Accessible dive location for a life changing experience



Let's go diving!



The Georgia Aquarium Inc. Dive Immersion Program began operation in 2008 and the facilities were planned to accommodate Divers and Swimmers of all abilities and meet ADA requirements. The very first guests were wounded warriors from Eisenhower Medical Center. To date more than 12,000 guests have participated in the Dive Immersion programs which included many guests with disabilities. Working with Warriors in Transition at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, the Dive Immersion Program has been part of their Wounded Warrior rehabilitation process. The Dive Immersion program was awarded the Eisenhower Medical Center’s metal of excellence for this activity. Wounded warriors from Fort Bragg, South Carolina and the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA have also used the Dive Immersion Program as part of the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord and other injuries.

Handicapped Scuba Association Instructor Training class

Recently, several members of Dive Operations and the Dive Immersion Program went through the Instructor certification class for the Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA). This class introduced existing Dive Masters and Instructors to the skills and challenges required to certify people with disabilities as Open Water Scuba divers. The Dive Immersion Program has several groups of guests with paraplegia, quadriplegia, and visual impairments that dive with us on a regular basis so it is imperative that the staff be prepared to accommodate these guests and make their dives enjoyable.

Swimming with a group from the Shepherd Center

Front L-R: Trey Bradbury, Travis Cox, Marlos Chenault, Gail Yordy
Rear L-R: Nakuma Brown, Angie Pihera, Tara MacCaughelty, Cecilia Rider

On Thursday, April 14, a small group from the Shepherd Center in Atlanta came to the Georgia Aquarium to swim with the gentle giants. The swimmers included Travis Cox, Marlos Chenault, Trey Bradbury, and Gail Yordy. The Dive Immersion staff used their recent Handicap Scuba Association training as the four swimmers were wheelchair users and required assistance getting geared up and entering and exiting the water.

An impressive start to the new year: Dive Ops successfully isolates a significant leak

What a way to start 2011! Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, a significant leak developed in an outlet pipe of Ocean Voyager. The leak’s placement was such that it could not be isolated using only valves, so Dive Ops was called in to install a flange plate onto the end of a 54” pipe.

You're a Diver?

"So, what do you do for a living?" It's a common question and we tend to use it to understand someone we've just met. Your job, in many regards is simply that...a job. It fills the time between those pesky nine-to-five hours when watching the clock becomes a large part of the day. However, we often forget that in many ways, it is the work that we choose to do which defines a good portion of our personalities.

Journey With The Gentle Giants

You get to see some of the most beautiful and exotic animals on earth while SCUBA diving in the open ocean, but it's not every day that you can come face to face with a whale shark, the largest fish in the world. Such encounters are the stuff of dreams and the memories will stay with you for the rest of your life. The Georgia Aquarium's Journey With The Gentle Giants swim and dive program gives our guests that experience.

Come Dive With Us!

"The sea, once it casts it's spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." ~Jacques Yves Cousteau

While taking a break from your hectic schedule, you plan an outing for your family and friends at the Georgia Aquarium. Perhaps you've dabbled in the world of SCUBA diving, but leaving your commitments behind to explore a tropical reef is not something that you can easily pencil into your datebook or your wallet. So there you sit, beneath the vast expanse of the Ocean Voyager windows thinking about what it would be like to swim on the other side of that glass. You know there are volunteers who get to dive with all of the amazing creatures before you, but they certainly aren't anyone you know. So how do they do it? How does the everyday-person get to experience life beneath the surface?

Freediving Training

Elliott Jessup conducted a freediving course for team members of the Dive Immersion Program (DIP) and Dive Operations. Freediving offers a natural diving experience where you are unconstrained by SCUBA equipment. Using only a mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt and ONE breath, divers are able to dive to remarkable depths for extended periods of time.

Research in the Bahamas of A Gorgonian Coral Species

The Georgia Aquarium was recruited to assist in a National Science Foundation project conducted by the University at Buffalo and University of Miami. Elliott Jessup, along with three other Georgia Aquarium biologists went down to Florida, where the University of Miami provided the vessel for the trip to the Bahamas. This was no vacation though, but was instead an interesting study on population dynamics.

ScubaPro Protech Regulator Clinic

At the Georgia Aquarium, every single one of the regulators used not only undergoes a monthly inspection, but is also rebuilt once a year. Selected individuals (staff and highly qualified volunteers) participated in the two full days of the ScubaPro training clinic to teach them to work on and rebuild regulators.

Welcome to the Dive Locker

Like all great teams, we have a base of operations, aptly named the DiveLocker. Here we do everything from maintenance to filling tanks.

Tubastraea Research Trip

Elliott Jessup and volunteer Scientific Divers in Training, Tom McNamara and Charles Evick, joined the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) along with Georgia Institute of Technology for a week of coral research aboard the 224’ OSV Bold, this time out of Key West. The purpose of this trip was to investigate a potentially invasive species of coral, Tubastraea coccinea.

Surface Supply Training

Recently, surface supply training classes were held for volunteers and staff, as surface supply is used in most of the tanks. The advantage to surface supply is the absence of a large tank which would hinder movement in exhibits and small areas where work may be necessary. Each class lasted two days, consisting of both classroom work along with actual surface supply diving to practice the skills taught.

Construction Clean-Up

After the construction was completed on our beluga exhibit, the removal of debris was our next task. All of the larger rocks from the reformation of the rock walls were gathered into a pile on one side of the exhibit. It was our job to remove them.

Scaffolding for Beluga Tank

While the belugas were on hiatus during our heavy construction months, we took the time to make some adjustments to their habitat. The goal was to lower sections of the rock walls on the sides of the exhibit so the beluga trainers can stand in the water and be closer to the animals.