WDW Epcot Living Seas DiveQuest

[Pandie]

When I signed up, I mentioned PADI and I saved about $20 off the $140 price right away. $20 bucks in WDW? Wow, now I can buy a coke and fries.

I didn't say it was a GREAT discount. Though, the annual pass knocks I think an extra $10 off. So you can buy that DiveQuest pin

 

[FSUgly]

I just did DiveQuest at the end of May. It was a really nice dive + no long car ride, 203' vis, no current, no gear clean up and hot showers afterwards. As far as the new sharks go, they are still in quarantine, and within the next few months (how many was not specified) they are to be introduced into the tank. It sounded as though it would be soon though.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Okay, I'll bite. Several folks have mentioned the 203' viz. Where does that figure come from? We can't usually agree whether viz is 20 or 25 feet around here!

 

[Damselfish]

203'=diameter of the tank

 

[GrierHPharmD]

203'=diameter of the tank

Thanks. I figured as much. It's just one of those questions that pops up when you're not thinking about anything else. During a dive, working, you know how it is...

 

[maggs_the]

If I can time it correctly, my friend will be there with her family and can take pictures of us

it was great to have my family on the outside of the tank. as soon as they brought us in and we went under, we filed through a coral opening that got us in a line so that the video guy could get us one by one. right there, on the other side of the glass was my family waving their hearts out. after that, they got squeezed out by all of the other excited kids! ha! maybe one of the best places to ensure a seat next to the glass is at the Coral Reef restuarant?

Also, just to be clear, if you plan to go to Epcot BEFORE the dive, you will have to pay full price admission to the park. Once our dive was over and we were showered and cleaned up, they brought us to the gift shop inside the Living Seas to purchase our copy of the video (and where I purchased my Scuba Mickey) and left us to do what we wanted.

One thing I forgot to mention about MY dive, before the dive we were talking amongst ourselves and three of the guys there were actually participating for their 2nd and 3rd times. They told me that since the animals in the tank were very accustomed to human interaction, the sharks did not necessarily shy away. They said if one of the sharks was swimming toward me and I got a little too unnerved, just go vertical (versus horizantal obviously) and the shark would turn around and swim away. Sure enough, I got the opportunity to test that out. I tried to be brave, but it was doing that whole shark swimming at me thing, so I "stood up." and it slowed down and turned away. Even knowing they'd feed the sharks just before we came in, well... thank god for pre-dive chatter.

 

[MB104]

I finally did this dive. It was awsome! Just like the posts said, viz was a nice 203' and no current. The staff was very professional and friendly. The equipment provided was perfectly adequate for this dive. Nothing fancy, but not junk. I originally planned for the 4:30 dive, but changed it to the later dive after reading a post here on SB letting me know that I may get a few extra minutes bottom time with the later dive. There were supposed to be only 6 divers, but there were 13! A few missed the earlier dive and were allowed to do the later dive.

We were met promptly at 5:30 and taken to the back of the aquarium for a quick tour. We then went inside and had a brief overview of what to expect and of course, the standard forms needed to be filled out. They issued us shorty wetsuits and booties and then we went topside, above the general admission area, to where we enter the water. The DM's lined us up and assisted us gearing up if needed. Once we were all ready, we simply stepped off the ledge into the tank. We did a 10 minute "follow the leader (DM)" tour and then went off in our buddy teams to explore. My family was in the observation area and a DM videotaped us with me in front of them. Then I had a chance to mess with the diners in the restaurant. This was fun. Everyone was taking our pictures and videotaping us.

There were only 3 sharks in the tank and they were all small. The staff said there are several more sharks, but they are still in the isolation tank, being "trained" to be with divers. They said there was a 400 pound turtle which I didn't see. There were eagle rays, sting rays, a HUGE grouper and more fish than you would normally see on a reef dive. The bottom is covered with three feet of broken shells, so you can't silt up the bottom.

Total bottom time was 40 minutes. I would definately do this again. I recommend anyone doing this dive to call ahead and make your reservation ASAP.

 

[cra2]

As far as the new sharks go, they are still in quarantine, and within the next few months (how many was not specified) they are to be introduced into the tank. It sounded as though it would be soon though.

Does anyone have a source on the "inside" who can let us know WHEN the new sharks will be in? We have a flexible schedule and I don't wanna finally dive there only to find out they put the sharks in the very next day. :/

 

[LAWDIVER]

My wife and I have done this dive twice and I will be in Orlando next week for a training conference and signed up again (3rd time). My wife is mad because she can't come with me. I will check on the shark thing and let you know when I get back.

 

[LAWDIVER]

They only have one new shark in the exhibit at this time. It is a small silky shark. According to our dive master, the others are still to skitish to release into the exhibit at this time. However, they hope to have them in by the end of August