The 5 Best Aquariums In America Where You Can Scuba Dive, According To Visitor Reviews

Scuba diving transports you to another world and brings you closer to the sea than any other activity. No matter where you go diving, you're always hoping for a great dive and to see some cool stuff. But when you board the boat and head out to a tropical reef, you aren't guaranteed to see sharks, rays, or turtles. And even when you book a big-animal adventure, like a whale shark dive, there's always a chance you won't find any that day. What if you could remove the uncertainty and dive in, knowing that you'll get to swim with these majestic and exotic denizens of the deep?

Aquarium dives aren't for everyone and are hardly a replacement for getting out in the natural environment. But if you love marine animals and just want to see the world from their point of view, an aquarium dive is a unique experience you won't soon forget. Plus, the controlled environment is a great place for solo, rusty, or beginning scuba divers to get a little extra bottom time between bigger dive vacations, all while their family and friends look on through the aquarium glass.

Every program is a little different. The best experiences tend to be in the aquariums with the biggest tanks and biggest animals, but even smaller aquariums can surprise you. Some offer traditional diving, while others use surface-supplied air helmets that allow even non-divers to experience the underwater world. So fill up your tanks and spit in your mask — here are five of the best programs we've found for diving into America's aquariums.

The Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta opened its doors in 2005 and was the largest aquarium in the world when it opened. While it no longer holds that title, it's still the largest in the United States. The main tank, dubbed the Ocean Voyager exhibit, holds more than 6.3 million gallons of water, has a 100-foot-long acrylic tunnel, and holds more than 50 different species. The stars of the exhibit are the whale sharks and giant manta rays. The Georgia Aquarium is the only U.S. facility with whale sharks, the largest species of fish in the sea. 

The aquarium's Journey with Gentle Giants experience lets you dive into that huge tank. The program is open to certified open-water divers ages 12 and up, but those under 18 must be under the supervision of an adult diver. The experience costs $356 per person for members and $375 for non-members. This experience includes a guided tour and 30 minutes in the water. The aquarium also offers a snorkel experience for those who aren't certified. As one Reddit user put it, the Georgia Aquarium is the "only place in the world where you have a 100% chance to dive with whale sharks and manta rays on the same dive."

Florida has no shortage of amazing scuba diving adventures, from crystal-clear springs to the Florida Keys' coral reefs. But have you heard the saying "No one does it better than Disney?" Disney parks have an outstanding reputation for going above and beyond regarding guest interactions, and its DiveQuest Tour at Epcot is no exception. The dive occurs in the 5.7 million gallon aquarium, The Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion, where you'll share the water with fish, sharks, rays, and turtles. Participants specifically mentioned the professionalism and helpfulness of the cast members, and nearly everyone recommended the tour and would do it again. 

To join the DiveQuest experience, you must show proof of scuba certification and be over 10 years old. Everyone under the age of 16 must also be accompanied by an adult participating in the program. The experience costs around $250, but that does not include admission to the park. If you purchase only the dive experience, you'll be met at the front of the park and escorted out after the program. Any guests who wish to view your dive must also pay for admission. Divers can't use camera gear, but guests can capture images and videos from the exhibit's viewing windows.

If you've ever wanted to dive with sharks, the Shark Dive Maui experience at the Maui Ocean Center aquarium is the perfect opportunity for you. The educational program provides the chance to learn more about these misunderstood creatures and their important role in the marine ecosystem. A Divemaster leads each dive and only four divers are allowed per day for a personalized experience. The tour takes place in the 750,000 gallon Open Ocean exhibit, which includes 50 fish species, stingrays, and more than 20 sharks. In addition to learning the significance of sharks to the environment, the Maui Ocean Center focuses on their importance in Hawaiian culture. Many Hawaiians believe sharks are ʻaumākua or spiritual guides observing from outside the physical world.

Participants in the Shark Dive must be at least 12 years old and a certified, active scuba diver. The cost is $350 with basic gear or $450 with everything you need, including mask and fins. Participants raved on Tripadvisor about this extraordinary and memorable experience, which, in the words of one diver, "cannot be over-hyped."

Scuba diving and sharks might not be on your mind when visiting the Mile High City, but perhaps they should be. Thanks to the Downtown Aquarium, you can dive with these toothy apex predators in the Shark Cage Experience. The cage puts you in the aquarium's 400,000 gallon Shipwreck exhibit, where you'll see hundreds of fish and sand tiger, blacktip, and sandbar sharks.

The cost for the Shark Cage Experience is $155, and all dives are booked and guided by A-1 Scuba & Travel, a local dive shop. The experience includes aquarium admission for participants and all of your equipment. Unlike other dives, you do not need to be scuba certified to participate in the cage experience, but you must be healthy and at least 8 years old. You can also book regular free dives in the Shipwreck exhibit directly through A-1 Scuba. The Dive with the Sharks experience is $235 for certified divers and includes aquarium admission and all of your gear. If you'd rather leave the sharks alone for the day, you can also book the Dive with the Fish experience to swim in the aquarium's Under the Sea exhibit. 

Maryland-area Atlantic Edge Dive Center leads the Guest Diver Program, an underwater tour of the Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit at the National Aquarium. The tank holds 335,000 gallons of water and is home to more than 1,000 animals from over 70 species. Reviewers note the huge number of big fish that aren't shy with divers.

Participants must be at least 18 and hold an open-water diver certification or better. For this experience, you must provide your own full wetsuit, snorkel, mask, and fins (but you can rent these items from Atlantic Edge if needed). Like other aquarium dives, you can't bring cameras or extra gear into the tank, but your friends and family can take photos from the other side of the glass. The dive costs $225, which does not include general admission. For another $69, the dive instructors from Atlantic Edge will give you the PADI Aquarium Diver specialty, an experience that counts toward your Master Scuba Diver certification. 

To find the best aquariums for scuba diving, our first step was to put together a list of facilities currently offering dive programs. Each facility changes its offerings often, and dive programs come and go as exhibits change with time. Several popular attractions are not currently offering dive programs at the time of publication, including the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, so they were not included on this list. 

Next, we dove into scuba forums and social media sites like Reddit to find which were most popular with divers. We were specifically interested in any experiences that people highly recommended to other divers, or programs that stood out in a particular way. For example, Disney's DiveQuest experience clearly stands out as one of the best in terms of the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff. Finally, we analyzed hundreds of reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google to see which aquariums were most worth visiting to ensure that your non-diving family and friends would have a great experience, too.