BEST DIVE LIGHTS 2023

This torch is highly recommended amongst the best dive lights on the market for diving or snorkeling as it uses upgraded technology with a maximum output brightness of 6000 lumens. It provides a great diving experience with up to 70 meters visibility with its ultra-bright light.

BRAND: ZHUVATAR
BATTERY TYPE: Rechargeable Li-ion battery
BATTERY LIFE: 12 hours
MAX DEPTH: 100m
BEAM SIZE: 6000 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: Cave Diving

Kraken sports light is equipped with the latest technology and one of the best dive lights ever designed. It has beam angles, long run time and easy to recharge features as it uses a USB C to charge. Widely recommended and used because of its top of the range technology and quality. It indicates battery levels and a simple on/off button. It also has a built-in bottle opener for some great refreshments after the dive.

BRAND: KRAKEN
BATTERY TYPE: Rechargeable Li-ion battery
BATTERY LIFE: 1.5 hours
MAX DEPTH: 100 m
BEAM SIZE: 1200 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: Cave Diving

This powerful light has great features like easily adjustable light modes. Very compact and easy to store somewhere in a small pocket. Simplified by a one button option and a manual that indicates different options for different output options.

BRAND: SEALIFE
BATTERY TYPE: Rechargeable Li-ion battery
BATTERY LIFE: 1.6 hours
MAX DEPTH: 100m
BEAM SIZE: 900 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: Shallower night dives, back up

The Orcatorch is a portable light that offers max 1000 lumens output and over 5 hours runtime. This is a small and light weight tail magnetic switch diving light with a totally sealed magnetic controlled tail switch which is easily operated and offers a high waterproofness. It comes with backup batteries and a charger. This light is suitable for recreational diving or as a backup for deep diving.

BRAND: ORCATORCH
BATTERY TYPE: 2xCR123A or 2×16340 or 1×18650
BATTERY LIFE: 2.5 hours
MAX DEPTH: 150 m
BEAM SIZE: 1000 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: Cave/wreck/night diving

The Sealife is optimally designed, not specifically but, for the perfect photo or great underwater videos. It comes with great features among the best dive lights such as automatic adjustments or brightness adjustments based on distance. This advanced 3000F light emits a warm 5000K color temperature and 80 color rendering index. It is also advanced in terms of self protection where the light will automatically switch off in case of overheating.

BRAND: SEALIFE
BATTERY TYPE: Rechargeable 25W Li-ion
BATTERY LIFE: 1 hour
MAX DEPTH: 60 m
BEAM SIZE: 2500 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: GoPro filming, photography

This powerful, rechargeable diving torch is widely used because of its travel friendliness. The SOLA is highly recommended for travel and hands free design. Easy to charge and comes with a hand strap. It also has a dual beam and run time can average between 70 – 280 minutes.

BRAND: SOLA
BATTERY TYPE: Rechargeable Li-ion via external port
BATTERY LIFE: 4 hrs 20 min
MAX DEPTH: 100 m
BEAM SIZE: 1200/500 lm flood/spot
BEST SUITED FOR: Underwater photography/video

The Kinetics LED diving torch has plenty of lumination and is perfect to penetrate the darkest of areas. The module with the LED is replaced as an entire assembly in case you need to replace the bulb. The light is mostly composed of plastic and comes with batteries.

BRAND: UNDERWATER
BATTERY TYPE: 4xC-cell
BATTERY LIFE: 10 hours
MAX DEPTH: 150 m
BEAM SIZE: 100 lm
BEST SUITED FOR: Cave, deep or technical diving

Primary & Secondary Dive Lights

The term primary light refers to the dive light you will mainly use on your night dives. It is typically suited to the type of diving you are doing (for more, see “Best Light for Lifestyle” below). A secondary light is one you keep in your BCD pocket in case your primary light runs out of battery, is broken or lost. Secondaries are usually cheap underwater lights in smaller sizes (such as the OxyLED DF20 or the Blue Fire CREE XM-L2). When night diving, it is recommended to always carry a secondary, in case you or your buddy needs an extra light. Technical, scientific, wreck and deep night diving should not be attempted without a backup light.

Beam: Angle & Brightness

The beam angle refers to the angle of light your beam produces. Bigger lights usually have wider angles and therefore a wider light scatter. Beam brightness refers to how many lumens a light is outputting. More lumens means higher intensity light (brighter).

Battery Type

Alkaline: The most likely alkaline batteries you will come across for dive lights are AA, AAA and C batteries. These batteries are great because they are usually easy to find, even while on vacation. However, they do face competition from rechargeable batteries, which save effort and the environment.

