Mexico - Amazing Night Dive in Cozumel
Cozumel night dive is one of the experience you would not want to miss. If you have a dive trip plan to Cozumel, a night dive is highly recommended. You would have fantastic encounter experience with Caribbean Reef Octopus and some creatures you would only see in the night time.
Night diving is a very different experience from diving in the day time. You encounter different marine life at night which you rarely see in the day time.
After twilight, most of the fishes finish their day and start resting, you would find most of the fishes are sleeping and hidden in caverns or under a coral ledge. At the same time, some marine life are about to start their day. The reef can be just as active in the night as in the day.
Caribbean Reef Octopus is one of those marine creatures. That is the time they are out for hunting, so they are commonly seen at night in Cozumel. You are almost guaranteed to see at least one in night dive here, even in the reefs just off the shore. I have encountered seven of them in one night dive.
Caribbean Reef Octopus have bright green and blue with red-brown specks across their bodies. They can change their bodies colour and even match the texture to blend into surrounding environment by using its specialised skin cells known as chromatophores, colour could change from bright red to light greenish blue, they are very well camouflaged. Because of its greenish and bluish body colour, it is quite easy to spot them in the dark for us with a flashlight.
They normally move along the sea floor or coral head, sometimes they are like walking along the sea floor with its long arms. They prey on crustaceans or small fishes, when they hunt, they open up their long arms like a web to trap and catch the prey. It is fascinating to see them hunting, changing the body colour and their movement. They are not shy at all, so you can approach them pretty close as long as you don’t disturb them. I would say it’s a must see for diving in Cozumel, it is an amazing experience,
Apart from the incredible Caribbean Reef Octopus, there are some other creatures you would most likely see only at night. Sculptured slipper lobsters is one of them, their features are so different than spiny lobsters.
Sculptured slippery lobsters look very funky, have flattened appearance with horseshoe shaped carapace, it’s surface covers with tubercles and short hairs. They are clawless, with its 10 legs which let them cling to the ground. It’s head has two pairs of short antennae. You could spot them walking around out in the reef in the night time.
Another amazing creature is giant basket star, a mysterious creature. If you don’t pay attention, you may miss them. They are generally in black or brown colour, without particular pretty look, but they are very awesome creatures, only active at night.
In the day time, they are always hidden and curl up into a tight ball shape to protect themselves from predators. At night, they would reach to an elevated point to feed by extending its branched feeding arms to catch plankton and other organisms passing by from the current. Their fully extended arm can be a meter long. It is such an incredible creatures with its evil and mysterious look.
You could only see them in tropical Western Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, so keep an eye on them at night dive. It is pretty amazing to see how big they are when they open up and observe how they feed with its long branched arms.
On a night dive, you see a lot different marine life and some animal behaviours change at night, it is pretty common to see moray eels which only peep their head out in day time out for hunting at night time. Apart from the marine life I highlighted, there are more and more to see in the dark, do not miss the opportunity to experience the difference in night dive in Cozumel.
Other interesting night creatures:
