That’s right, you heard us—dive the National Aquarium in Baltimore! You'd have to travel around the globe to experience a day of diving like this, but with this fun-filled experience you can have it all, right here in your own backyard.

Atlantic Edge Scuba is proud to partner with the Aquarium to offer the best diving in Maryland: in the beautiful Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit, home to abundant marine life, from a perspective that few will ever experience. Led by our professional dive staff, participants will be taught the basics of Aquarium diving before taking the plunge into a world of rays, sharks, and fish, more than 70 species altogether (The species you will dive with will depend on the time of year). In addition to swimming with these fascinating creatures, you will also learn the role divers can play in reef conservation and how to be a steward of our precious natural resources.

The schedule:

• Scheduled dives and available spaces for each (each dive is limited to a maximum of six divers) are listed above in the "additional dates" drop-down menu.
• There are two scheduled start times each day to choose from: 2:45pm or 3:45pm.
• The dive itself is approximately 40 minutes.

Before the dive, you'll attend a mandatory one-hour classroom session to learn about the National Aquarium and its conservation mission, the animals you will see in the exhibit and how to navigate carefully and safely in the tank.

Then, we will brief at the exhibit about how to safely enter the water, get ready to dive, and then enter the tank, which is 13 feet deep, contains 335,000 gallons of saltwater at 76 degrees, and teems with more than 1,000 fish.

Prerequisites:

• You must be a Certified Open Water Diver. (PADI Scuba Diver Certification does not qualify as certification).
• You must be at least 18 years old.

If it's been a while since your last dive, we highly recommend a refresher course prior to your dive. The Atlantic Coral Reef is a confined space, so proper buoyancy control is required to make the dive. Divers with buoyancy issues may be removed from the dive.  If you have time prior to your Aquarium dive, Atlantic Edge offers a separate buoyancy clinic to help you hone your skills.

The dives are normally sold out at least a month in advance, and once a date is registered/paid for it is yours- no refunds or reschedules (like a ticket to a concert or sporting event).

Equipment Requirments

• Diver must provide their own mask, fins, booties and a full wetsuit, one which provides "head to toe" coverage (These items can be rented from Atlantic Edge).
• Atlantic Edge will provide the following for your dive: Regulator, BCD, tanks and weights (divers must use gear supplied, due to Aquarium time constraints).
• No camera or signs of any kind may enter the aquarium. 

Do You Want to Earn a Certification For Your Dive?

You have an option to earn the PADI Aquarium Diver Distinctive Specialty. This certification would count towards the Master Scuba Diver rating if you ever expect to aspire to the highest non-professional level in diving.

There is an additional $69 charge for this specialty.

Aquarium Dive Paperwork

This will be done through a web link provided upon registering for this dive.