Lithium: lithium batteries excel in long-term use because they have a very low self-discharge rate. This means if you store lithium batteries (in your dive light) between dives, you won’t have to worry about corrosion or dying. Great lithium batteries can work like new even after being in storage for years.

Rechargeable: Rechargeable batteries, such as 18650s, are about 150% the size of a normal AA. They are great for saving money and time. Their only downside is that they need an outlet to recharge, something that may not be available on smaller dive boats or remote locations. Otherwise, this battery type paired with a rechargeable dive light is fast becoming one of the most popular dive light options.

Bulb Type

Xenon: These bulbs contain xenon gas which produces light when electrified. Xenon-produced light is generally whiter than the yellow tinge of halogen bulbs. As long as rating and wattage are similar, xenon bulbs can be switched with halogens.

LED (Light Emitting Diode): Underwater LED dive lights have no glass bulb, so they can’t break and do not need replacing. They produce a clean, white light. This type of bulb saves you money on batteries and bulbs over time. The best underwater LED lights provide pure bright, white, long-lasting light (such as the Underwater Kinetics SL4 eLED L1).

HID (High-Intensity Discharge): HID bulbs produce more light per consumption than normal tungsten-halogen or tungsten bulbs. HID beams can be made smaller than halogen competitors and put out the same amount of light.

Halogen: Halogen bulbs have an internal tungsten filament. The halogen cycle can increase the bulb’s lifetime by redepositing tungsten from the bulb back into filament. These incandescent lamps can operate at a higher temperature than a gas-filled competitor.

Light Location

Hand-held: These lights are held in the hand. This allows for great flexibility and ease of use in terms of signaling, peering into crevices and maintaining a tight control of where the underwater light beams go.

Wrist-mounted: These lights are generals smaller and sit on top of the wrist. A wrist-mounted flashlight is great for freeing up hands.

Arm-mounted: Some larger lights may be too bulky to sit on the wrist (such as the Light & Motion dive lights), so instead they might sit right behind it, along with the forearm.

Goggle-mounted: Some lights are so tiny they can be attached to goggles and turned into a diving headlamp (such as the ScubaPro Nova 220). These are great for complete hand freedom without any cords attached to the BCD.

Device-mounted: Lights may be attached to camera rigs and GoPros. A GoPro scuba light is a great way to capture your videos in color. A GoPro underwater light should attach to the GoPro housing seamlessly (such as the SeaLife Sea Dragon 2500). When buying underwater lights for GoPro, there are many options to consider, such as filming style, light flood (wide) or spot (narrow), continuous or motion, etc.

Best Light for Lifestyle

Sunrise Diving: Early morning dives can be an amazing chance to see animals that are still sleeping or are just waking up. These dives work best if you don’t have the brightest light. Too bright and you’ll wake up everything you shine your light on or near. In general, dim your submersible flashlight or shine it near a sleeping animal, not on it.

Photography/Video: Lights with lesser lumens (less bright) or more focused beams will be good for macro photography. For videos, a light with a wider beam angle will be much better, because you will capture the light of the entire scene, not just a passing focus point. Some lights will also have spot (beam) or flood (wide) functions which you can toggle between while filming.

Hunting: A lot depends on which animal you are hunting:

• Sandy bottom-dwellers like flounder will be easier to see with a flood or wide-angle light.
• Crevice bottom-dwellers like lobsters will be easier to search for with a more focused beam.
• Recommending lights for attracting fish is very species-specific. As a rule of thumb, smaller fish – those not of hunting size – are usually attracted to the light. Larger fish tend to prefer a stealthy approach in search of a quick meal. Use a wider angle for large fish, the increased arc improves your chances of a neat sighting. However, some species avoid bright light entirely.  If you are in the market for a very specific species, be sure to carefully research your proverbial white whale and its unique reaction to light.

Night, Cave, or Wreck Diving: In these dark environs, you need a light which will brighten up an entire space. Choose a cave dive light with high lumens (brightness) and/or a wider beam angle (wider light scatter). This type of light is also good for alerting your buddies to your location.

Technical, Scientific, or Deep Diving: For those going deep or for long amounts of time, technical dive lights with excellent battery lives and depth ratings are crucial. Additionally, especially for tech or scientific divers, a wider beam angle and high lumens will light up whatever work area you’re diving in.

Fluoro Diving: Fluorescence diving is an experience that requires divers to be extremely comfortable diving at night. You wear a lens fitted over your dive mask and use another lens over your light, to see fluorescent animals light up in neon colors. These specially modified dive lights will be provided by your dive shop or charter.

Good Dive Light Etiquette

Do not shine your light in any diver’s face, including your own. It can cause temporary night blindness. Instead, shine your line at the ground or your hand and move it in a circle to gain a buddy’s attention or point something out.