Night diving in Dahab
Night diving in Dahab is easy to arrange and easy to enjoy: the best sites, led by Lighthouse, are calm shore dives right in town, so you walk in from the beach after sunset with a torch and a guide. Open Water divers can join, and a night dive can also count towards your Advanced Open Water course.
Why Dahab is great for night dives
Dahab’s town reefs start a few steps from the promenade, so a night dive needs no boat and no long drive. You kit up on the beach, wade in over sand and are on the reef within minutes, then walk back up to dinner when you surface.
The sheltered bays also help. Wind often drops in the evening, the entries are gentle and most of the dive stays between about 5 and 18 m, which keeps the plan simple and the bottom time long. A familiar daytime site becomes a different place after dark, because the reef changes shift: day fish hide and the night hunters come out.
The best night dive sites in Dahab
Lighthouse is the classic night dive in Dahab. The bay is calm, the entry is a sandy beach and the slope of sand, seagrass and coral pinnacles is full of life at night. It is the site most guides choose for a first night dive.
Mashraba, at the southern end of the bay, is a good second choice. Its seagrass, coral heads and pinnacle make a relaxed macro hunt, and the pinnacle gets busy at dusk. Plan around the tide, because the reef top at the entry is shallow.
Eel Garden, just north of Lighthouse, works on calm nights at high tide. The entry crosses a shallow reef table and a narrow lagoon, so it suits divers who are already comfortable at night. Your guide picks the site on the day based on wind, tide and your experience.
Lighthouse dive site guide and map →
What you see on a night dive
The Spanish dancer is the star. This large red nudibranch, Hexabranchus sanguineus, hides in crevices by day and comes out at night; it is often around 25 cm long, and Red Sea specimens have been reported larger. When it swims, its frilled mantle ripples like a flamenco skirt.
Lionfish are mainly nocturnal hunters, and at night they use your torch beam to stalk small fish. Keep your hands to yourself, because their spines are venomous. Moray eels leave their holes to hunt in the open, octopus change colour as they move over the reef, and shrimps and crabs appear everywhere, their eyes shining back in the light.
Look into the coral for sleeping parrotfish. Some parrotfish species wrap themselves in a mucus cocoon before resting, which is thought to hide their scent from predators such as morays. Never touch them; waking a fish leaves it exposed.
Then switch your torch off for a moment, if your guide signals it. On many nights, a wave of the hand stirs up tiny sparks of bioluminescent plankton. Flashlight fish, which carry glowing light organs under their eyes, also live in the Red Sea and rise into shallow water at night, though seeing them depends on the site and luck.
Level and requirements
You need to be a certified diver, and Open Water is enough for a guided night dive at an easy site like Lighthouse within your depth limit. Diving at night is not deeper or harder in itself, but it feels different, so good buoyancy and a recent dive or two help a lot.
If you have not dived for a while, do a daytime dive first, ideally at the same site. You learn the layout in daylight and the night dive becomes much more relaxed. Nervous about the dark? Try a dusk dive: you go in just before sunset and finish as night falls, so your eyes adjust gradually.
Bring your certification card and logbook. Non-divers and children on a first try dive do not join night dives.
Night dives and your Advanced Open Water course
A night dive can count towards an Advanced Open Water course with either agency. PADI Advanced Open Water is five adventure dives: Deep and Underwater Navigation are required, and Night is one of the electives you can choose.
SSI’s current Advanced Open Water Diver program, which replaced Advanced Adventurer, also has five training dives with Deep and Navigation, plus three specialty areas of your choice, and Night Diving and Limited Visibility is on SSI’s list. Each adventure dive is also the first dive of the matching specialty course, if you want to continue later.
PADI Advanced Open Water in Dahab →
💬 Book a night dive on WhatsApp
What to bring: torches and backup light
Every diver carries a primary torch, and a second, smaller backup light is standard practice in case the first one fails. Charge both before you leave and test them on the beach. A small marker light on your tank or BCD helps your guide and buddy see you from behind.
Wear the same exposure suit you use by day, or a little warmer: you lose heat faster when you are relaxed and moving slowly. In winter, bring a warm layer and a towel for the walk back. Ask what gear is available for your date if you are not bringing your own.
Safety rules at night
Agree light signals with your buddy on the beach. A slow circle of the torch beam means OK, a quick side-to-side movement means attention or a problem, and you can also shine your light on your hand to show a normal hand signal.
Never shine a torch into another diver’s eyes; point it at their chest or your own hand when you signal. Keep your beam on the reef in front of you, stay close to your guide and buddy, and if you lose them, stop, cover your light briefly to look for theirs, and follow the plan you agreed before the dive.
Move slowly and keep your fins high off the bottom. Lionfish, scorpionfish and stonefish rest on sand and coral at night, and a slow, careful diver sees much more anyway.
Best time for a night dive
Night dives run all year in Dahab, and you enter about 30–60 minutes after sunset. Sunset is roughly 4:45–5:40 pm from November to February and around 5:50–6:10 pm in March and early April. Egypt moves to summer time at the end of April, so from May to August sunset is around 7:20–7:45 pm, and in September around 6:30–7:15 pm. These times are approximate and shift a little each day.
Summer nights are warm, and the water is at its warmest in August and September. In winter, the water is cooler and the air can be chilly after dark, but the town reefs are still a great night dive. Calm evenings are best, so your guide watches the wind and the tide on the day.
Diving at night also counts towards your no-fly time. DAN recommends at least 12 hours after a single no-decompression dive and 18 hours after several dives a day or several days of diving, so a night dive on your last evening can clash with an early flight.
Book a night dive in Dahab
Mohamed is a PADI and SSI dive instructor based in Dahab. Tell him your certification, when you last dived and which evening suits you, and he will suggest the site and timing for the conditions, or fit a night dive into your Advanced Open Water course.
SSI Advanced Open Water in Dahab →
💬 Book a night dive on WhatsApp
Questions
Can you night dive in Dahab?
Yes. Night dives are shore dives at the town reefs, mainly Lighthouse, Mashraba and Eel Garden, guided and starting after sunset.
What is the best night dive in Dahab?
Lighthouse. The bay is calm, the entry is an easy sandy beach and the reef is full of hunting lionfish, morays, octopus and, with luck, Spanish dancers.
Do I need Advanced Open Water to night dive?
No. Open Water divers can do a guided night dive at an easy site within their depth limit. A night dive can also count as one of the five adventure dives in PADI or SSI Advanced Open Water.
What time do night dives start in Dahab?
About 30–60 minutes after sunset. That is roughly 5:15–6 pm in winter and after 8 pm in midsummer.
What do I need for a night dive?
A primary torch, a backup light, a marker light if available, and the same or a slightly warmer wetsuit than you use by day.
Is night diving safe?
Yes, with a guide, agreed light signals and a simple plan at a site you know. Most night dives in Dahab are shallow, calm shore dives.
Can I fly the morning after a night dive?
Only if you leave enough time. DAN recommends at least 12 hours after a single dive and 18 hours after multiple dives or days of diving.
Sources
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