.

What Kelly said. It took me too long to realize that the big light I was using was driving away everything I wanted to see. As a primary I now use a mini light that uses 4xAA batteries. They are small, so I have two along on a night dive. As an emergency backup I carry a 4xC that is described as a crack light. I have never needed the larger light. I should note that I always have a camera with me that includes an Ike DS125 strobe. The modeling light on the strobe is my primary dive light.

I should add that I used to have a lite that used 8xD cells. It lit up the underwater world, chased away everything I wanted to see, and made me sink like a rock. Put any number of batteries in your hand and guess the weight; you need to take that amount off your lead to maintain proper weighting and trim. That is rarely taken into consideration. From my perspective, the less light you are comfortable with will make for a more enjoyable night dive.

I go with Kelly and Grunt, and then some. White lights clear the reef, except for the snook and tarpon who like to hunt in your light beam.

Red is good - and shade the filament that shines through as yellow/white (use a tiny spot of aluminum foil in the center of the red filter). That, of course, applies to an incandescent or halogen bulb. I haven't tried to block a multiple 'bulb' LED light. But then, you don't need a 'multiple bulb' LED light! Do block direct light.

I use a red-filtered 2-AAA cell MityLite for primary and carry a one-step larger spare white light just in case, and to hunt with the s & t. And for entry and exit as Bob and Kelly suggested.

I see lots of red filters for cameras on Leisure Pro but I don't see any for lights. Is there something particular I should be looking for or are you just using red Saran wrap?

I have used sample 'Professional Lighting Filters' by Bogen-cine. Mine are simply 3" squares of plastic material about 0.0035" thick that came in a stack of all colors. I cut red, opal and magenta pieces to fit inside the lens of the light.

Mine are 10-20 years old but something like this material should be available in camera stores or online. I suspect the term 'gels' fits these filter materials although they are plastic. One of our current photo or stagehand types here should have modern comments.

I believe red Saran wrap would be not be filter enough unless several layers were used. On my last experiment I had much to much filter material and I have not gone further to see how little I thought was effective so this is an 'exercise for the student to finish'. :–)

I prefer halogen as opposed to the "blue-white" look of the LEDs

The Coast LED Frogman Lenser is the way to go!
Absolutely great lite for underwater.
For anyone who's interested..
http://www.flash-lights.com/advanced_search_result.php?XTCsid=8395f22ab9a40227e86895091a148543&keywords=frogman&submit=GO%21

Over $50 for a simple dive light Vince? How about a nice Mini Q40 eLED instead? Because UK has always either repaired or replaced every single dive light I've ever sent back to them, and I've been using some version of their 4 AA light for well over a decade. If you put your fingers over the front of the light, you have a very effective "douser" control. Big lights scare everything, and some people seem to get caught up in an ascending spiral of lumens in their frustration to see more stuff at night. Turn off all your lights, you might see some cool stuff like ostracods.

And Rosco 46 is a good gel for your flashlight. I'm thinking of using it on my 4 C cel UK lights, because I seldom actually use them as white lights, they are way too bright.

Oh yeah, for Glenn,

Roscolux is comprised of two types of plastic. More than 65% of the line is made from co-extruded polycarbonate plastic. The remainder of the line is deep dyed polyester.

(Message edited by seb on February 18, 2008)

The UK 100 Light Canon is an excellent dive light. I've tried several and this one is the best by far....I purchased another for back-up.

450 lumens, does it come with a welding attachment Terry?

So if you have an unfiltered light cannononon, and you are night diving, and you see some divers with little dim lights in the distance, please stay the heck away! Those divers are not your people.

I'm not sure but I think I just got kicked in the teeth.
I tried strike anywhere matches on one night dive and saw a piece of sand.
The light canon is great!

Well, I find it a vicious circle, Terry. Folks get bigger and bigger lights so they can see more stuff, but they don't see more stuff because they scare it all away with their big lights and wavy arms. Then when I'm night diving, minding my own business, and not moving very much, these frustrated follow spot operators who still aren't seeing stuff come over and get in my space with their big lights so they can see what I'm looking at, and it is VERY hard to communicate to them that you'd like them to:

A Not blind you with that light
B Go the heck away and stop following you.
C Perform an anatomically impossible feat
D Hide that light where the sun don't shine

Just a few months ago two of these geniuses followed us back to our rental house on Bonaire because the big light was no help in navigation for them. And they never seem to dive in a rational manner, so you can't just wait for them to pass on by, because they usually dart back and forth.
With great power comes great responsibility.

Well said Seb.. I think many of us on this board at one time or another have had the experience which you've described. Disconcerting to say the least, especially when there's an entire pod of nighttime aquanauts going "wacky" with the lights.

