Dive at the Blue Planet Aquarium

[cheryl t]

N.B. The term'dive' is loose description, as fins are not allowed in the tank.

Well, we finally set off following a very near emergency. Got a phone call on Sat afternoon whilst at work to say that my dad had had a blackout at work and was currently in A&E. Spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday worrying myself sick, but thankfully all is fine, although Docs stil none the wiser as to why he passed out. Infection, they reckon.

Anyway…….off we trundled at approx 2pm on Sunday afternoon. There was myself, NikkiNoo, her boyfriend and our mum, on our way down the M56 to the Blue Planet Aquarium, to meet my partner in crime, Carole, her husband, Shaun and both their sets of parents. Me, NikkiNoo, Carole and Shaun were thoe ones doing the 'dive'.

Taking my time down the Motorway because of the weather, plus we had loads of time anyway, we arrived at the BPA at approx 2.45pm. Went in and spoke to the chap who was organising the ‘dive’. First thing was to take the car round to staff parking and then back into BPA for ‘another’ mosey round, meeting at the ‘tree at 4.45pm. Have been to this place soooo many times, I’m sure they should be paying me by now (LOL).

Everyone met up at 4.45pm for a briefing on what to expect for the rest of the evening. The ‘divers’ went off with the staff where we had to show Ccards and log books, sign disclaimers, set up kit, etc.

We then had a briefing in the Aquatheatre. We would be going in in groups of 4 and would spend approx ½hr in the tank. We ended up being in the last group, so we just sat in the Aquatheatre with our families and waited to be called up.

Finally it was our turn. So, off we went, got kitted up and sat in the edge of the tank. We were taken down individually and wait on the tank floor for everyone else to be brought down. Once on the floor of the tank, we were guided as to where we were to walk around. We followed one instructor, with one at the back and there was also one above (wearing fins) who was the safety chap.

It was actually quite cold as we spent quite a lot of the time sat around having pictures taken by our families who were watching from the tunnel. Although, at one point, NikkiNoo did have one of the sharks clear her head by about a couple of inches – not sure she realised just how close they actually were. Actually spent 34 mins in the tank at a max depth of 2.9 metres.

Great day, although very long, was had by all. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience and being able to so close to the sharks was amazing. I was so taken with being able to see each sharks individual markings so close. Wow!!! It has really made me want to do my dream dive so much more - cage dive with great whites.

[Sparky]

Good trip report, I did this "dive" a few years ago and managed to find some sharks teeth which we were allowed to keep.

[cheryl t]

Seeing as they now sell them in the shop, I feel that there are none there to look for