While cross country skiing in Bend during the full moon, it dawned on me that some of my favorite experiences around the world happen at night. It inspired me to create a podcast episode (and accompanying show notes) of my favorite adventures at night that I have experienced personally or interviewed other adventurers about.

If you’re an avid Scuba Diver and haven’t experienced Black Water Diving, then this is a bucket list adventure you should add to your list. Every single night the largest migration of biomass occurs vertically, called the diurnal migration. Essentially creatures that live at the depths of the ocean rise up to recreational diving depths, so that you can drop down to 10-50 feet or so and experience amazing siphonophores, beroe, salps, and more. Some of these creatures have thousands of cilia that when the light from your flashlight catches it, it creates a prismatic effect, which ensues rainbow colors in front of your eyes. This is my absolute favorite experience at night.

My favorite places for black water diving are in Kona, Hawaii (where you are tethered to the boat), and West Palm Beach, Florida (drift dive at night where you are not tethered to the boat). If you want to geek out on a black water diving book, check out Jeff Milisen’s book, A Field Guide to Blackwater Diving in Hawaii">A Field Guide to Black Water Diving in Hawai’i (affiliate link).

Skydiving at night is one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had. This is not something you can do as a tandem skydiver, but you can go skydiving at night if you hold a B-license as a skydiver, which is a minimum of 50 jumps. I loved ringing in the New Year at Skydive Sebastian on a night skydive and can say that this is a bucket list experience you should have if you’re into night adventurers.

There’s something about skiing at night during the full moon that is truly magical. Plan a cross-country ski trip during the full moon during good conditions. Don’t forget to bring snacks, water, a toasty drink, and a friend for an experience you will never forget.

One of the best night dives and night snorkels in the world is the manta ray night snorkel or dive in Kona Hawai’i. Almost every night, divers sit on the bottom (25 feet deep) and snorkels float on top of the water, each shining lights up or down. The lights attract plankton, which then attracts beautiful manta rays that will come in and dance in front of your eyes. This is a great dive for a new or seasoned Scuba diver and is also an excellent snorkeling experience. Highly recommend booking this experience with Kona Honu Divers.

Many hikers or hike the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hike during the night to avoid overheating on the trail. Angie Holbrook shared her experience of hiking the PCT and describes hiking at night on the trail. This is an episode you have to listen to to get the full experience.

While diving Mexico’s cenotes is typically done during the day, it is a dark experience as you are diving in Mexican caverns that may seem like it’s nighttime. The only difference is that beautiful sun rays may come flooding into the cavern which makes it an otherworldy experience.

This is truly a bucket list adventure that happens in the dark… rappelling and tubing adventure in glow worm caves in New Zealand. While this is done during the day, you wouldn’t know it as you are in a cave. If jumping into 57 degree F water and ziplining through glow worm caves sounds like you’re thing, then you should look at booking this experience ASAP.