Epcot’s DiveQuest: A Review

With the number of times I’ve been to Disney World, it feels like everyone always has a million questions for me afterwards. Where should they stay? Where should they eat? When should they go? What are some of my favourite tours? The list goes on. So I figured today I’ll talk to you about one of Walt Disney World’s lesser-known tours, DiveQuest.

Right off the bat, I will say that I have never done this tour because I can’t get SCUBA certified due to migraines but it is Chris’ favourite tour. He has done it at least 3 times in 3 years. Yes, it’s that good and he’s been SCUBA diving all over the world.

Cost

The cost $179USD, with Passholder and DVC discounts, as well as Disney VISA discount. The price of the tour is a donation to the Disney Conservation Fund. You’ll also receive a gift, you’ll get the choice between a T-Shirt or a hat. A few years ago your only option was a blander t-shirt, and Chris finds the new t-shirt to be much better looking. Plus, it’s nice to have the option if you’d prefer a hat. Chris has both now.

You’ll also be given the option to purchase a video copy of your dive for $35USD which is also a donation to the Conservation Fund (now comes on a USB card versus the CD they used to give out).

What You Need Before You Go

Not everyone will be able to do this tour. You must be Open Water SCUBA Certified by a recognized agency like PADI, your licence will verified before the tour begins so have your card ready when you arrive. Guests must be at least 10 years old. Guests between 10-12 years old must dive with a parent or guardian.

Times

There are two tours daily at 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Each tour lasts about 3 hours with the dive being approximately 40 minutes.

Do You Need a Park Ticket?

A park ticket is NOT required, in the end, they will let the guests with park tickets enter the park through the aquarium, those without will be escorted back the way they entered.

Where to Sign In

Meet outside EPCOT at the Guest Service area (close to the bus terminal) 15 minutes prior to your registration. There you will be sized for your wetsuit and booties and asked which gift you want. Your Dive credentials will be reviewed here and you’ll get a chance to introduce yourself and meet your fellow divers and the Dive Quest cast.

What to Expect

Once your credentials are verified, you’ll begin the behind the scenes part of your tour of Future World behind the aquarium. There is a strict no photo or video rule throughout.

Finally is the tank dive, the dive is 40 minutes long with unlimited air tanks. So if you’re a heavy breather you can get a new tank and not miss out on the fun. Don’t be embarrassed to ask either, there is a crew that stays above the water for you and they aren’t bothered by it.

Some Interesting Information

The tour is actually really educating and filled with information about the tank and Disney’s conservation efforts. Here are some of the things the tour guides will tell divers about:

• The tank is 6 million gallons, large enough to put spaceship earth in the centre of the tank with enough room to drive a bus around
• It’s the 2nd largest saltwater tank in North America 
• There are 10 large filtration tanks that filter the water for the aquarium outside
• The pipes which carry the water from the aquarium outside to the filtration tanks are large enough for a grown man to walk in with space above and below
• The animals vary from time to time, about 65 species are in the tank, most are rescue animals
• The aquarium has a large USDA certified kitchen for preparing the food for the animals, each animal has its diet on a whiteboard outside the kitchen 
• The animals are fed by staff using targets for each animal which the animal will approach to be fed, except the sharks, the sharks are fed early in the morning with a light shining into the water where their food is dropped, this way no shark every sees a human when eating so they never associate a human with food
• The animals are all well fed and don’t feed on the other animals in the tank or the guests
• As of Chris’ last dive in April 2019; there were two manatees, one lost 90% of its tail in a boating accident; three large sea turtles; and a hammerhead shark is a new addition, among many others.
• They grow living coral at their facility, which they plant in the tanks, and transport to their private island in the Caribbean for transplant to the Ocean as part of their conservation program

The Dive

You’re brought to a change room to get ready. Don’t worry, the change room has towels, lockers, showers and your wetsuit and booties that you were sized for, all other equipment is given to you when you get to the water. You are escorted through the main area of the aquarium, through all the park guests in Epcot’s SeaBase, to a set of stairs that bring you up above the water. You’re given a BCD, fins, and mask. 

You CANNOT bring any of your own equipment, no cameras, no fins, no suit, no BCD, just your swimsuit and your own mask are the only items you’re allowed to bring. They are strict to the no photos or video recording behind the scenes rule.

You’re brought into the water by the Dive Master, who will take you on a tour of the tank then cut you loose to explore on your own. There is a cameraman on each dive who will record your experience. If you have family watching, the cameraman will tape you interacting with them through the glass. You’ll be able to watch the video at the end and give the option to purchase a copy.

You can also interact with guests at the aquarium, or swim down to entertain the guests having dinner at Coral Reef Restaurant, or over to the Seas with Nemo and Friends to be part of the ride, or see the VIP room above Coral Reef with its glass piano. If you’re lucky there could be a wedding or event taking place and you’ll be part of some magical memories.

The funny thing about this tour is that since a lot of people don’t know about it, a lot of guests end up thinking that the divers are all Disney staff. So it’s really fun to watch and listen to how surprised other guests are when a diver is interacting with his or her own family.

You CANNOT touch the animals, good practice because you should never touch anything, especially on open water dives in National Parks around the world, because you can negatively affect the entire ecosystem. At DiveQuest they take it very seriously, if you touch an animal you will be taken out of the tank and banned. If an animal touches you that’s fine, but you cannot touch them back. You also cannot swim with the dolphins, they share the same tank but their area is separated and you cannot get near the net that separates.

At the end of the dive, you will be helped out of the water tank taken to the change rooms, where you can shower and change, then you’ll be taken to the briefing room to watch the video of your dive, enjoy some hot chocolate, get your dive log info and stamped, receive your gift (either the hat or shirt, not both), and you can opt to purchase a copy of the video. 

Review of the Dive

Some of the tour guides like to talk about the celebrities, including some big hollywood celebs, who experience DiveQuest over and over. It is one of the best dives in the world, consistently clear water at over 200ft, with an abundance of sea life. The tank is 25ft deep and warm at 78F or 25C, and no current. 

Chris has done the tour three times and he says he’s learned something new each time. On his last dive he met a guy who was on his 14th DiveQuest and still loves it. 

There are some areas that Chris thinks DiveQuest could improve…

• An exclusive DiveQuest Pin could be offered to purchase by guests who partake, the button they give is lacklustre. Kind of how there are passholder exclusive pins, there could be one for Behind the Seeds too!
• It would be great if the tour portion was longer
• It would be better if divers had access to lockers before the tour, not just before the in-water portion
• When completing the waiver before the dive, they seem to forget that not every guest at DiveQuest is from the USA, so when they ask for an emergency contact, they’re confused when Chris puts an email address in the phone number field, we don’t pay for roaming…

Overall Chris loves this tour and is a must-do for him whenever we can schedule it into our planning. He first learned to dive in the army, now he has been diving in Canada, USA, Mexico, throughout the Caribbean, and Bali, and he says this is still one of his favorites. The water is constantly clear, the backstage tour is amazing, there’s plenty to see and lots of cool information.