My husband and I will be arriving for our second trip to AC on April 27th. I am trying to talk him into going night snorkling. He's a little timid about going in the water at night "with a little flashlight." We have been snorkling with Alphonso a couple of times, so we would probably try to schedule it with him. Can anyone enlighten me on how night snorkling works? How far can you see in front of you? How long are you in the water? Please give me some good answers so I will be able to persuade him!!

why did you set this up as a poll?

I think it would vary on the water conditions and normally would just see as far as the flash light goes. I believe they are not too little of flashlights. My suggestion is to contact this alfonso guy you were impressed with and ask him these questions when you get there.

Um, the whole point of this board is to get info before you arrive!

ERJPilot, don't be discouraged, somebody who has done it will give you some good insights, I'm sure : )

Yeah, Alphonso is great fun, yes?!

Thank you so much for the encouragement. It was my first post and I just happened to set it up wrong. Oops!!

It's really a great adventure - you'll see critters that you would NEVER see in the daytime and , as an added bonus, very few, if any, other air breathing warm blooded mammals out there with you (which) bothers some, but not ME!)Visibility will be determined by tide, current and how much "things got stirred up" during the day.

Alphonse would be a great guide, as you already have experienced.

The lights are not all that big, but bright.

ERJPilot just a suggestion IMHO try to get Alphonse to take you around dusk if your interested in seeing some intereting creatures moving around. Seems like a lot of fish get in postion for the night at that time. Hol Chan was incredible at that time of day. Huge Parrot fishing moving west in the channel presumambly getting in postion to "sleep", while large schools of snappers and grunts moving east out of the channel possible to actively feed after dark.
You'll see different "stuff" appear after dark but the movement just before dark can be awesome! Try it!?

Sometimes you can get a feel of what it would be like at night out there amongst the reef, on a much smaller scale, if you just go to the end of the pier at night and snorkle around, and look at the creatures there at night,and stay close in..make sure there are no boats in the area, I know its lame, but it might help you decide to go to Hol Chan the next opportunity..There are much cooler things to see out there.

We have night snorkeled both times in AC and will definately do it again. Look up Tulu, he is great, we went with him both times. You would be suprised how far you can see with the lights, even if it isn't super calm, the water is very clear. The last time we did it there was a pretty full moon as well and you could have gone without a light. The down side of that is that we didn't see as many eel and other night creatures because there was too much light. But Tulu always seems to know where to look. There are usually divers too which is kindof cool as you see their lights in a distance, and their bubbles below you snorkeling. Specific highlights, eel, octopus, lobsters galore and trunk fish! It can be cool at night so I wore a tank over my suit. A MUST !!

Dont yall worry about sharks eating ya at night You couldnt beat me enough to get in the water at night
J D

what makes you think they be more hungry at night than in the daytime?