The British Virgin Islands is renowned for its seemingly endless days of bright sunshine. But many divers will discover that after the sun sets, the island’s waters come alive as nocturnal marine species vibrantly dominate the underwater nightlife, while sleeping creatures are easy to spot in their motionless states. Wrecks, reefs, and shoals all house excellent diving opportunities after dark in various locations around the waters of the British Virgin Islands. Among the most excellent sites for night diving are The RMS Rhone wreck, Carrot Shoal, and Diamond and Angelfish Reefs. Let's take a closer look!
RMS Rhone
Most dive operators will inform you that if you only have time for one dive trip in the British Virgin Islands, make it the RMS Rhone wreck dive. Day or night, this wreck located off the coast of Salt Island is a great dive to see numerous 19th century artifacts which are still visible underwater, ranging from teaspoons to good luck charms. But at night, the atmosphere is heightened with a sense of mystery with the surrounding darkness.
The artificial reef is a busy place at night, so when you make one of your Rhone dives a night dive (it takes many dives to see the whole wreck), you’ll see how frenzied the wreck can get. Night divers will join lobsters and eels for an afterhour’s party. The turtles, fast asleep nearby, are easier to spot in the overnight hours and divers will be awestruck at their massive sizes. Also a specialty at night with dive lights, the cup corals and sponges transform the ship’s main compartment into a kaleidoscope of orange and yellow, an amazing sight. Dive operators will direct night divers slowly around the midsection near the giant marine wenches, and around past the stern to find nudibranchs and basket starfish, and the wreck’s resident green moray and octopus. And if that doesn’t sound dizzying enough, night divers can also swim through the bow section and under the massive 15-foot (3 m) propeller on its stern, a great way to end the evening before heading back to the surface after reaching the 25 m bottom.
Carrot Shoal
Carrot Shoal is a dive site with all the adventure, superior visibility and big fish encounters that open water dives promise. This dive site, off the southwest Tip of Peter Island, is accessible to advanced or experienced divers only–day or night. Shaped like a railroad train parked on an underwater platform, Carrot Shoal’s platform rises abruptly from the 70-foot (21 m) bottom and levels off around 40 feet (12 m).
Night dives at Carrot Shoal are exceptional for investigating the abundance of creatures living under the ledge of the platform. These animals include large green moray eels, tiny fairy basslets, and reclusive lobsters. Toward the far end of the formation the uncommon long-snout butterfly fish can be glimpsed, as well as colorful Spanish and spotted lobsters. And, there’s no better time than the middle of the night for a heart-pumping encounter with one of the occasional nurse sharks that glide through the waters of Carrot Shoal. For the adventurous night diver, there’s also small detour past the end of the “train” where a lovely low archway sits.
Diamond Reef
Luckily for new divers, all of the night dives in the British Virgin Islands aren’t limited to experienced divers. Perfect for a beginner’s dive or first night dive or night snorkel, Diamond Reef is a small and diver-friendly reef just off Great Camanoe. Diamond Reef is exquisite at night because, out in the sand and adjacent to the reef, there is a colony of garden eels at depths that don’t exceed 35 feet. These often over looked residents of the sand flats look like a field of sea grass waving in the breeze, and are easily spotted at night. Typically, just the head and upper body of these pencil-thin eels protrudes from a permanent burrow, and if divers approach too closely they slip back into their burrows and disappear.
Night divers at Diamond Reef can stretch out on the sand and crawl right up to the coral for an intimate and prolonged observation of all the tiny creatures inhabiting a single coral head. Divers can get within inches of the coral without touching or damaging it by coming in slowly on the sand, which is great for beginning divers first getting their bearings at night. Blue chromis, tiny wrasses and parrotfishes make their homes closer to the surface, making the reef a great experience for shallow divers and snorkelers as well.
Angelfish Reef
This spectacular rocky maze of canyons and ridges that finger off into the sandy bottom is an excellent night dive among the sites of the British Virgin Islands, located off Norman Island. Large sharks can be spotted on regular night dives at Angelfish reef, as are sleeping Nurse Sharks and large green eels. In addition, watch for enormous lobsters that will make even experienced divers hesitate to approach in the inky waters of night. The rays are easy to spot at depths of 10-25 meters (30-80 feet), night or day, and their size is impressive.
At night, the smaller creatures of the reef also come alive with vibrant colors, such as the tiny crabs, baby eels and stealth shrimp that can be found living in the many rainbow-colored anemones. The delicate orange ball anemone, for example, can be found under protected ridges near the sandy bottom and is one of the most colorful views during a night dive. Even the sandy bottom (25 m deep) is full of lurking critters at night on Angelfish Reef, tempting advanced divers to head further into the darkness.
So, while the majority of tourists in the British Virgin Islands head to their beds, divers take to the seas–where at many dive sites, the day’s entertainment is only beginning.