Have you ever done a black water dive? What is a black water dive I hear some of you ask? Well it’s exactly like it sounds. Instead of diving on the reef, it means diving in the open water column at night. For the non initiated, this may sound like scary and risky proposition. However, once you try it, it becomes rather addictive. The reason why it’s so exciting is due to the incredible creatures you can find.
A Juvenile Octopus
One of the most exciting characters you can run into on a black water dive is an octopus. Although there are quite a few different species that spend their time in the water column as juveniles, this one is one of the most spectacular. There seems to be some disagreement on whether this is a mimic or wonderpus but most reports say it’s the wonderpus. These unique octopus live the first part of their life drifting in the water column away from the busy reef. Once they reach a certain stage of maturity they settle down on sandy environments.
Photographing Black Water Diving
Taking photographs during a black water dive can be a little tricky! Obviously a good light comes in handy to find the creatures, but it can also scare them off. Finding the right brightness and angle to illuminate them is the key to success. It certainly is not an easy environment for photography as there are no visual aides for buoyancy. It’s very easy to follow a critter either up or down without even noticing! Once you get the hang of it, the unique subjects you can capture really do add to your portfolio.
This particular photo is from Lembeh Strait on a dive with our friends NAD Lembeh Resort. They are the true leaders of black water diving in Lembeh. We also offer black water dives here in Bali. We do these along the north coast in the Tulamben, Amed, and Pemuteran areas, we don’t offer them in the south due to conditions. Once Indonesia opens up again we will again offer these wonderful dives as part of our Dive Safari program.
