The Beauty of Not Knowing

There’s something about night diving that gets me every time. Deep below the surface, your world shrinks to the size of a flashlight beam, and everything outside that circle? Pure mystery. Could be nothing. Could be a manta ray. Could be a shark with an appetite. Maybe even a mermaid—I wouldn’t know. That’s the thrill.

The video above is Raja Ampat, off Waisai. Technically “muck diving,” but at night the muck turns into Times Square at 3 a.m.—every weird critter clocking in for the graveyard shift.

I’ve gone night diving solo a few times in Palau, Indonesia and Thailand. Yes, I bring a spare mask, spare pony bottle, spare light—because if you’re gonna do something questionable, at least do it with redundancy. 😂

And the payoff? It’s not just the danger—it’s the freedom. Hanging there in the dark, not knowing what’s above, below, or behind you, it’s like surrendering in the best way and you just exist. Floating, breathing, surrounded by a world that doesn’t care whether you’re there or not.

Would you go?!

Days Sober: 2,069