Yes, I have gotten “lost” leading a night dive at Ulua! Although I know Ulua very well in the daylight, early in my career I felt a bit disoriented at night. So, in the beginning, I would extend my known boundaries by a little bit each dive. But one time out on the second reef I saw a squid (one of my all-time favorite night –loving animals), and got all excited and started following it, and ended up getting totallyturned around!!! At one point I thought I was heading easterly into shore when another Instructor pointed out to me that I was leading us south instead! (As they say, trust your compass more than your instincts!) But of course, it all worked out. After all, you can simply go to the surface and see where the shore is (at least at Ulua… Makena can be challenging!).
Another problem with a night dive is that you see cool little things like flatworms. People tend to pile up on each other to see them, which stirs up the sand and ruins the visibility, fouls up people’s buoyancy control, etc. I have been caught in the middle of some interesting three-ring circuses when this has occurred! So I learned to add in my briefing that I will point stuff out to the person closest to me, then I will move on and that person can point it out to the next diver, then move on, etc. USUALLY this method works well.
And that’s the end of today’s confession! -Teri
