Hi all,
My family just returned from a trip to SW and we had a great time. Before we went I looked everywhere for reports on the Sharks Deep Dive and some other behind the scenes tours and came up with very little info. So, I thought I would let you know what some of our experiences were like so you don't have to search so far :O) (here's our blog if you want to look at some pics... I'm still trying to upload video but have not been too successful! : http://thecupishalf-full.blogspot.com/)
Our son, 11, did the Sharks Deep Dive. It consists of 2 guests getting into a cage and going down about 10 feet into their huge shark tank to get very up close and personal with quite a few species of sharks. They do about 4 tours a day with 2 people in each dive.
We got there at 3:00 for a 4:00 dive (they tell you to arrive an hour early). A SW trainer is assigned to them and takes them behind the scenes where they talk to them and show them shark jaws, teeth, the tank, answer questions, etc. Then they get them suited up and put on a 70 pound helmet / bubble on their heads in which they are fed oxygen and can communicate between their dive partner and the trainer who stays above the tank. He told us that they asked questions to the trainer while they were down the whole time. In the water the helmet is about 6 pounds. The water is about 71 degrees they told our son, but he said it was freezing cold, even through the wet suit. He and the man he was in the tank with were shivering.
After they go down the cage slowly makes its way along the back of the tank pausing for several minutes here and there for them to look around. While he was down sharks circled their cage and seemed very curious, but not aggressive. The cage they were in was completely safe. Our son said the only thing they could have done was to have possibly stuck a finger out through one of the little openings, but he really wanted to come home with all of his fingers :O) The area of the cage where their faces were looked open to my husband and I and we were quite nervous as the sharks went right up to it. However, rest assured, when it was over he told us that there is Plexiglas in that area. Wheewww!
Anyway, the dive lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. The total tour was 2 solid hours and then we went to pick him up. Parents are not allowed behind the scenes. Divers only. When he came out he was on cloud nine! It was an awesome experience for him.
You can watch the divers from either the people mover tunnel in the Shark Encounter area or from the Underwater Grill. We chose to eat in the Underwater Grill while he dived so we would be really close and could get good pictures. They gave us a perfect seat right in the middle of the huge tank that takes up one whole wall of the restaurant. The service was s-l-o-w so by the time that my meal came I had to shove it in and run to the other side of the park to pick him up. They don't release them at the Shark Encounter because they have to go to a training area to shower and get out of the wetsuits.
Overall, great experience and I highly recommend it. We also did the Predators tour and the Polar expedition tour.
My family just returned from a trip to SW and we had a great time. Before we went I looked everywhere for reports on the Sharks Deep Dive and some other behind the scenes tours and came up with very little info. So, I thought I would let you know what some of our experiences were like so you don't have to search so far :O) (here's our blog if you want to look at some pics... I'm still trying to upload video but have not been too successful! : http://thecupishalf-full.blogspot.com/)
Our son, 11, did the Sharks Deep Dive. It consists of 2 guests getting into a cage and going down about 10 feet into their huge shark tank to get very up close and personal with quite a few species of sharks. They do about 4 tours a day with 2 people in each dive.
We got there at 3:00 for a 4:00 dive (they tell you to arrive an hour early). A SW trainer is assigned to them and takes them behind the scenes where they talk to them and show them shark jaws, teeth, the tank, answer questions, etc. Then they get them suited up and put on a 70 pound helmet / bubble on their heads in which they are fed oxygen and can communicate between their dive partner and the trainer who stays above the tank. He told us that they asked questions to the trainer while they were down the whole time. In the water the helmet is about 6 pounds. The water is about 71 degrees they told our son, but he said it was freezing cold, even through the wet suit. He and the man he was in the tank with were shivering.
After they go down the cage slowly makes its way along the back of the tank pausing for several minutes here and there for them to look around. While he was down sharks circled their cage and seemed very curious, but not aggressive. The cage they were in was completely safe. Our son said the only thing they could have done was to have possibly stuck a finger out through one of the little openings, but he really wanted to come home with all of his fingers :O) The area of the cage where their faces were looked open to my husband and I and we were quite nervous as the sharks went right up to it. However, rest assured, when it was over he told us that there is Plexiglas in that area. Wheewww!
Anyway, the dive lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. The total tour was 2 solid hours and then we went to pick him up. Parents are not allowed behind the scenes. Divers only. When he came out he was on cloud nine! It was an awesome experience for him.
You can watch the divers from either the people mover tunnel in the Shark Encounter area or from the Underwater Grill. We chose to eat in the Underwater Grill while he dived so we would be really close and could get good pictures. They gave us a perfect seat right in the middle of the huge tank that takes up one whole wall of the restaurant. The service was s-l-o-w so by the time that my meal came I had to shove it in and run to the other side of the park to pick him up. They don't release them at the Shark Encounter because they have to go to a training area to shower and get out of the wetsuits.
Overall, great experience and I highly recommend it. We also did the Predators tour and the Polar expedition tour.
im so excited myself and my df are going in august to do it!!im so scared but its one of those things you just have to do!i dont tink ill ever get a chance again!
