Headed down to Florida on a family vacation two weeks ago with plans to do only one dive: in the "Living Seas" aquarium at EPCOT center while on a week long Disney vacation.
There's plenty of articles and write-ups on the specifics of the DiveQuest program at EPCOT, so I won't go into the details of the program but suffice to say it's pretty cool. They currently have three sand tiger sharks in the 7-8' range that you can swim right up to and along side as long and as close as you like. (No touching of course.)
I spent the bulk of the time cruising along side these guys (actually females I believe) and was amazed at their grace and the effortless way they move through the water. They tell you in the briefing that the only thing you need to be careful of is that the sand tigers simply will not get out of your way, and they don't care if you are in their way. I did find this to be true, and can assure you that unexpectedly feeling the turbulence of hundreds of pounds of muscle brushing right by you is a little freaky even in the completely "it's a small world" safe confines of a Disney aquarium.
The best part of the experience of course was that my wife and kids got to see me diving "live" for the first time ever, as your family can mingle about inside the observation area while you spend an hour doing the dive. (We had Park Hopper passes for the week, but neither you nor your family needs to pay to enter EPCOT if you just want to do the dive.)
My kids apparently became minor celebrities among the other folks visiting the aquarium when my 10yr old daughter spotted me as we entered the water and yelled to my son "Hey, there's daddy!" At this point everyone else in the gallery expressed absolute amazement:
"That's your DAD in there?"
"Scuba diving?"
"WITH SHARKS!"
A Disney videographer is on the dive with you and films you swimming up to the glass to interact with your family. My kids got a big kick out of giving me the standard "shark" hand signal and pointing behind me with completely over-the-top looks of mock horror on their faces.
At one point I created quite a stir among the gallery when I removed my reg to smile for a picture my wife was taking. Apparently there was a great deal of concern among the crowd that I would immediately drown. Everyone's nerves were calmed when I then swam right up to the glass to plant a smooch on my daughter who was doing the same on the other side.
My son's favorite moment was when an 8-foot sand tiger cruised right passed the window where he was standing, with me following, swimming about two feet off his caudal fin, reg out, and mouth open as if I was closing in to take a bite. (Unfortunately the pic my wife took of this didn't come out, but someone else in the crowd did, and is supposed to email us a copy.)
There's also a restaurant that faces into the aquarium and you are specifically encouraged to interact with the guests in there - in a "Disney apprpriate" fashion, of course. They remind you in the briefing that most people in the world have never seen a scuba diver in person and that you are quite literally a "cast member" in the show. Very cool to see all the kids come up to the glass and wave to you, families taking your picture, etc.
If you ever get to Disney and are jonesing for a dive, I recomend giving this one a try, especially if your family is with you.
There's plenty of articles and write-ups on the specifics of the DiveQuest program at EPCOT, so I won't go into the details of the program but suffice to say it's pretty cool. They currently have three sand tiger sharks in the 7-8' range that you can swim right up to and along side as long and as close as you like. (No touching of course.)
I spent the bulk of the time cruising along side these guys (actually females I believe) and was amazed at their grace and the effortless way they move through the water. They tell you in the briefing that the only thing you need to be careful of is that the sand tigers simply will not get out of your way, and they don't care if you are in their way. I did find this to be true, and can assure you that unexpectedly feeling the turbulence of hundreds of pounds of muscle brushing right by you is a little freaky even in the completely "it's a small world" safe confines of a Disney aquarium.
The best part of the experience of course was that my wife and kids got to see me diving "live" for the first time ever, as your family can mingle about inside the observation area while you spend an hour doing the dive. (We had Park Hopper passes for the week, but neither you nor your family needs to pay to enter EPCOT if you just want to do the dive.)
My kids apparently became minor celebrities among the other folks visiting the aquarium when my 10yr old daughter spotted me as we entered the water and yelled to my son "Hey, there's daddy!" At this point everyone else in the gallery expressed absolute amazement:
"That's your DAD in there?"
"Scuba diving?"
"WITH SHARKS!"
A Disney videographer is on the dive with you and films you swimming up to the glass to interact with your family. My kids got a big kick out of giving me the standard "shark" hand signal and pointing behind me with completely over-the-top looks of mock horror on their faces.
At one point I created quite a stir among the gallery when I removed my reg to smile for a picture my wife was taking. Apparently there was a great deal of concern among the crowd that I would immediately drown. Everyone's nerves were calmed when I then swam right up to the glass to plant a smooch on my daughter who was doing the same on the other side.
My son's favorite moment was when an 8-foot sand tiger cruised right passed the window where he was standing, with me following, swimming about two feet off his caudal fin, reg out, and mouth open as if I was closing in to take a bite. (Unfortunately the pic my wife took of this didn't come out, but someone else in the crowd did, and is supposed to email us a copy.)
There's also a restaurant that faces into the aquarium and you are specifically encouraged to interact with the guests in there - in a "Disney apprpriate" fashion, of course. They remind you in the briefing that most people in the world have never seen a scuba diver in person and that you are quite literally a "cast member" in the show. Very cool to see all the kids come up to the glass and wave to you, families taking your picture, etc.
If you ever get to Disney and are jonesing for a dive, I recomend giving this one a try, especially if your family is with you.
