If you are an experienced, DAN or NAUI certified Scuba diver, we highly recommend night or twilight diving in Key Largo. Several local operators offer this as an alternative to regularly scheduled trips.

Different operators will require different levels of proof of certification, and these trips are only available under certain sea conditions. Typically, they offer these dives a few nights prior to, or on the night of a full moon.

A twilight dive is the best option for first-timers. The boat will head out about an hour before sunset so divers can descend before total darkness ensues. Night or Twilight diving is best from July – October, in seas conditions under 2 feet inside the reef and with visibility of 60 -100 feet.

Your dive operator will determine the site based on sea conditions, but shallow sites like Dry Rocks, Molasses and French reef are great options.

You’ll need to purchase a dive light and wear a wet-suit to participate.

In warm shallow waters, with predictable surface weather, you can expect about an hour of dive time.

Your dive master will assist in you in descending the anchor line and guide you over the reef. This is an almost transcendental experience as you watch the reef come alive with nocturnal species venturing out for the night: spiny lobster, octopus, moray eels and squid.

Before concluding the dive, many dive masters will steer you toward sandy patches among the reef where you can sit on the bottom and watch the moon rise overhead and experience bio-luminescence. (Plankton glowing underwater).

For a comprehensive list of upper keys dive operators, refer to our site under Diving/Scuba Diving In The Florida Keys.