Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Safely Being Shark Bait

Tuesday had us at the beautiful Discovery Cove theme park here in Orlando, a place that limits the amount of people who can visit to about one-thousand a day. Of course it has a laid back, tropical theme with such attractions as a lazy river with lush scenery, an aviary, dolphin encounters, and a tropical reef. The usual way to enjoy the reef has visitors put on a swim mask and snorkel then casually floating around all the brightly colored fish and stingrays.

For those willing to fork out the extra bucks you can don a seventy-five pound helmet with attached air hose and walk along the bottom. Its call "SeaVenture" and while its about as safe anything else you might do at any other there park Discovery Cove like to sell the attraction by saying you will see plenty of sharks and other possibly nasty deep sea creatures. First of all the sharks are separated from people like me by a sheet of plexiglass and the stingrays and Eagle rays that swim freely are fairly benign creatures. There are plenty of tropical fish and and for anyone who has been too scared to scuba dive I highly recommend it to anyone who visits.   
One of the sharks that my group saw yesterday, there is just something about that sleek form that thrills me to no end. A long time ago I did scuba dive in the ocean in the waters off South Carolina but never saw the first shark. While I was perfectly safe with no chance for Sammy Shark to sink his very pointy and sharp teeth into me, unless he somehow figured how to jump over the plexiglass barrier, I have to admit I did feel like a kid watching him swim by just centimeters away.

Another great thing about SeaVenture was the near weightless feeling I had walking along the bottom. In fact given my "natural buoyancy"(i.e. body fat) I figure I could have used an extra ten pounds on the helmet to keep me down. 
Alas, I was eventually forced to get out and turn over the fancy helmet to someone else. But I found my lounge chair and was soon taking advantage of another of Discovery Cove attraction which is totally free beer. One of them being Buffett's "Landshark Lager" which was on draft. My only criticism is that they forced me to only one beer at a time.  

19 comments:

Akelamalu said...

WOW what an adventure, I'd love to do that. I did swim with dolphins in the Caribbean which was amazing.

Full-On-Forward said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

J

okjimm said...

//totally free beer//

no such thing.. beer is can only be rented.... this I know

Windsmoke. said...

Bonza adventure and totally free beer afterwards what more could you want :-).

Vigilante said...

One beer at a time is enough for me, as long as it is a cold Corona!

Pixel Peeper said...

*Puts Discovery Cove on the list*

Life As I Know It Now said...

Sounds like you are enjoying yourself so far. It's cold up here and it snowed yesterday but didn't stay around for long, thank goodness.

Since I drink wine rather than beer, I wonder if that is free? Probably not so piss on them :)

Randal Graves said...

But you *can* take advantage of their endless fountain of beer, right?

MRMacrum said...

We are all shark bait. In the water or out. At least there was free beer.

Ranch Chimp said...

Sound's like ya'll had alot of fun Bum! : )

Ranch Chimp said...

Great picture's too BTW!

Ranch Chimp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
goatman said...

I am not seeing the beer?
The next attraction may be mother grizzlies to get the chemicals flowing!

Commander Zaius said...

Akelamalu: Yeah, we did the dolphin encounter on our previous trip. One of the best times of my life.

Jim: Yeah, but that way we will always have room for more.

Windsmoke: Well, the one thing I can think of would be sex but my wife always has a headache.

Vigil: I hit the Coronas hard at first but Jimmy's Landshark has more of a mellow taste.

Pixel: You haven't been? You've got to go!

Life As I: Yes, it was free but it was nothing to write home about.

Randal: My head is still spinning from it, and I looked into if they were hiring.

Mike Crum: I wish they had a real shark encounter experience but Discovery Cove prides itself on being more a family and educational theme park, not dangerous adventures.

Ranch: I do not want to go home.

Goatman: Possibly, but Disney may get there first.

Ranch Chimp said...

Actually Bum, this week on ABC News I was hearing that tourism was so booming in Florida and at their park's now, that they been having to constantly turn away tourist's from alot. At least it's a "business plus"!

Hve a decent New Years Eve Bum!

lime said...

yep, still totally scared to be that far underwater and relying on externals for my air supply. hook me up with booze and the lounge! sounds like you had a great time and that's what it's all about :)

Marja said...

Seems like you had a good time and one beer is a beer. I would love to see the sharks so close (behind glass) I wish you a fantastic, happy and peaceful New year dear Beach

Green Monkey said...

one beer and two fists? it doesn't add up. I had to read the first part of this with one eye shut (sharks !!!!).

Red Nomad OZ said...

Great to see you're taking your training program for visiting Aussie beaches so seriously!!! Tragically, I know all about that natural buoyancy too ...