Dive Quest at Living Seas

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » May Thu 11, 2006 12:54 pm

Anyone done this in the past? Looks like it might be something fun and memorable to do - I'd love to hear anyone's experiences.

FlatlandMounty · Post by **FlatlandMounty** » May Thu 11, 2006 1:48 pm

hey, I think you have to be scuba certified to do it. Is that true? If so can you get certified there? If not, does anyone know a place near Orlando that you can get certified?I really want to do this.

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » May Thu 11, 2006 2:09 pm

You do have to be certified.

SeasDiver · Post by **SeasDiver** » May Thu 11, 2006 3:21 pm

Steve,

First, a disclaimer: I am biased towards the program as I used to work for it. I did it most recently in January with my recently certified wife and sister. They loved it

The EPCOT DiveQuest program allows guests, who are certified divers, to dive the Living Seas aquarium in the evening. The program itself lasts approximately 3 hours, with 30-40 minutes being spent in the water. There are a number of differences between EPCOT DiveQuest and your typical scuba dive.
1) Disney does everything for you. They set up and break down all the gear, help you into it, etc... (Note: the only personal gear you are allowed to bring is your own mask).
2) The dive allows you to observe 2000-3000 fish in a single dive.
3) Hot showers and hot chocolate immediately following the dive (or coffee or soda).
4) Interaction with people. The ability to interact with people (especially non-diving family members) is unique to being in an aquarium that has huge windows. Many people say that the interaction is the best part. I loved working there and taking signs down to the windows that said things like "In Case of Fire, Break Glass". Or getting the wave started across the Coral Reef Resteraunt. Or doing the macarena with people through the windows. Or playing Rock, Papers, Scissors. Or the list goes on...
5) All proceeds raised beyond operating expenses go to the Disney Wildlife Conservation fund and are earmarked for marine conservation. Disney does not make a profit on this program.

Also, more recently Disney has added the EPCOT AquaSeas tour which uses Scuba-Assisted Snorkel units. For AquaSeas you do not need to be a certified SCUBA diver.

Regards,
Aaron

FlatlandMounty · Post by **FlatlandMounty** » May Thu 11, 2006 3:36 pm

Great. But where can you go to get certified in the Orlando area? Can you do it there?

SeasDiver · Post by **SeasDiver** » May Thu 11, 2006 4:48 pm

There are quite a few dive shops in the Orlando area. Try the yellow pages. Here is a serach for you:
http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/yellowpag ... tid=157822

Typical dive certification takes at least 4 days. Many shops will offer the classes as either 4-5 nights (class + pool) plus 1 weekend (lake/ocean) or two weekends (1 class+pool and 1 lake/ocean). Some shops/instructors will be willing to setup a custom schedule for you (extra fee usually applies).

Other alternatives include doing referral dives. With a referral dive, you will do your class/pool at one shop (say in Chicago for example) and your check-out dives someplace else (say nice and warm in Florida). In this scenario you are doing work with two different shops so it tends to be a little more pricey. Also, you want to make sure that both shops are from the same certifiying agency so that they can accept the transfer paperwork. There are a number of certifiying agencies including, but not limited to PADI, NAUI, SSI, and YMCA.

Regards,
Aaron

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » May Thu 11, 2006 4:57 pm

Aaron, you totally have me fired up for this! I need to get my wife certified before we go down next, but I'm very excited. Thank you very much for your input!!

Post by **rdeacon** » May Fri 12, 2006 10:29 am

I did it a few years back... it was an awesome experience.

It's cool diving in the tank and waving to everyone. I got a cool video on my dive as well.

I would highly recommend it to anyone that is a vertified diver.

Rich

Sarah Turp · Post by **Sarah Turp** » May Fri 12, 2006 11:23 am

Oh I need to go back to Florida!!!
I got my Padi Dive qualification in January, but I havn't even started planning my next trip back to Disney as i need to save up. This dive idea sounds amazing.
Why do I have to be a skint student!?!

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Tue 16, 2006 12:04 am

Did it myself and I recommend it. Note that if it's really cold outside, the water will be really cold inside. It was friggin' freezing when I did it, but it was still a lot of fun.

Is the giant jewfish still there? What was his name...Orson?

SeasDiver · Post by **SeasDiver** » May Tue 16, 2006 6:26 am

The tank temperature is maintained at 77 degrees F year-round (plus or minus a degree or two). It just feels colder when the outside air temperature is cold.

Orson died several years ago. They still have some of the smaller jewfish.

Regards,
Aaron

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » May Tue 16, 2006 1:38 pm

I didn't know what a jewfish was, so I did a google image search. My conclusion: You guys are brave, I wouldn't wanna be swimming with anything like that!

Or maybe I'm just a chicken

SeasDiver · Post by **SeasDiver** » May Tue 16, 2006 5:10 pm

Actually, while I was there (and probably still today), the smallest fish in the main environment was easily the most aggressive. When they bit you, it felt like someone had tapped you so it was not too much of a problem.

Regards,
Aaron

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Wed 17, 2006 3:56 pm

SeasDiver wrote:The tank temperature is maintained at 77 degrees F year-round (plus or minus a degree or two).

I went on one of the coldest days in recent history and even the employees were commenting on the temperature. Maybe they were just trying to make us feel better about the water, but it didn't look like they were giving us schtick. It wouldn't surprise me if the equipment was designed with more emphasis on keeping the water cool than heating it up.

They could have been yanking our chains, I guess, but it seemed to be the talk of the day.

Sorry to hear about Orson. Don't jewfish typically have very long lives? Are there still problems with parasites on the fish? I'd been told that the lack of actual sunlight was a problem they hadn't foreseen.

How are the sharks and dolphins doing? There were 3 largish brown sharks when I there some time ago. Don't remember how many dolphins.

Also I got a video and a quite nice shirt. Don't remember if I paid extra for them, but if so they were worth the money and of good quality.

disneydreamer58 · Post by **disneydreamer58** » May Wed 17, 2006 4:21 pm

I've been biten (stung) by a jelly fish before and I wasn't even swimming! One had just washed up on the beach and my friend decided to toss it at me because he knows I am afraid of them, it hit me in the belly (I had my bikini on, so it was exposed) and man oh man I thought I was gonna die!!! I wish it would've gotten his hand, but NOOOOO it saved what it had left for me. The lifequard came over told me to rub sand on it, I thought he was insane, I was like DUDE I am dieing here, give me a shot of RUM and some MORPHENE or SOMETHING

It was kinda dramatic on my end, I think I was secretly thinking I was in a Baywatch scene or something...ha ha ha I admit it I am a whimp and I didn't end up sick from it, probably cause it has washed up on the beach and wasn't at its strongest. Thank goodness