Did you know that you can go scuba diving at Walt Disney World? More specifically, you can go scuba diving at the aquarium at EPCOT! Back in January, DWF headed down to WDW and once I found out that scuba diving was on the table I was totally in.
The diving excursion is called DiveQuest and I first heard about it from one of my Divemaster friends. A guy who is a Disney FANatic! I mean the guy goes down to WDW in Florida once (or more) every single year.
Note: Admission to EPCOT is not required to participate in DiveQuest, but it is required if you want to watch the divers from inside the viewing areas of the aquarium.
A little about the aquarium…
The EPCOT aquarium (referred to as SeaBase) is a 5.7 million gallon seawater enclosure. That makes it the 2nd largest saltwater tank in the United States (behind the Georgia Aquarium) and the 8th largest in the world. The main tank is 200-ish feet in diameter and about 27 feet deep.
If you’re a visitor and not a diver you can view the marine life (and divers, of course) through the 8-inch thick windows under the water. There are a couple of levels from which to view the action, including the Coral Reef restaurant.
For a Disney activity I found the cost of DiveQuest (DQ) at about $249 per person (what we paid in January, 2024) to be downright reasonable. NOTE: I’m not selling anything, just my perspective.
They run a couple of these experiences a day, we (DWF, and munchkin #2) joined the second of the day. The entire DQ runs about 2 hours, with 40 minutes or so being under the water.
We met outside of Epcot near the Guest Relations area about 15 minutes before start time, made some idle chit-chat with other participants (some people do this every single year), showed our C-Cards, and prepared to go backstage. That gate opened and we we began our journey.
I gotta admit, it was a little weird to be backstage. Admittedly, this is an area the vast majority of Disney-goers never get to see; apart from that fleeting glimpse you might see when a cast member is opening a door on their way in or out of the visitor areas of the parks. But we got to walk around, see the pipes, the cars, and just some of the nuts and bolts that make EPCOT run.
We were taken on a tour of the aquarium and supporting buildings. We got to see some of the areas where food is prepared, some of the information on the boards about the research and supporting activities to keep the aquarium residents healthy and happy. We even got to see some of the isolation tanks or vivariums (I believe that’s the correct term) that may be needed when caring for an injured or sick animal. It was pretty interesting stuff.
Then it was time to get ready for our dive. You may notice that this article doesn’t have any underwater photos from this dive. Well that is because we weren’t allowed to bring a camera (but we did get a couple of photos included with the package). In fact, the only thing we could have brought with us was a mask. Everything else was supplied. This makes a ton of sense as it would be basically impossible to ensure that divers’ gear was clean and completely free of any potential pathogens picked up diving someplace else.
We were supplied with a mask, (no snorkel), fins, boots, BCDs, regulators, 3mm shorty, and weights. All we really needed was a swimsuit and a C-Card. We were also supplied with towel, and hot showers afterwards.
After our dive briefing we headed to the top of the aquarium. Everything was already assembled. And we were definitely overweight. No weight check was performed. Once we hopped into the water, it was….brisk (aka a chilly 75° F). We did a 10 minute guided tour of the main tank and were then cut loose with our dive buddies to explore! It was relaxing, wonderful, enjoyable, and just so much fun. I had never actually seen a hammerhead shark in person until this dive so that was pretty sweet. I’m pretty sure munchkin #2 had never seen one either, or a turtle up close for that matter.
Of course there are hidden Mickeys all around the aquarium and you’ll only get to see them if you’re diving. I won’t ruin any of them by saying where or what they are, but they are definitely there.
A lot of my personal fun was interacting with guests in the viewing areas. Kiddos seem to just love divers. But maybe that’s the dad part of me.
After we finished our dive we got out, got showered, got dry, and headed back to the real world. We also got a little swag bag and a code to download the photo(s) that were taken of us before the dive. Diving with the munchkin and getting to experience the aquarium was really one of the highlights of my week at WDW.
If you’re a diver and you’re visiting WDW or just visiting Orlando consider taking DiveQuest for a spin. You can tell them DWF sent you, but they may say “who the heck(since this is Disney) is DWF?”
TL;DR Definitely worth it. Would do again.
