Updated – January 2025
You will need a night snorkeling light to check out the sea life that comes out after dark. But it can be tricky picking a light to buy without some experience in the water at night. A night snorkel can be fun with a good snorkeling flashlight, and scary with a bad one, so don’t go too cheap, or with an off brand.
As you get into this you are going to wonder how much power (lumens) your light should have for snorkeling? And what beam angle is best? What about if you want to take pictures using the light? And what battery type is best? We answer all of those questions and more further down this page below the lights.
Note: Our suggestions come from hands-on experience. We hope you find them helpful. You can help us if you purchase from the links below. We may make a small commission, as an Amazon Associate or from other companies, at no extra cost to you.
The Best Night Snorkeling Lights

OrcaTorch ZD710 – Zoom

We like zoomable night snorkeling lights, that combine the ability to have a nice wide beam for photography, with a tight spot beam for cutting through into the distance.
A past favorite product of this type is no longer easily available, but the OrcaTorch ZD710 is very similar, and has some great features.
This has an adjustable beam angle, from 8 to 76 degrees.
Although advertised as a 2700 lumen light, it is really a 1,600 lumen light, that can give you a short blast of 2700 lumens for up to one minute. You can also decrease the lumen intensity to 750 or to low at 250. At 1600 lumens, you will get 1.5 hours of runtime. At 750 lumens, you get nearly three hours, and at low, 9.5 hours.
The battery is a common 21700 lithium ion, that has a built in USB type-c charging port.
This night snorkeling light has an intelligent over-heat and over-discharge protection function, as well as a locking feature so it does not come on accidentally in luggage.
The light is sealed with three o-rings, and is waterproof down to 150 meters.
For just a few bucks more you can buy a kit with a wrist strap, that the light securely attaches to.
Best Multi-Purpose Snorkeling Light

The Wurkkos DL08 is a very interesting night snorkeling light that combines four different types of light functions into one, with nine different LED bulbs:
- 12° spot beam
- 133° wide angle
- Red light for not scaring away creatures
- UV light, for fluorescence pictures
You get 2000 lumens with the spotlight and 3600 lumens with the wide angle flood. And there are four brightness settings.
It has a IPX8 waterproof rating, with double o-ring seals.
It uses the commonly available 21700 lithium battery, with USB-c charging, and the battery has advanced temperature regulation.
It could be a really fun light to play around with on a night snorkel, and is a very good value for all you get.

Best Spot Night Snorkeling Light
The OrcaTorch D550 (on Amazon) is a nice size and has a fairly tight beam angle, at 1,000 lumens. They say it is 8° in the center and 70° total.
It comes with a rechargeable lithium CR18650 battery.
It is controlled by a magnetic tail switch, that gives full power, low power, and a strobe. And the battery life is reasonable at over two and a half hours on full, and five and half hours on low.
This night snorkeling light also comes with a wrist sheath for hands-free use.
Best for Photography and Video
If you love night snorkeling and taking pictures and videos, consider the OrcaTorch D530V, neutral white light (5500K warm white light). It has a very wide angle beam, at 120°, without any hotspots. At 1000 lumens, it is not super bright, so you will need to be fairly close to your subject.
It has two brightness levels, and a safe lock function.
It uses the commonly available 18650 lithium battery, with USB charging.
Group Night Snorkeling Colored Beacon Lights
If you have ever night snorkeled with a group of snorkelers, particularly when there is another group in the area, it can be very hard to figure out who your group is. You can easily swim off with the wrong people. That is why we think the OrcaTorch SD03 Beacon (on Amazon) is a brilliant product. This little light can work like a small backup light, or the body of it can light up in numerous different colors, or flash that color. So your entire group could each have one, and be on the same color. Or just your guide could have one, so you know you are following the right person.

Things to Know Before Buying a Night Snorkeling Light
So now let’s take a look at different things you should consider before buying your night snorkeling light.
How Bright and What Beam Angle?
The higher the lumen value of the night snorkeling light the brighter it is. But brighter is not always better when snorkeling, depending on the water conditions, the beam angle of your light, and if you are going to use it to take pictures and videos.
A narrow beam torch can have a lower lumen value and still appear very bright because it is not lighting up as much area. For a narrow beam light, (8-12°) 300 lumens is the minimum we suggest, and 500 or more is preferable.

