Scuba Diving Guide: Georgia Aquarium

For many scuba divers, an encounter with a "big fish" is a magical and much-sought experience. Every year, tens of thousands of divers venture to locations like the Azores, the Gulf of Mexico or the Andaman Sea on expensive, scuba-oriented vacations to see a "big fish," like a manta ray or whale shark first-hand. These trips always involve memorable diving, but for guaranteeing encounters with a "big fish" they leave a lot to be desired. On a typical five-day live-aboard trip, for example, might feature as many as 15 scuba dives. However, the odds are pretty good that there will be a "big fish" sighting only once or twice during that span of time, and perhaps none at all.

A surer option is to go on an aquarium dive, with one of the best options in the world being Atlanta, Georgia's own Georgia Aquarium. This aquarium has a gigantic tank in their Ocean Voyager exhibit, which is home to whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, and the only manta rays in captivity in North America. As part of the Swim or Dive program, scuba divers can go on a tank dive for $325, with 30 minutes of bottom time. While that might seem expensive compared to the going rate for dives, where even in Europe a two-dive day trip will go for around $100, that going rate for dives does not include air fare and hotel bills. The Georgia Aquarium's Swim or Dive program is actually a very reasonably priced scuba diving trip option for those who can get to Atlanta cheaply, and unlike diving in open water, it offers guaranteed contact with the "big fish."

The dive program is held daily and takes roughly three hours. Two and a half hours are spent in the classroom and on a backstage tour of the aquarium. All gear is provided, and divers are barred from using any of their own equipment except their own dive mask. If you do bring your own mask, it will be disinfected before being allowed into the aquarium's tank. OW (open water) certification is required for diving at the Georgia Aquarium.

For those who are not divers, there is another option: the Swim part of "Swim or Dive." Non-divers can snorkel at the top of the tank at the reduced rate of $225. The other details of the program are similar, with all equipment provided, outside gear aside from masks banned, and two and a half hours of classroom and tour time.

Divers, but not swimmers, can be seen by regular visitors through the tunnel and viewing windows of the Ocean Voyager exhibit. This means your friends and family can watch as you have your diving experience with the whale sharks and manta rays. The Georgia Aquarium is located in central Atlanta, between Georgia Tech and the Five Points, not far from I-85.

Sources: georgiaaquarium.org