Night Diving in Phuket its best from late October to late May depending on conditions and allows direct access to the local shallow reefs for great shore diving that can be done in just an hour.
The reality is that very few dive operators in Phuket offer any scuba diving activities once the sun goes down or know how magic the coral reefs and oceans become after sunset.
Night diving for certified divers offer flexible dive times to accommodate other holiday activities, saving up to 6 hrs off local diving boat tours. When you dive local diving sites you also see fewer divers around you, and it’s your diving adventure so we want to make it as enjoyable as possible for you. If you are on holiday with family, maximize your holiday time we can arrange this night dive to personally suit you.
Night Diving takes no more that 1 – 2 Hours
Our night dives usually start at 6pm with setting up the equipment at our Phuket Dive Tours training facility located 140 meters from the beach. You will meet your instructor set up your dive gear and listen to the dive safety briefing, We then load up the equipment truck up and take you to the Northern end of Kata beach in one of our 4 X 4 truck to drop you at the waters edge and help you into your equipment, this the means your not walking 100m across the sand from the main road to the waters edge, its then a short swim to the reef.
Typical dive times are between 1 hour or low on air (50 Bar) Kata Beach can be very rewarding with regards to unusual marine life found anywhere else around Phuket there’s many species we don’t find on our usual Phuket dive tours day trips.
After the night dive we will pick you up on the beach and take you back to our dive shop & training facility, you can then wash your dive gear, take a shower, fill in your log books, and have a cold beer, or hot drink around the pool with your instructor.
Kata Beach can be calm but on some occasions posses rip currents so its best to check conditions with us first
If you are open water certified and want a more adventurous experience we can also offer night dives as part of the PADI Advanced course or SSI Advanced adventure Course.
If you are thinking of taking a Similan liveaboard diving holiday, its likely the Similan trip will involve night dives, and if you have never done a night dive before now’s the chance of learning and doing your first night dive with us will prepare you for you liveaboard experience.
Why is Night diving so popular?
Kata beach for many years was regarded by some as Muck Diving sadly these people have little knowledge or experience of what kata beach can offer fun divers or students learning to dive, its a remarkable reef well stocked with marine life and well underestimated by many divers in Phuket
Kata beach is the place you will find most instructors and local divers enjoying the best dive in Phuket when having time off from work on day trip boats.
Marine life on many night dives its possible to see red crabs, lobster, squid, octopus, turtles, barracudas, puffer fish, scorpion fish, ghost pipefish, and a host of other aquatic plants and marine life.
Night Diving Courses
You can experience the excitement and thrill of Night Diving in Phuket as a certified open water diver, you may also want to consider upgrading from Open water certification to the the PADI Advanced or SSI Advanced Adventure course or the SSI Night diving and limited visibility specialty course.
With any Adventure dive You will learn about the planning and equipment needed to complete a night dive, and how to find your way around underwater navigating at night. You will also get to see a whole new group of marine animals that comes out after the sun goes down.
For the SSI Night Diving & Limited Visibility diver specialty we make two dives students will pre learn and study 5 chapters on night dive theory using the Free SSI app and complete the free online digital eLearning, students must be a Minimum 10 years old and certified to Minimum (junior) Open Water Diver. The duration of the courses is 1 day and you will complete 2 training dives. Diving equipment is included in the course fees or you can use you own diving equipment if you wish
In this program, you will be provided with all the knowledge and skills you need to safely and comfortably dive at night or in limited visibility conditions. With a combination of online learning and open water training dives, you will learn how to enter and exit the water, use specialized equipment, and how to communicate with your buddy easily at night or in limited visibility.
Upon completion, you will earn the SSI Night Diving and Limited Visibility specialty certification and be ready to go night diving with confidence.
Is Night Diving Safe?
With the correct equipment and experienced dive guides night diving is safe, If its your first night dive let you instructor know if you have any questions or concerns.
What additional equipment do you need for a Night Dive
The main additional equipment is a Dive torches and dive lights, it would be pretty pointless and unsafe diving without one. Dive lights or torches have developed over the years most are now rechargeable and use an LED (Light omitting diode) or several diodes to produce bright light underwater. The light intensity can be adjusted on some lights as well as the beam being adjustable to narrow spot light or wide angle.
Divers take 2 lights with them the primary light and a second light referred to as a back up light, so when you dive with a buddy you then have 4 lights between 2 divers.
Always check that your dive light is fully charged before you start the dive. When you enter the water turn on the dive light and don’t turn it off until you exit the water after the dive.
We have a variety of diving torches and Dive lights available at our dive store, let us know if you want to purchase one before your dive and we can have it charged up ready for you.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Night Diving in Phuket
Notes on some useful information on personal safety – We don’t use 3 wheel motorcycles to transfer customers and dive equipment to the beach for night dives as we see this as an accident waiting to happen.
Avoiding the long walk, having to walk 100m from the road side to the waters edges for a night dive just isn’t fun diving, its punishing and painful if you are elderly! we use 4 x 4 trucks to cut down on the pre dive stress and help you to relax before the dive .
We will ensure that your personal belongings are safe at our dive store, we wont have you leave your personal belongings on the beach in the dark while you dive as we know this can lead to an opportunist taking them away.
We don’t employ dive master interns, trainees, unpaid dive masters, or instructors without the proper work permits and visas who are legally unable to work in Phuket to take you scuba diving, we do use professional experienced diving instructors that meet the legal requirements to work in Phuket who can ensure that you have a fun time.
Is Night Diving is available All Year Round?
Phuket has many locations available between the westerly monsoon period of May to October however the wind direction can change and make kata beach shore diving difficult, we also have many other options and locations for night diving, liveaboard cruises and overnight trips.
Local Diving at Kata Beach for Certified Divers
We have many flexible options for Kata beach scuba diving for all certified divers that allows you to dive when you want to dive..
- Early Morning Dives
- Lunchtime Dives
- Mid Afternoon Dives
Send us a quick email or message us on whatsapp and we will get back to you