Those who know me know that I have long had the dream and goal to travel to the moon — or at least into outer space. And yes, I do think it will happen. But, if by some extenuating circumstances my life expires before realizing this goal, I know that my night dive in Little Corn Island will serve me as a comparable experience. If you’ve been on a night dive then you know the thrill and beauty of a sea illuminated only by the spotlight of your torch, and you know the tranquility of breaching the surface to a sky full of twinkling stars — night dives are a great and worthwhile experience. But good God — it is unfair to all other dives anywhere how inexplicably incredible a moonlit dive in the waters off Little Corn Island is.
For starters, I spotted a Hawksbill sea turtle nestled in a coral cove immediately after descending. Then, as we made our way along the reef we saw what seemed to be at least a hundred sleeping midnight parrot fish laying on their sides against the sand and stones. And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better and we were headed to the boat, our three minute safety stop turned into a 15 minute tour with an octopus scurrying about the sandy seafloor. And it was all so incredible, but it was the endless string of pearls bio-luminescence that make this the dive of a lifetime.
Once we reached a nice sandy patch, our dive master signaled for us to turn off the lights. We did. And as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, the skies above us would flicker with lightning from an approaching storm. The water was an absolute nothingness around us, blackout, and as though it were a piece of construction paper punctured and held against the sun — hundreds of stars surrounded us there under the sea. Of course they weren’t actually stars. They were tons of itty bitty ostracods flashing their goods hoping to get lucky for the night, because the night belongs to lovers, right? And just as the term suggests there seems to be an order to their presence as they are quite reminiscent of a string of pearls, swathed throughout the water around you. And then there is a disturbance in the patterns — movement. We begin to swim along the reef in the dark, able to keep in the group by seeing the movement of the little glowing crustaceans.
We spent half the dive with our flashlights off. You could make out your group simply by seeing what looked like hundreds of little Tinkerbell fairies fluttering throughout the water. I forgot I was even underwater — I was in outer space. Here I was, with some friends and a great dive master floating weightlessly through the galaxy. A quick flash of lightning from above quickly relocates me to the beautiful coral of Stanley’s Reef. How could it be that just hours earlier we had dived this site in the broad daylight? It was completely foreign to me now; just like I’ve always imagined floating through the galaxy.
RATES:
Dolphin Dive Center
The most reliable dive center on the island, sometimes there is another shop opened about 100m down whose owners, instructors and reputation change with the wind. Dolphin Dive has some of the best guides we’ve dived with — fun, knowledgeable, passionate and understanding about people’s experience and what you want to get out of your dive. A really great outfit here.
web: http://www.dolphindivelittlecorn.com/working.html
Fun dives:
1 tank – $35
2 tank – $65
5 tank -$150
10 tank – $280
Blowing Rock, 2-tank dive (amazing) – $95
Courses:
PADI Open Water – $305
PADI Advanced – $240 / $250 with night dive
PADI Open Water / Advanced combo – $500 / $510 with night dive
PADI Rescue Diver – $230 / $300 with Emergency First Responder (required) included
PADI Divemaster – $850
Take me to NICARAGUA // Take me to LITTLE CORN ISLAND // Take me to SCUBA CENTRIC