Sea-trek helmet dive has anyone done it?

[Janan]

Hi All, My wife and I are cruising the Destiny in May; we want to do the Helmet dive in Aruba or in St Thomas, but would like to find out more about it. I have checked the websites and they don't tell us Hoe heavy is the helmet? Is St Thomas or Aruba better? I've heard that the coral is Brown in Aruba where they do it, how does it compare to St Thomas? We are celebrating our 10th anniversary and I want a "not to forget experience" on the islands. Someone help, if you've done either excursion before can you help out a fellow cruise addict.

 

Thanks,

Andy

[Stranger1]

We did it on St.Thomas and had a blast...never been to Aruba. The helmet weighs something like 50lbs but is very light under the water. You start going down the ladder and once you're at the point where your head and shoulders are just above the water, they put the helmet on you and you go down the rest of the way. On St.Thomas, there was a chain that you could use to hold on to and also to section off the area that you could walk around. We didn't see a ton of sea life, but we saw enough to think it was well worth the money. One thing to remember is that when looking at fish or where you're walking, you need to use your eyes and not bend at the waist...if you do, water will rush in to the helmet, but will be pushed out again if you straighten up. No big deal, but kind of shocking the first time it happens. We're going to do it again in a month when we go to Tahiti and I know we'll see a lot more fish this time around. Hope that helps.

[hawkmom]

We did an underwater sea walk in Nassau (not familar with your locations), but we would do it again in a heartbeat. My husband is a non-swimmer, so it was great to get an underwater tour!

Where we were, they knew exactly where to take us for the optimal experience. THere was brown coral elsewhere, but not at this spot. They even had a grouper who they trained to come by for pictures!

[3rdTimers]

It was a blast! A little scary at first, trying to figure out how is was going to work, but it was a neat experience.