Yes I agree Seb that is the reason why I won't go on GROUP night dives.. If the dive is lead by a DM I believe that he is the only one who should use a light as he knows where the neat things hide...and everyone else should have a small light on their tank just so he can keep track...JMHO YMMV

Seb, We always dive by ourself and if we see other divers vehicles at the sites, we go somewhere else.
As for scaring away the fish and whatever else, you are very wrong in your statement. Light has always attracted marine life and I think you should read up on the facts.
As for blinding you, I'm sure somebody with a bright light gave you a bad experience!
Just because you had a bad experience, you shouldn't blame others for the equipment they use.
You might be a Supreme Talker with thousands of posts, but I would say by reading this post you don't have many dives under your belt.
This isn't being rude to you, your post to my statement didn't really sit well!!!!

light starts a natural food
chain reaction by attracting a concentration of small microscopic animals called plankton.
Bait fish such as shad and minnows are drawn to the light to feed on the plankton; and larger
game fish move in to feed on the bait fish. It's not uncommon to see bait fish stacked in
columns 15 feet thick under the lights, with game fish suspended directly below them.

the more light you put in the water the more fish you will attract. That
may or may not always be true. Remember, you are trying to duplicate light patterns fish see
on a daily basis. Fish often congregate near boat ramps and piers at night because the
overhead lighting projects enough light onto the water to start the food chainRemember, "ANY" light will attract fish. The key to attracting more fish is to try and match the
light patterns the fish are used to seeing. That means at times you may need to put more
light in the water and at times you may need to dim the light down some. Water temperature,
water clarity and water depth are just a few of the things that change on a daily basis which is
why you have to be versatile and change the color and amount of light you put in the water.
Conditions change daily, so don't be afraid to experiment a little with different Colors and
amounts of light you put in the water.
This information was compiled by professional oceanic admin.

Last post to SEB, Had to get this one in. I've had the opportunity to dive all over the world and fortunate to dive with some very respected individuals in the dive community along with gov't trained divers. Isn't it funny that these individuals use the UK100 Light Canon and have a very different opinion than you have.
I would hope in the future you would be careful in how you post your opinions as they don't hold water.
As for the blinding effect, no matter what you do or where you go, you are always going to have people around you that aren't perfect.
I would ask you to post your opinion without kicking people in the teeth.

Terry, It seems to me that Seb just gave his opinion, and self experiances on this subject! It also seems to me that you are the one kicking people in the teeth, on this subject! It also seems to me that you were the first one to complain that you couldn't give your own opinion about certian things! So, pull back and let EVERYONE give their OPINION!
I like to night dive, and I like to do it with little, or no light. I use PC lite(halogen)by Ikelite(4c-cell)and it is off more then on. If you let youe eyes adjust to the lac of light, you see many things that,IMO, you normally don't see. I am an old Marine Corp Snipper, and the lac of light is a comfort to me. My wife, Diane, is claustrophobic. She will dive with me in the moon light, but not the black night. I like to night dive alone as it is a comfort to me not to have to worry about a buddy. I don't like a bunch of lights around me when diving as well. Just my hummble opinion... Ron

Terry,
there are lots of critters that recoil and hide from bright light during night dives.
Until you dive without a strong light, you'll never see them.

Dear Terry,

Would you stop already with the kicked in the teeth? I make a joke and you get your knickers in a twist. Settle down. Also, I don't care how many posts I have, and neither should you. The only thing needed for thousands of posts around here is the desire to spend the time posting. Even though I'm a Supreme, Diana Ross still won't laugh at my jokes, so get over that too.

When I night dive, I'm trying to replicate the light patterns night feeding fish see AT NIGHT, which would vary from some to no moonlight. If you can see ostracods and copper lobsters with your 450 lumens, good for you. Those things disappear or run away PDQ in my experience. Basket stars and orange ball corallimorphs shrink faster than one of them Polar Bear guys jumping in the water in February. I've tried using big lights; I found they scared the critters away. Have you tried using small lights, or turning them off altogether?

All I said was, if you are one of those big light people, and we all know you are, stay the heck away from those dimly lit divers; don't think you'll do them a favor by dropping by to show them what they are missing by not having an aircraft landing light. I don't care what giant flashlight you bring with you as long as you stay away from me with it. Heck, I have friends that use the giant lights, I just don't night dive with them. Nor would I want my sister to marry one, but that's just me.

But you know, I'm just a guy with no dive experience, never been anywhere, none of the cool kids will dive with me, so I'm gonna go in the garden and eat WORMS!

I have to agree that big lights are a big turn off. We have been offered huge lights for a night shark dive in the Maldives but said no as our little 4 X AA LED lights were more than enough.

But heck I know nothing Terry must be right!!

Bob and I dive with a very small light strapped to our masks and carry a normal size torch too. We mainly use the 'headlights' which are also useful in the day time as spot lamps for showing buddies critters. I like lamps I can put my hand over to block the light temporarily in case of pretty things that light up!

Ok, I was wrong again! Sebs post sounded like he was the expert. Guess he still is!
I'm dropping the subject but not the UK100!
LOL
TA

Don't despair, Terry, you can always slide a few sheets of deep red gel into the sucker and really start to see critters on your night dive.

You guys are all right , whatever works for you is the right light . Keep your lights out of divers faces no matter what power you have and we can all get along . Up here in the emerald sea , you need the highest powered light you can find due to plankton and algae reducing vis. And thats in the day time! Turning your light off in clear waters in bonaire is a great way to see the real reef action , its surprising how much you can see once your eyes adjust. Im still taking my uk800r but i promise , promise not to hit you with my high beams! good thread guys

Seb, I use the filters like you suggested. Isn't it fun to get the blood flowing?
I need to take my blood pressure medicine more often. Just getting old and grouchy!
Good post!