Georgia Aquarium dive, worth it?

[3D diver]

Back in the 80's, I dove in the shark cage at the old Marineland in Palos Verdes CA. It was fun being able to reach out and touch the sharks...but you don't really see anything different than the folks looking in the windows.

I'd do it again...but it was torn down ages ago...

Also, they only charged $25 for 25 minutes...

 

[DMDavid]

Back in the 80's, I dove in the shark cage at the old Marineland in Palos Verdes CA.

Interesting, I wonder if the Marineland in Palos Verdes was owned by the Marineland in St Augustine or visa versa. I dove at Marineland in St Augustine years ago and it was a unique dive but nothing to write home about.

 

[3D diver]

Looks like the similar names were deliberate, but it's not clear they were otherwise related (based on a small amount of googling):

Marineland of the Pacific | park, California, United States

Marineland of Florida - Wikipedia

Marineland of the Pacific - Wikipedia

I grew up in the LA area & spent a lot of time at Marineland.

When you consider that everything else is about 10X more expensive now, $300 to dive in the aquarium doesn't sound so bad...

 

[ReefGuy]

Not to go off topic or anything because the aquarium is something that I have been interested in doing for quit some time I just think the price point of $325 is a little steep.

But if you are interested in Hammerheads, Tigers, Bulls and many more sharks up close you should venture down to Jupiter, FL. We see them all on the regular here for only the cost of a dive trip which is awesome. I'm a big shark fan so I very much enjoy Jupiter. (much less than 2,000 haha)

old post

 

[3D diver]

D'oh! Didn't notice that, LOL.

 

[Steve_C]

$300 is 2 trips to Mexico where they swim free.

Not from Atlanta.

 

[krukster86]

Well I am on a field assignment for work for a year in Augusta, and Atlanta is just 2 hours away. Booked an aquarium dive for late August. I figure its a bucket list type dive and I am willing to spend the $330 to do it (thank you per diem living allowance!).

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well I am on a field assignment for work for a year in Augusta, and Atlanta is just 2 hours away. Booked an aquarium dive for late August. I figure its a bucket list type dive and I am willing to spend the $330 to do it (thank you per diem living allowance!).

Per diem? For having to spend a year in Augusta, they ought to give you hardship pay.

 

[krukster86]

Per diem? For having to spend a year in Augusta, they ought to give you hardship pay.

Augusta isn't that bad...oh wait...yeah it kinda is...

 

[krukster86]

So I just got back from the experience, and honestly I have mixed feelings. It was really freakin' cool to "enable a cheat code" to see wildlife that I would not be able to see together in one place up close. Seeing whale sharks right in front of you, mantas doing loops around you, and the giant groupers "barking" so loud that you feel the vibrations in your chest was awesome. However, the dive was short, and it kinda felt "discover scuba"-ish. The dive itself was about 30 minutes in total. We spent a lot of time kneeling down in the sand at different points during the dive and being silly for the camera/crowd behind the glass. Actual time spent swimming around with the wildlife seemed really short, and honestly felt like more time was spent for getting good shots for the video to sell to the participants. That being said, I totally understand why the dive is structured this way: to protect the well being of the animals in the exhibit.