Night Snorkelling
Explore your adventure
Highlights
We pioneered blackwater & floodlight scuba diving trips starting in 2014 and developed a number of great experiences over the years.
At first the thought of snorkelling or diving at night may seem either foolish or strange. However in the same way we love to watch fireworks, underwater we have natures light show – the bioluminescence. Like terrestrial animals, many marine animals are also nocturnal and using torches we can spot lots of different marine life that we may not see during the day. The narrow focus on your torch beam means your attention is drawn in on a smaller area allowing you notice much more too.
With the benefit of a rural population and little light pollution our dark skies are filled with stars. You can gaze up at the milky way towering overhead, stars fill the night sky and if your lucky the northern lights dance on the horizon.
Join our marine biologist guides and instructors to discover this truly unique experience.
- 3 hours to introduce snorkelling on Argyll’s coast
- Discover cold water reefs, kelp forests and seagrass meadows
- Learn about the wildlife and critters from our expert guides
- Experience natures fireworks, bioluminescence.
- See nocturnal marine life illuminated by torchlight
- Visit responsibly guided by a marine biologist.
* Snorkelling participation requires a minimum experience level, see more information here.
Itinerary
You will try our night snorkelling experience at one of our favourite sites, which we will choose based on your experience and weather conditions on the day. You will be emailed the meeting location before your booked date. We will meet you at the water with your pre-booked snorkelling equipment
For more information on travel and staying in Oban please see our FAQs.
On the Tour
Once you arrive at the snorkel site your instructor will meet you and guide you through your equipment. They will provide you with ample time to discuss and ask questions before getting in the water.
We will help you change into your wetsuit, gear up and enter the water safely.
We can spend up to 90min in the water, but the session is yours so you can choose how long to stay in for.
Once out you can get dry, enjoy a hot chocolate and talk about all the amazing critters you saw.
To learn more about which species can be seen, check out our underwater wildlife guide.
Who is the tour for?
Snorkelling at night adds another layer of difficulty, with the obvious lack of daylight and unfamiliar surroundings. We would recommend that participants have recently snorkelled and have some experience.
You can also book our experience snorkelling experience during the day before your night session as a way to get your skills up to speed. See more here.
8 is the minimum age for this trip due to our hire gear size.
Access to the water may be over rocks or sandy beaches so a basic level of fitness is required.*
Tour expectations
The water temperature ranges from 8°C in April – 14°C in September. Our hire wetsuits will keep you comfortable during your experience although you may find the session is shorter in winter and longer in summer.
There are no facilities at the snorkel sites, but we will provide you with information detailing everything you will need to enjoy your experience.
Ready to join us on an adventure?
Floodlight Boat Snorkel
Using our 100,000 lumen floodlight we illuminate up sheltered bays to attract marine life and provide ambience.
Like the shore snorkelling we’ll pick a suitable location near Oban which will give us calm conditions and easy access to reefs.
Usually this experience takes around 5 hours from meeting at the marina and sites are around 30min from base.
Like our shore snorkel then we suggest that you should have recent experience or take advantage of the experience snorkelling session during the day prior to the night experience.
We offer individual spaces for this experience but we need minimum numbers of 6 so please email your preferred dates and we can try to gather enough people. Alternatively you can book as a group for a guaranteed experience date.
Floodlight Boat Diving
Our original experience that we pioneered in 2014. We’ve taken many individual divers and groups out over the years and it continues to be a sought after experience in the diving community.
We run two types of floodlight dive, one as a shallow marine life dive. This is perfect for newer divers with calm conditions and lots of ambience. We usually choose a sandy area with nearby reefs with a maximum of around 12m depth.
The most popular dive is our floodlight shipwreck diving experience which is usually on the wreck of the S.S Breda. We attach the boat to the wreck and lower our lights to hang a few metres above the deck of ship. This sends beams of light streaming through the structure of the ship along with attracting lots of fish. The wreck site usually has little current and starting depths of around 12m so it can be suitable for newer divers too.
We are able to offer other sites for group charters so contact Shane to discuss. A example would be one of his favourite sites, the wreck of the Meldon which lies off the coast of Mull. See his picture of the propellor lit up by floodlights during a trip in 2022.
Bookings
Our night experiences run from Sept-April, outside when the clocks are set to BST and we have lots of daylight!
See dates on the calendar in the side bar for shore based night snorkelling.
If you are interested in boat floodlight snorkelling & date then get in touch to register interest in dates. Contact us here.
Hire equipment
If you are participating in our activities please check our hire equipment information. You will need to input your requirements and sizes at the time of booking – find our wetsuit size charts here.
Torches are included in our snorkelling tours.
Ready to Book?
After booking your preferred date you will receive a confirmation email with a linked information document.
Please note shore based tours (day or night) needs a minimum of 4 snorkellers to run, boat night snorkel need s minimum of 6 snorkellers to run. We will be in touch during your tour lead-up regarding capacity and sea conditions.
Prices
Tour Prices
Night Snorkel (Shore)
£120 Per Person
Private Group (Shore)
£440 (Up to 4 guests)
Floodlight Boat Snorkel
£180 Per Person
Floodlight Boat Snorkel (group)
£950 (up to 6 guests)
Floodlight Boat Dive Charter (group)
From £500
Full payment is required at the time of booking.
What’s Included?
- 3 hour Shore Snorkel or
- 5 hour Boat Floodlight Snorkel
- Torches for Snorkel Experience
- Visit the North Argyll Snorkel Trail
- Responsibly guided by a marine biologist
- Hot drink after swim/dive
- Use of information guides.
Additional Considerations
- Accommodation in Oban
- Snorkel or Diving Equipment Hire
- Torches on Diving Charter
- Travel to the meeting point
- Food and Drink
Cancellations
Please see our cancellation policy and terms and conditions here.
Please note these tours needs a minimum numbers of 4 for shore tours and 6 for boat tours.