Black Water Diving is an Experience You Will Never Forget

Black water (or blackwater) diving is by far one of my favorite types of dives I've ever done. I've been diving for 16 years and I've seen a lot in the ocean, however, black water diving astounds me every time I've gone. I only have 12 blackwater dives, and I am hungry for more. Many people when they hear 'blackwater diving' they think it's simply diving at night. But oh no. Blackwater diving is very deep water, we're talking thousands of feet deep. Now you the diver aren't going down thousands of feet, you just drop down to 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 feet late at night and paint the darkness with your light and then you start to see creatures that live in the deep that are now up in shallow water.

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In this podcast episode, I interviewed Jeff Milisen, who works for Kona Honu Divers (my favorite Kona dive shop), who leads these blackwater dives on a weekly basis. Jeff is a biologist and one of the few people that can talk to you about the science behind what you're seeing when you are underwater with these alien creatures.

Where Can You Go Blackwater Diving?

Kona Hawaii is one of the best places to go out on a black water dive. There aren't many boats in the world going out however, it is gaining popularity in Florida and the Philipines. What's unique about Kona is that you can take a boat a few miles offshore and now be in water that 5,000 feet deep below you. If you go out with Kona Honu Divers they will tether you to the boat so the divers that come with the boat leave with the boat.

What Type of Experience Do You Need to Go Black Water Diving?

You need to be a certified diver and have at least 50 dives under your belt. This is an advanced dive and you need to be able to keep your cool in the dark water and be ok with not being able to see the bottom of the ocean. If you're not a certified diver you can take a class to become a certified diver, like this one.

What Types of Animals do you See when Going on a Black Water Dive?

What you may see one night might be completely different from what you see another night. You can expect to see lots of animals in the jelly family. You will probably find ctenophores, siphonophores, pelagic squid, pelagic fish, larvae creatures, and if you're lucky you might find a larvae cusk eel (shown below).

What if I don't dive, but would like to go out at night on the ocean, what are my options?

I get it, not every person is a certified diver or a diver that wants to go and do a blackwater dive, but you're still up for an adventure. Well, then check out the manta ray night dive in Kona. That dive is on the top dives in the world and you can also snorkel it. You can book a manta ray night dive or snorkel here. You can also listen to an Experiences You Should Have podcast on the infamous manta ray night dive here. The black water dive leaves after the manta ray dive on a few select nights. Photo below of the manta ray night snorkel in Kona by Jeff Milisen.

Now check out some amazing black water photos from Jeff Milisen of these alien pelagic creatures and check out his photography on iphotograph.fish

Note on Accessibility

My husband has cerebral palsy and he got his open water diver certification 7 plus years ago. I talked about black water diving to him for 4 years before he did it, and he ended up doing 3 black water dives on 3 separate nights! The video below shows our Kona adventure including black water diving and diving with manta rays at night. If you're currently not a diver and are handicapped, check out the Handicapped Scuba Association or Dive Pirates (offering adaptive diving) for more information on adaptive diving. Once you get enough dives under your belt and are comfortable with night diving, come try out black water! Also,