Night Diving in Belize
By 2014, I had several dozen dives in my SSI log, but none at night. Being at the bottom of the ocean, in the pitch black of night, was a fear I needed to get over. Mike had been bragging about all of the sea creatures that come out only after dark that he had seen the the Philippines. We had taken a trip to San Pedro and Ambergris Caye in Belize specifically to go diving. It has the longest barrier reef after Australia.
The reef outside Ambergris Caye is a marine reserve, and the fish are so accustomed to divers they barely move out of the way when we swim up next to them. We saw lots of sting rays, sharks, turtles, fish and corals during our day dives with the PADI shop at our hotel. Since the filmmaker Ang Lee had done night dives in Ambergris Caye prior to filming Life of Pi to see the bioluminescence, I figured this was a good a place as any.
The dive boats leave shore just before sunset to head to the reserve. We were told on the dive briefing that we would descend at the site, explore for about 20 minutes, and then all settle at the bottom in a sandy area, where we would all turn off our flashlights. It was pretty spectacular! So many crabs walking on the ocean floor and rays taking a nap, snails, sea cucumbers and a giant turtle whose sleep we interrupted.
Here's a video that Mike filmed of our dive: https://vimeo.com/98682389.