Imagine you could create a new dive site anywhere in the world. You have an unlimited budget, and because it’s imaginary, this dive site could be created without harm to people or animals. What would you build?
In today’s post, we’ll explore a few fantastical ideas for future dive destinations. There are no limits, except maybe the laws of physics.
Underwater Disneyland
While it’s technically possible to scuba dive at Disney World, we’re wishing upon a star for underwater Disneyland. Imagine zooming around The Matterhorn on a DPV, or swimming above the iconic castle. You could pose for a pic on the Black Pearl and chase your dive buddy around with a bubble gun in the new Star Wars land pew pew pew!
Atlantis Dive Park
A few dive destinations in real life offer divers the chance to explore interpretations of Atlantis, but we’d like to see a fully-realized underwater complex based upon the legend. During descent you could see the city’s concentric circle layout and circumnavigate the capital. At depth, divers could explore ruined (but not too ruined) ancient buildings and swim down streets lined with statues of the “rare and exotic creatures” that called Atlantis home.
The Space Shuttle
For kids who grew up in the 1980’s and 90’s, becoming a Space Shuttle astronaut seemed like a realistic career path. Unfortunately, NASA retired the Space Shuttle program and the closest we can get to space these days is a scuba diving job at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
Today you can visit the retired Space Shuttles in science museums, but why not make one of them an artificial reef? At our imaginary dive site, the 37 m/122 ft Space Shuttle would be cut in half so divers could easily explore inside.
Full-scale Replica Titanic
Is it possible to dive the Titanic? Sure, if you have $105,129US to pay a tour company to take you down in a submersible. You can also visit a topside recreation of the Titanic in China.
We want a full-scale underwater replica wreck of the Titanic. On this imaginary dive site, divers could take home any artifacts they find (which you would never do in real life) which could be later replenished by the dive staff. Seriously, how great would it be to have your morning beverage in a White Star Line coffee cup you collected yourself?
Scale Models of Iconic Architecture
Whenever we see pictures of the coral-encrusted Christ of the Abyss in Florida, we’re reminded of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, and wonder what it would be like to dive other iconic structures. At 46 m/151 ft tall, divers could explore most of the Statue of Liberty and also The Temple of Kukulcan/El Castillo in Chichen Itza. Unfortunately, a full-sized underwater Eiffel Tower would exceed recreational dive limits (it’s 324 m/1,063 ft tall) and the same goes for an underwater Great Pyramid of Giza. So, for this future dive site we envision scale models.
What Future Dive Site Would You Like to See?
We hope readers of this post appreciate the hypothetical nature of it. PADI does not endorse the taking of artifacts from wrecks, the destruction of Disneyland, or depriving school children from seeing The Space Shuttle at a local museum. With that in mind, what future dive sites would you like to see?
- An underwater forest?
- Submerged Hogwarts?
- A DPV jousting ring?
We’d love to hear your ideas! Post a comment below, or via PADI’s Facebook page.
Further Reading: