The Easiest Dive in the World

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

to miketsp

from the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, an article by R. J. Davies-Colley. vol 29 p251 1995

visibility of optically pure waters of Pupu springs was said to be 63 meters (over 190 feet), which the authors state was "near the theoretical limit" of visibility in pure water. To be fair, I have only the abstract of this article and it is unclear what wavelength of light they were using (visible or UV). I also found a website quoting a maximum viz of arctic seawater as 200 feet (the article was debunking a photo of an iceberg as being impossible clear and thus fake), but no reference is given.

The EPCOT tank is 200 feet across and I swear I could see from one end to the other, but I may be wrong. They do quote a viz of 200. Moreover, they note that the water is ultrapure, not typical seawater. The filters daily clean the equivalent of orlando's total water consumption during the same time period. The system is so efficient that 98% of the water is the same water put in the tank decades ago...

Can anyone resolve this issue? What is the theoretical limit of human viz in ultrapure water?

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
The EPCOT tank is 200 feet across and I swear I could see from one end to the other, but I may be wrong. They do quote a viz of 200. Moreover, they note that the water is ultrapure, not typical seawater. The filters daily clean the equivalent of orlando's total water consumption during the same time period. The system is so efficient that 98% of the water is the same water put in the tank decades ago...

Can anyone resolve this issue? What is the theoretical limit of human viz in ultrapure water?

Well I stand corrected. I'd seen some articles that put the limit lower but after seeing your comments and researching a little more I found some data that puts the limits higher.
Theoretical Maximum Secchi Depth

If you could lower a Secchi disk into absolutely pure water, the theoretical maximum value would be between 70-80 meters (230-262 ft).

Deepest Recorded Secchi Depth
80 meters on October 13, 1986 in the Weddell Sea, near Antarctica (W.W.C. Gieskes, C. Veth, A. Woehr-mann, and M.Graefe, EOS, 1987). Citation courtesy of Hendrik Buiteveld

"about 70 meters:" is reported in the Sargasso Sea, using a 1.2 m disk. Mahon Kelly, (Personal Communication)

66 meters (217 feet) in the Sargasso Sea (Taber and Dubach, 1972)

53 m (174 ft) in the eastern Mediterranean (Berman et al. (1985)

44 m (144 ft) was obtained in Crater Lake, Oregon, using a 1 m diameter disk. Larson (1972) At the same time, Doug recorded 39 meters (128 ft) with a 20 cm disk.

Smallest Secchi Depth
1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 in) in Spirit Lake, Washington, after the eruption of Mt. St Helens (Doug Larson, Personal Communication). The water of the lake was colored black by the decaying trees in the lake.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Of course, I trusted what Disney told me, which could have been a mistake. After all, the place has people dressed up as giant rodents running around!

 

[DeputyDan]

I have done this dive - there is a trip report somewhere.

You can see all the way across the tank.

The sharks are sand tigers - all teeth no attack.

Its a one time fun thing to do and put in the ole log book. Wouldn't care to do it again.

 

[Maule]

How does one go about booking this?

 

[SubMariner]

I've done the dive about 3 times: the first was Pearce & I and then it was with various visiting family members. One was a New Years Eve dive...

The critters are great, especially the large goliath groupers & a huge turtle. But the most INTERESING creatures are the ones on the OTHER side of the glass. Nothing like asking for a handout at the restaurant (hey, can I have a bite of that steak?) or playing with the kids (they LOVE when you hang upside down or blow bubbles at them).

It's fun, but a little expensive: about $125 pp. If memory serves, FL residents & PADI members get discounts.

And, while interesting, the video is a bit of a rip because they have maybe 5 minutes out of the whole thing that is actually YOUR dive. The rest is stock stuff.

 

[Dayo Scuba]

To book the dive all you have to do is call the 800 number for Disney reservations. It is a nice dive. I like floating above the resturant removing my reg and mask and then float down in front of the windows in a dead man float.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

You have to do it by phone, they don't take reservations on-line. The program is called Disney Dive Quest and can be booked by calling 407 WDW TOUR (939 8687)

 

[ccso434]

I did this dive a couple of weeks back and it was great. Lots of kids looking at you with big eyes and big smiles. I will go back again and bring some buddies as this is the only place you can see all the sealife you see here in the same location. The 9 foot Tiger Shark, WOW, what a set of teeth.

 

[Berdman]

There is an ad in scuba training for Disney world resorts. NAUI, is the official dive-training agency for all resorts. http://www.nauiww.org/.

This says they are going to host Divequest at epcots living seas attraction during a national trade show in November.