Epcot DiveQuest – tours at Walt Disney World, a photo review

Epcot DiveQuest is a unique scuba diving experience inside the 5.7-million-gallon saltwater tank at The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion in Epcot theme park. Scuba-certified Guests can swim with over 6,000 sea creatures—including sea turtles, angelfish, dolphins, eagle rays and sharks.

All Guests must be SCUBA-certified and at least 10 years of age to participate. Guests ages 10 to 12 must be accompanied by a paying, participating parent or guardian.

The experience lasts 3 hours, and Guests will spend approximately 40 minutes underwater in the massive Caribbean Coral Reef aquarium—which until 2005 was the largest saltwater tank in the world. Participants also get to see the massive backstage infrastructure required to filter and maintain a vast manmade ocean flourishing with life.

With its clear water and lack of currents, Epcot DiveQuest is an experience that both diving enthusiasts and Disney fans will never forget. Where else in the world can you swim with sharks and sea turtles while simultaneously waving to people enjoying a sit-down meal?

All diving equipment is provided. Please bring a swim suit and, if you wish, bring your own dive mask—particularly if you have a prescription mask.

Guests who are not scuba certified but wish to get a closer look at the remarkable aquatic life in The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion may still be able to do so on the Dolphins in Depth tour or the Seas Aqua Tour.

Epcot® DiveQuest is presented by the National Association of Underwater Instructors.

nora & nick stopped by a couple of days before Mrs Asta was scheduled to do the tour to make sure that all of the details were clear (of course we did). So, on the appointed day, all four of us went to Epcot and waited by Guest Relations for the “guides” to come out. Jodi (guide) was there both days and remembered us, but that isn’t what was most impressive… most impressive… she only needed to ask the divers for their shoe size, she eyeballed everyone up and down and right and left and correctly sized them for their wetsuits (pretty impressive talent). Mrs Asta was the only diver in our group, so after she went backstage for the non-diving part of her tour, we went into Epcot, grabbed a beer, and returned to the Living Seas so that we could see her dive! This was tremendous fun… we were even right at the stairwell when the group of divers came through the exhibit and went to the top of the tank.

Needless to say, Mrs Asta enjoyed the experience very much, the Cast Members were all helpful and polite and the equipment was in very good shape (except for some reason Mrs Asta had a small leak from her tank, it made it easier for us to spot her). In order to ensure that you get your full 40 minutes of dive time, if you run low on air… Disney World just gets you another tank! Mrs Asta is the first person from her dive club to be able to do Epcot DiveQuest and she said they’re all eager to hear about the experience because it’s so unique.

We’re really happy that we could help make this fun and different experience come to fruition!

Now on to the photos… Remember these were made with a smartphone through a really THICK sheet of plexiglass…