shakeybrainsurgeon
Contributor
Anyone looking for the World's Easiest Dive, consider diving The Living Seas in Walt Disney World. Located in Epcot, The Living Seas is an aquarium 200 feet by 200ft by 35 feet deep, with viz of 200 feet! The Epcot sphere could not hold all the water in that tank.
The Living Seas dive doesn't require park admission, so anyone in the Orlando area can go without paying park admission, but the dive costs about 120 dollars per person for a 50 minute one tank dive (an extra 20 dollars for a video of the experience). The money all goes to a wildlife conservation fund, not Disney.
All you are allowed to bring is a watch, a swimsuit and a precription dive mask. They use scubapro classic bcs.
Divemasters meet you outside the park and size you up for a shorty wet suit, boots and weighting, take your C cards and lead you on a tour of the aquarium. You watch a short video, then go to a locker room where your wet suit is laid out with your name on it. You change, and then (gag) they parade you through the throngs of people in the exhibit with the announcement "here are today's divers" to a round of applause--- the aquarium is lined with windows for the paying customers to watch the fish and divers. The divers are a big deal to the spectators, particularly the children, and it's a blast to be part of the show.
Once at the top of the aquarium, the group (about 12 divers each session) sits in the water on a bench and divemasters put on your bcs, all very relaxed and typical Disney perfect, and everyone floats to the center and submerges. The divemaster takes everyone as a group on a quick tour of the aquarium and then turns you loose. Although they like you to buddy up, they aren't strict about it, since they have divemasters stationed around the tank and viz is perfect. Moreover, no one has an extra regulator to give a buddy anyway (your spare air is over your head, says the divemaster).
The tank is filled with fish, rays, a big turtle and many large (very) sharks which are fed daily and said to pose no threat, although one of the divemasters carries a large prod, which I guess to to ward the sharks away. Family members can congregate at the windows and its fun to interact with the crowd.
The dive is as easy as it gets (ocean-like conditions without seasickness or the hassle of a shore entry), massive visibility, great marine life and a chance to show non-diving family members what you do and why you love it so much.
I've gone multiple times, with divers ranging from newly certified to master instructors and no one has had anything bad to say about the experience. If anyone is going to Walt Disney World, check it out but book early. They only take 24 divers a day and slots fill quickly, although I think a large group can charter an extra slot after the main two sessions have finished. It's expensive as far as one-tank dive go, but hey, if you are at Disney you are prepared to hemorrhage cash anyway. It beats It's a Small World for the umpteenth time...
The Living Seas dive doesn't require park admission, so anyone in the Orlando area can go without paying park admission, but the dive costs about 120 dollars per person for a 50 minute one tank dive (an extra 20 dollars for a video of the experience). The money all goes to a wildlife conservation fund, not Disney.
All you are allowed to bring is a watch, a swimsuit and a precription dive mask. They use scubapro classic bcs.
Divemasters meet you outside the park and size you up for a shorty wet suit, boots and weighting, take your C cards and lead you on a tour of the aquarium. You watch a short video, then go to a locker room where your wet suit is laid out with your name on it. You change, and then (gag) they parade you through the throngs of people in the exhibit with the announcement "here are today's divers" to a round of applause--- the aquarium is lined with windows for the paying customers to watch the fish and divers. The divers are a big deal to the spectators, particularly the children, and it's a blast to be part of the show.
Once at the top of the aquarium, the group (about 12 divers each session) sits in the water on a bench and divemasters put on your bcs, all very relaxed and typical Disney perfect, and everyone floats to the center and submerges. The divemaster takes everyone as a group on a quick tour of the aquarium and then turns you loose. Although they like you to buddy up, they aren't strict about it, since they have divemasters stationed around the tank and viz is perfect. Moreover, no one has an extra regulator to give a buddy anyway (your spare air is over your head, says the divemaster).
The tank is filled with fish, rays, a big turtle and many large (very) sharks which are fed daily and said to pose no threat, although one of the divemasters carries a large prod, which I guess to to ward the sharks away. Family members can congregate at the windows and its fun to interact with the crowd.
The dive is as easy as it gets (ocean-like conditions without seasickness or the hassle of a shore entry), massive visibility, great marine life and a chance to show non-diving family members what you do and why you love it so much.
I've gone multiple times, with divers ranging from newly certified to master instructors and no one has had anything bad to say about the experience. If anyone is going to Walt Disney World, check it out but book early. They only take 24 divers a day and slots fill quickly, although I think a large group can charter an extra slot after the main two sessions have finished. It's expensive as far as one-tank dive go, but hey, if you are at Disney you are prepared to hemorrhage cash anyway. It beats It's a Small World for the umpteenth time...
