Select a Dive Light

Everything begins to look gray at 30 feet underwater, even during the day. Many divers choose to carry with them at least a compact secondary light that is easy to carry, but also powerful enough to illuminate the dazzling colors underwater. If you've taken the effort to reveal the ocean's hidden world, why wouldn't you want the full visual experience?

Night divers are advised to have both a primary and secondary scuba diving light for safety. For maximum visibility in nighttime waters, select a light with a wide, bright beam that will penetrate the darkness. When it comes to scuba lights, the general rule is the brighter the better. This is particularly true in night diving, when a bright light output with a wide beam, such as the Light Cannon or Aqualite, is recommended for maximum visibility.

Like fog lights on cars, scuba lights used in low visibility conditions need to be both powerful and without peripheral light that can bounce back in the diver’s eyes and impair vision. UK Dive Lights, with our proprietary Side Optics (like the C8 eLED) are the best option for low visibility / murky waters.

Our patented side optics create an ideal beam ratio; A tight beam with little spill that will cut through the murkiness and allow you to see further. A wide beamed light with spill light will reflect back from the particles in the water and make it more difficult for you to see.

At Underwater Kinetics, we control the spill of our C lights so you can see better in murky water. The C4 and C8 put 90% of their lumens into the center beam, while the Light Cannon puts 70%. Regular diving lights will only manage around 40% of their lumens into the center beam.

Divers are advised to carry at least two lights when diving at night: a primary dive light to illuminate your dive and a secondary light, or a back-up, in the event your primary dive light fails. It is also advantageous to use a mark light like our 2AAA Marker Beacon, a small light attached to your tank valve or snorkel that helps a diving partner to locate you.

Depending on what kind of diving you do, a tight beam or a wide flood may each be appropriate. A tight bright spot is useful for spotting, for looking into crevices and under ledges, and a must for limited visibility diving in murky water.

Tech divers tend to prefer narrow beam lights because they allow you to see further down long passages or into wrecks. The SL3 eLED is a great backup light for a tech diver, with its bright spot light and no backscatter.

For lobster hunters or “game divers”, a narrow beam light such as the SL4 eLED is a popular choice as it allows the diver to see fish or lobster hiding under a faraway ledge. UK’s Mini Q40 is also a great choice for game diving with its mask attachment. These lights are also lightweight, making them easy to carry and travel-friendly.

There are few things are stunning as a well-lit underwater video. Without the use of a light, your ocean subjects lack color and are only illuminated by surface light - transforming the epic into an epic fail. To capture video that reflects the true beauty of the ocean, select a light with a beam that is wide and even to fully illuminate your subjects.

Water absorbs light incredibly quickly, so it's not uncommon for scuba divers to take photographs under the sea that lack the full range of color witnessed in person. Spotting/focus lights for underwater photography must be small and have a narrow, but intense, beam.

Primary dive lights can be used for daytime or nighttime dives. They are typically larger, brighter, and have a large battery pack, which keeps running for a long time even at full power.

Primary dive lights should be durably built, giving at least a decade of service. Ideally, they can be powered by disposable and rechargeable batteries offering maximum versatility on diving trips. They can be available in pistol grip or lantern grip, both are which are more comfortable to operate than stick lights.

When it comes to primary lights, the more power the better. However, since bright lights can cause a white-out, sort of like having your brights on in the fog, they should have the vast majority of their output in the center beam. This is doubly true for night diving in poor visibility water where higher power can reduce your visibility.

IMPORTANT FEATURES

• Centerweighted Beam

• High Lumen Rating

• Long Burn Time

• Comfortable Grip

The main purpose of a secondary, or back-up scuba diving light is to protect the diver during a nighttime dive in the event the primary dive light fails.

Secondary dive lights are typically more compact, lightweight, and feature a narrower beam.

Our Secondary Dive Lights include the Mini Q40, SL3, and SL4. Secondary dive lights are smaller, so they easily fit into a BC pocket and are also ideal for exploring under ledges or the cracks and crevices of a reef. We design our secondary dive lights to be incredibly compact and use disposable batteries which have a longer shelf life so they will work when needed.

The SL3 and SL4 are virtually unnoticed in your BC pocket but will provide much more power and many hours of run time. There are many cases of divers lives being saved after being left at sea by a dive boat and were later rescued, being found by the light of their SL4, which will run all night.

IMPORTANT FEATURES

• Center-weighted Beam 

• High Lumen Rating

• Long Burn Time

• Comfortable Grip

If you intend to do underwater photography or videography, a bright wide beam light is a necessity to adequately light your subjects.

UK’s Aqualite Pro2 Video light comes with a 70° beam. The broad beam is perfect for wide-angle cameras such as GoPro® and general photography and video use. The Aqualite Pro2 has four adjustable power settings allowing the user to turn down the power to avoid overexposure in close-ups, and balance the fill and key light when using multiple light sources. One can fill in colors and light when necessary by cranking it up to full power, which lights up to a massive 1200 lumens.

For truly spectacular underwater video, try a Aqualite Multi UV lense. This light uses ultraviolet light to entice many marine animals to light up in beautiful shows of color, making a spectacular effect.

Learn More about UV Here.

IMPORTANT FEATURES

• Smooth Wide-Angle Beam

• Adjustable Power

• Long Burn Time

• Rechargeable

Many frequent divers prefer Rechargeable Dive Lights, which typically cost a little more upfront. However, if used often, rechargeable diving lights will save you money in the long run and are more environmentally-friendly.

Rechargeable batteries can provide more instant power and are necessary for any light that produces over 10 watts. UK C Lights use low discharge NiMH cells, which are airline safe and can last over 10 years. The Aqualite uses a single Li-Ion cell. Rechargeable lithium batteries have a maximum life of 5 years, and larger packs are forbidden to fly on certain airlines.

IMPORTANT FEATURES

• Smooth Wide-Angle Beam

• Adjustable Power

• Long Burn Time

• Rechargeable