Helmet dive

[mudd]

Booked for the helmet dive at Grand Cayman. Worried about being able to handle the weight of the helmet. Anyone done this excursion before, any thoughts and/or opinions. In my 50's and not in shape. Thanks for all information.

 

[mudd]

Plus I was wondering what kind of footwear needs to be worn. Husband doesn't have water shoes but willing to wear Tera Sandler or tennis shoes. Tanks again.

 

[Rob1872]

My 13 year old and I did a helmet dive on our last Fantasy cruise. There is no problem with the helmet. It has a large handle on the top; you start going into the water and as you get in they place the helmet on you. They keep holding on to it until you are under, at which point there is no significant weight to the helmet. (Plus, the "helmet" actually rests on your shoulders.) As you start to climb out, they again grab the helmet and pull it off you as you exit.

My son and I wore aqua-shoes that we brought with us; I don't remember if they had footwear for loan/purchase if you didn't have your own. You should be fine if you wear an old pair of tennis shoes.

 

[GPaLarry]

As mentioned above, the helmets become nearly weightless underwater, but help keep you down there. You go down a ladder and, at least where we were, you walk on sand along a roped path. Partway through, one of the leaders feeds some fish for fun photo ops. After looking at a couple of rocks or landmarks (natural??), up the ladder you go and a hook lifts your helmet off and you survive. It was fun for us with our son and his family. I like to snorkel, so this was a unique experience...while under I kept looking for Captain Nemo and the Nautilus.

 

[CM Dad]

In my 50's and not in shape.

Depends on what you mean about "not in shape". Have you looked at the Participant Record and Liability Release? https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...-Participant-Record-and-Liability-Release.pdf
My wife and I had signed up for this excursion and got a copy of this form in our room. I hadn't noticed that when we booked. I am taking medicine for high blood pressure so according to the form I needed to be cleared by a physician. I talked to the Port Excursions CM, and they said I could go the ship infirmary and the doctor might be able to provide a release. Since we cruise fairly often, and I wasn't comfortable the having some doctor I have never seen, with no knowledge of my medical history, providing the release I decided we would cancel. Even though this was done on the cruise and not at least 3 days before embarkation they did refund the cost. Not sure that that were required to do that.

I'll look more closely at restriction like this in the future, and discuss with my own physician to get her recommendation/release.

NOTE: There are different restrictions for the helmet dive at different ports. I looked on the DCL site for different ports, and there was one that didn't have the restriction about high blood pressure so I could go there, but there was another medical reason that ruled out my wife.

 

[misbwb]

My wife and I are in our 50's and we did this excursion in Feb 2016. It was so amazing. I remember we went down barefoot. Did not notice the weight of the helmet. I was able to video the whole thing and they were able to take out picture with our camera. I think we went down 28ft and were down there for 30 minutes. I would recommend this excursion.