As if making the System Shock remake wasn't tough enough, someone apparently called the FBI on Nightdive during development

https://piefed.world/post/780124

Night Diving in Komodo

Night diving in Komodo National Park, Indonesia reveals a completely different side of the reef. Species that remain hidden during the day emerge to hunt, feed, and interact in ways that are rarely seen under daylight conditions. What looks like a calm reef during the day becomes active and unpredictable after sunset.

This dive log captures several night dives in Komodo, where the focus shifts from wide-angle reef scenes to macro life, nocturnal predators, and unusual behaviors. For divers and underwater photographers, night diving here is less about big animals and more about discovering species that are often missed entirely during daytime dives.

I spent a week aboard the Indo Aggressor, based in the Indonesian city of Labuan Bajo. During the week at sea, guests were offered daily night dives. I dived each night and saw many unique critters and interesting behavior underwater. The video below highlights some of the cool moments during our night dives.

https://youtu.be/pfzre18odHs

Marine Life You Can See on a Komodo Night Dive

Night diving in Komodo is primarily about macro and behavior-focused encounters. Many of the species observed during these dives are rarely seen in daylight or behave completely differently after dark.

Common sightings include:

• Decorator Crab
• Bigfin Reef Squid
• Painted Frogfish
• Blue-Spotted Stingray
• Spotted Flathead (Crocodilefish)
• Needle Cuttlefish
• Stingray vs. Cuttlefish
• Spanish Dancer (Super Large Nudibranch)
• Komodo Reef Octopus
• White-Spotted Hermit Crab
• Whitemargin Stargazer
• Broadclub Cuttlefish
• Lacy Scorpionfish (Rhinopias)
• Bigfin Reef Squid

Some dives may also reveal nudibranchs, flatworms, and other small invertebrates moving across the reef. The slower pace of night diving makes it ideal for spotting these smaller subjects.

Dive Conditions and Safety Considerations

Night diving requires a different mindset than daytime diving, especially in a place like Komodo. While currents are generally reduced at night, divers still need to be aware of changing conditions, entry points, and navigation limits.

Key conditions:

• Depths: 20–60 feet (6–18 meters)
• Water temperature: 79–84°F (26–29°C)
• Visibility: 30–50 feet (9–15 meters)
• Current: Mild to moderate depending on site

Divers should carry at least one primary dive light and a backup. Maintaining close proximity to the guide is critical, as visibility is limited to your torch’s beam. Good buoyancy control is especially important to avoid disturbing marine life or damaging coral.

Best Time of Year for Night Diving in Komodo

Night diving is possible year-round in Komodo National Park, but overall conditions vary by season.

• April to November (Dry Season):
  Best overall conditions with calmer seas and more predictable diving
• December to March (Wet Season):
  Increased plankton and nutrients can improve marine life activity, but surface conditions may be less stable

Because night dives are typically conducted in sheltered areas, they are less affected by wind and waves than daytime dives. This makes them a reliable option even when daytime conditions are marginal.

I previously posted a few exciting moments during the entire dive trip here. Also, I posted a few photographs from the trip here. In a few weeks, I will post my travel and liveaboard trip report.

I find night dives interesting because you can see animals that you don’t see during the day. Below is a video playlist that hosts a few more night dives from around the world. There are a few interesting clips from Roatan, St. Kitts, Raja Ampat, and the Bahamas.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWEPZWTMPV87HXp6ka0iHdZa0EeDFhem

Here’s my underwater camera set-up.

FAQs

Night dives in Komodo commonly reveal octopus, moray eels, decorator crabs, boxer crabs, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, and hunting lionfish, many of which are rarely active during the day.

Yes, most night dives in Komodo are conducted in protected, shallow sites with mild currents, typically between 30 and 80 feet, making them suitable for divers with basic experience and good buoyancy control.

Night diving is available year-round, but April through November offers the most stable conditions, while December through March may provide increased marine life activity due to higher nutrient levels.

Night Dive – Bonaire

Bonaire is a small Caribbean island renowned for its crystal-clear waters and vibrant marine life. One of the island’s most prized inhabitants is the Caribbean lobster, a spiny crustacean that can be found hiding in the rocky crevices of Bonaire’s coral reefs.

Despite their popularity as a food source, Caribbean lobsters are also essential to Bonaire’s marine ecosystem. They help to maintain the balance of the reef by feeding on algae and other small organisms and are themselves preyed upon by larger fish and sharks.

This image was captured on a night dive in Bonaire.

Fluorescent Friday : Hurghada Departure

Some creatures underwater have the ability to absorb light and re-emitted at a longer wavelength.

Using a yellow filter scuba divers can observe this awesome aspect of nature. The filter can be attached to a divers mask. Underwater photographers and videographers will also need to add a yellow filter to their camera lens to capture the light spectrums.

These underwater photography were taken during night dives in the Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt.

Here are more details about my camera set-up and approach to capturing fluorescent images during night dives.

Fluorescent Friday

https://youtu.be/Boz2sfnyIFo

I have always been intrigued by how and why some creatures fluoresce above and below the waterline.

Biofluorescence is the absorption and reemission of light from living organisms. Fluorescent organisms have proteins built into their skin or other tissues that absorb energy from light and reemit it as a different colors. This results in a wonderful display of color.

In the ocean, blue light penetrates through the water, where some organisms absorb that energy, and then emit light at a lower energy in colors such as green or red. This article from Dive Photo Guide dives into the science of fluorescence as it applies to underwater photography.

Scuba divers need special yellow filters to see the reemitted light. In addition to my normal camera set-up, I used a blue light, and yellow filters on my camera lens and on my mask. Below are the additional items I used to capture the video above.

• Sealife Sea Dragon Mini Fluoro Light
  • This light came with yellow filter for a scuba diver’s mask.
  • Since this was my first experience with fluoro diving and I was not sure how it would work. I selected a lower end mini model and was pleased with the results. However, if I have the opportunity to upgrade, I would go with the higher model that has a wider beam range. For non-photographers/videographers, the mini would suit them well.
• Tiffen Yellow Filter
  • The yellow barrier filter blocked any reflected excitation light and transmit only the fluorescence from the subject.
  • Basically, allowed me to record exactly what I was seeing through the mask filter.
  • It’s a wet lens, so I just attached it to the front of my underwater camera housing.

I shot this video off the house reef at Six Senses Laamu Resort during our first night dive there. The Laamu Atoll is located in the Maldives.

Overall, I was amazed by the color captured during the night dive. I will plan to try again on my next night dive. Hopefully, I can schedule the night dive around coral spawning. This is the time when corals colonies reproduce by releasing their eggs and sperm all at the same time. However, with a global pandemic, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to coordinate this year.

Oh my God it's even worse.

Apparently the #Nightdive Doom+Doom II release (which is problematic in-and-of itself, but not as much as their other recent releases) got a person whose code was used (hey, GPL+FLOSS and such) much money they didn't need and they invested in the company of a #fascist #misanthropic #billionare to host #doomwiki on #Amazon #aws.

HOW-LEE FUCK.