For a wider beam light, (40-100°) 500 seems about the minimum we would use. 1000 lumens and brighter is better for wide beam lights, but they can actually be too bright when you are close to the reef. So you will often need to turn it down to a lower setting. Brighter lights also cost more and are generally bigger and weigh more in your luggage.
Night snorkeling lights come in different beam angles, that are measured in degrees. A spot light has a narrow tight beam, in the 8-20° range, that will shine farther in murky water, but will not illuminate your surroundings as much. A wide beam, in the 40-100° range, takes more power, shows more of your surroundings, but may not cut through murky water as far as a spot. How to decide?

Are You Going to Take Pictures and Videos? Go Wide Beam!
If you would like to get some pictures at night, that is a big consideration for what night snorkeling light to get. A very bright light, with a narrow beam, can easily be too bright in the center, or have rings of uneven light.
See the picture of the lobster? Notice the bright white spot that is so bright that you can’t see the details? In this case I had a narrow beam night snorkeling light that was very bright and I had to carefully shine it beside the lobster to be able to get any usable picture. If I had pointed it right at the lobster it would likely have been very overexposed. This is the problem with using a narrow beam spot light that is very bright for photography/video.
So if you want to use the light to take pictures, look for a wide beam light, preferably without rings and hot spots. For general wide angle photography closeups, 60° is pretty nice. But if you are shooting super wide angle GoPro type video, you may need over 100° to light up the entire scene without dark corners. The picture below was taken with a wide beam light. The background is not as bright, but the foreground does not have hot spots.

Actually, if you really want to do good night photography, you will need to get into using strobes or flashes, attached to your camera on long arms, to get them away from your lens. And for videos, you would need a couple of very wide angle lights. But that is beyond the scope of this page.
Not Doing Photography? Want to See Farther? Go Spot Beam! The problem with a wide beam night snorkeling light is that if the water is not super clear, it will reflect off all the particles, making it actually hard to see very far. So if you are not doing photography, a narrow spot beam can be better because it cuts through murky water, allowing you to see farther.
A wide beam is nice for showing more of your surroundings, which makes some people more comfortable.
Really, there are times when you need both, which is why we like lights that either have a zoom function or separate wide and spot lights built in. They can work for photography and illuminating more of the area when the water is clear. And they can be narrowed down into a spot beam for situations where you want to see farther.
Physical Size and Weight of Your Night Snorkeling Light
As snorkelers we like to keep the size and weight of our equipment down as much as possible. Having less to pack, less to haul onto the airplane, and less bulk to push through the water is important.
We recommend you try and keep your night snorkeling light small and lightweight, but make sure it still puts out enough lumens and the battery will last for at least two hours.
Important Tips
What Is Night Snorkeling Like? Is it scary? How do you do it safely? Read our Snorkeling at Night page, to get a sense for what to expect.
Rated for Diving – Lots of flashlights are waterproof but are not suitable for snorkeling. Make sure you get one that is rated for diving for your safety.
Bulb Type – Pretty much all the lights available now use energy efficient and bright LED bulbs. Cree is one popular manufacturer of bulbs, as is Seoul Semi Conductors. We would not get a snorkeling light that uses Halogen or Tungsten anymore.
Get a Wrist Lanyard – Most lights come with one, but make sure you have a wrist strap, because these night snorkeling lights don’t float.
Battery Types – Consider what type of batteries you want to use before you purchase your night snorkeling light. Some run off regular easily available batteries like C, AA, or AAA. Rechargeable lithium battery lights are really the best choice though. They give you the most power for the weight, and reduce battery waste.
Battery Length – A very bright night snorkeling light that is small may not even last a full hour at full power. That is too short for safety in our opinion. Try and get a light that will last at least 2-4 hours on one charge.
Backup Night Snorkeling Light? – Divers nearly always carry a small backup light, in case their main light dies. We don’t feel this is as important for a snorkeler, so long as you are snorkeling with someone else who has a good light. You are on the surface, and so the risks are lower.
Want to Use Your Snorkeling Light Above Water? Note that with few exceptions, the diving lights are designed to work underwater, and will overheat when used in the air. They use the water to cool.