Does anyone remember this??

[ChrisinNJ]

In my childhood I went somewhere with my Mom. It was a pick a pearl type of location, but there were divers in a tank diving to pick the oyster for you. You could stand at a wooden deck and watch them dive.

I could swear it was in FL, I thought Disney (maybe EPCOT). Possibly Sea World??? I asked my cousin from Tampa if she remembers it but she doesn't. My mom passed away, so I can ask her. I asked my Dad (before he passed) but he had no idea, and I honestly don't remember him being with us.

My Mom and I did a Disney trip when I was around 15 (1980s).

Does this experience ring a bell with anyone else on the board??

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scurvy]

There is something like that now at Sea World. I don't know how long it has been there but when we saw it my husband was pretty sure he remembered getting his mom a pearl there when he was little so I think it has been there quite a while.


ETA- I'm referring to Sea World Orlando, and it was there as of last month. It is not Japanese themed and there are both men and women divers but otherwise it sounds pretty much the same as everyone is describing.

 

[castmemberb4]

I feel like I remember something like that at Sea World, It would have been in the 70s when I was there. I remember a whole Japanese area because I bought a paper umbrella that hung in the corner of my room until I moved out.
What I'm picturing is a not too deep tank and the divers were free divers, not the kind with scuba gear.

 

[Handbag Lady]

In my childhood I went somewhere with my Mom. It was a pick a pearl type of location, but there were divers in a tank diving to pick the oyster for you. You could stand at a wooden deck and watch them dive.

I could swear it was in FL, I thought Disney (maybe EPCOT). Possibly Sea World??? I asked my cousin from Tampa if she remembers it but she doesn't. My mom passed away, so I can ask her. I asked my Dad (before he passed) but he had no idea, and I honestly don't remember him being with us.

My Mom and I did a Disney trip when I was around 15 (1980s).

Does this experience ring a bell with anyone else on the board??

Thanks in advance.

Well, yes, but it was on the other Coast. SeaWorld San Diego had this exact set-up as you describe. They had lovely ladies who were divers and would dive for oysters for you. Inside, was a pearl. The jewelry shop was right there, and they would open the oyster for you and you could either take the pearl as is, or, have it set in something.

I only remember because this was my first time getting a real pearl (although cultured). I also have a huge collection of pearls in my jewelry case now. I have high-end, and a lot of the pick-your-pearl stuff that I adore.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I feel like I remember something like that at Sea World, It would have been in the 70s when I was there. I remember a whole Japanese area because I bought a paper umbrella that hung in the corner of my room until I moved out.
What I'm picturing is a not too deep tank and the divers were free divers, not the kind with scuba gear.

That is what I remember too! No scuba gear, and a Japanese themed area (which is why my brain connected it with Japan in EPCOT). After that trip in the 80's with my mom, I never went back until 2006 with my own kids. We still haven't been to Sea World since.

 

[XYSRUS]

We had that at Sea World in Ohio when it was open. Beautiful ladies would dive wearing these white gown/robes into a relatively deep open water for an oyster. It was great. Very peaceful and entertaining. Loved it. Miss it.

 

[FireDancer]

I'm also thinking Sea World. When Sea World Ohio was opened they had that exact setup.

 

[Janepod]

Sea World had it ... I would say around 1975-1976, maybe later. I remember it well. (As well as the touch tanks with the HUGE starfish!)

 

[Christine]

I feel like I remember something like that at Sea World, It would have been in the 70s when I was there. I remember a whole Japanese area because I bought a paper umbrella that hung in the corner of my room until I moved out.
What I'm picturing is a not too deep tank and the divers were free divers, not the kind with scuba gear.

Yep I did this too in 1976 and have films of it. I believe it was Sea World.

 

[mrsklamc]

Sea World Orlando had it in 2007.

 

[Coconut36]

I remember a California version (I am going to go with the Sea World consensus because I can't remember if it was Disneyland or Sea World..we always went to both so they could easily blur together after all these years). I remember it from my childhood in the 1980s. When I went back to Disneyland/Sea World in the early 90's (1993) it was no longer there IIRC.

 

[brockash]

They used to have this at Sea World. It would have been mid-late 90's when I did it- it was at the Ohio Sea World then, back when they had one there.

 

[bgirldeb]

We had that at Sea World in Ohio when it was open. Beautiful ladies would dive wearing these white gown/robes into a relatively deep open water for an oyster. It was great. Very peaceful and entertaining. Loved it. Miss it.

I'm also thinking Sea World. When Sea World Ohio was opened they had that exact setup.

Yes, Sea World in Ohio had this. We had season passes when I was a kid.

 

[MrsDuck]

Sea World is what you're thinking of, I presume. Last time I was there {a couple of years ago} they still had it!

 

[Laura24]

Orlando had this attraction. It was early '70's. I recall the free divers bringing up the oysters and you chose your oyster. It would be shucked and the pearl exposed. You could then go into the gift store and purchase a ring or necklace setting. The jewelry piece was then gift boxed in a blue and white shell shaped box. I still have my ring in it's original shell box.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

did you ever go to Weeki Wachi? I am remembering this there as well, but I am not sure how it fits the time frame.....it may from years earlier.....( I am old, LOL!)

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I went to sea world a lot in the 90s was it there then

 

[tinatark]

I think that was at Marineland (near St. Augustine) a long time ago.

 

[SandrA9810]

did you ever go to Weeki Wachi? I am remembering this there as well, but I am not sure how it fits the time frame.....it may from years earlier.....( I am old, LOL!)

I went there as a kid as well, a long long time ago. Cypress Gardens may have had one as well (but I don't know this for a fact).

There are a few places inside disney that you can get them, but none of them are dive tanks. In the Japanese pavillion, it's a long water tank that sits on the counter. You can pick it out yourself, and they open it. Every where I've been, they all have their little ceremony/presentation with opening an oyster.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

did you ever go to Weeki Wachi? I am remembering this there as well, but I am not sure how it fits the time frame.....it may from years earlier.....( I am old, LOL!)

No, I never heard of Weeki Wachi.

I went there as a kid as well, a long long time ago. Cypress Gardens may have had one as well (but I don't know this for a fact).

There are a few places inside disney that you can get them, but none of them are dive tanks. In the Japanese pavillion, it's a long water tank that sits on the counter. You can pick it out yourself, and they open it. Every where I've been, they all have their little ceremony/presentation with opening an oyster.

I have done it in Japan with my daughters. The first time I went with my kids (2006) I was expecting to see the dive tank in Japan. When it wasn't there it bugged me that I remembered it, but wasn't sure where it was, or if it had been removed or what.