Scubaquarium: Chicago area INDOOR REEF DIVING!!!

[Poseidon8118]

Chicago area INDOOR REEF DIVING!!! I was wondering if it would really take off, or is it an insane venture by some local divers. Comments please! I was also taking into account with the amount of marine creatures needed; will this be feasible? I would hate to see all these animals die unnecessarily if they could not be supported. Sounds a little over the top to me…Comments…

Link to “Scubaquarium”:

http://www.scubaquarium.com/index.php

 

[California Diver]

looks interesting. i would pay to dive it. once!

 

[Staredge]

Ummm.......yeah..........wow.

I'm thinking someone's gonna lose their a$$ on this one. I'm not sure of the exact cost, but I'm guessing a major aquarium is spending beaucoup bucks to support themselves, and they have a lot more daily traffic. Admittedly this group isn't paying the overhead for public viewing, but I don't see that as a high item on the budget. Still, I don't see it going that far. More power to them for trying though. I'm always rooting for Don Quixote. :dazzler1: Hope they prove me wrong.

 

[AmyJ]

Sounds ambitious to me.... good luck to them.... if it flies I might be willing to dive it once... I think their educational and snorkeling might be a better bet than the dives.. but who knows.... I think scout troops and what not might really dig it.

 

[NEWreckDiver]

Disney does this already at Epcot in Florida. It is a cool thing to do once in a blue moon.

 

[matt_unique]

Chicago area INDOOR REEF DIVING!!! I was wondering if it would really take off, or is it an insane venture by some local divers. Comments please! I was also taking into account with the amount of marine creatures needed; will this be feasible? I would hate to see all these animals die unnecessarily if they could not be supported. Sounds a little over the top to me…Comments…

Link to “Scubaquarium”:

http://www.scubaquarium.com/index.php

I think it's a great idea. I think you would be able to pull in schools for classroom education and family recreational purposes with great success if you had a means for kids/others to communicate with the divers. Did your business plan include opening a full service dive shop? I did not notice that in my quick scan. I think that would be a great value add to the company.

I dove in the New England Aquarium G.O.T. (200,000G tank, 23' deep) and it was a fantastic experience. Kids were fascinated with the divers, waving to them, etc. I'm sure they would LOVE to be able to speak to them to ask questions for a full interative experience like that. You could possibly create a larger dive community just with your tank. What size tank are you looking at? What depth?

If you have the resources to make a huge tank with tons of interesting animals I think you would have foot traffic success. I know nothing about the costs associated with operating/maintaining a huge tank and the food for the animals, medical care, etc., etc., etc.

Good luck.

--Matt

 

[lwronk]

I would try it once.

 

[texdiveguy]

I would dive it if in the area.

 

[String]

Sounds very similar to "Dive Dome" (http://www.divedome.com/)

Which could be just a lot of hot air. Vague business plan, technology not mature and the endorsements are false.

 

[Derek S]

I hope they are able to pull it off. There is a place in the UK trying to do the same thing: www.divedome.com

Like was said earlier in the thread, Disney already does this, and I've had the pleasure of diving it twice in one week. At over $100 a dive, it hardly seems practical (or cost efficient to operate), but then again, Disney has deeper pockets than Ross Perot, so I guess they can get away with it.