Atlantis Submarine trip ... 100 feet beneath the sea
Written: May 21 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I got to go in a submarine without having to join the navy.
Cons: No coral gardens.
The Bottom Line: This is a fun trip to do, just don't go expecting to see wonderous coral beds and you will have a great time.
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| hollynz's Full Review: Atlantis Submarines (Hawaii) |
When researching for our trip to Honolulu I was always on the net checking websites for things to do while there, one thing that always caught my eye was the Atlantis Submarine tour.
I was attracted to this by the colorful pictures depicting an amazing undersea world full of coral and tropical fish.
The Real Story...
We booked the tour through the hotel concierge service.
This was very straight forward and we thought we had left it a bit late as we booked on Thursday morning for a Friday afternoon slot.
I suppose with the downturn in tourism and the fact that we visited in the low season meant that there were vacancies at such a late date.
getting on with it....
The Shuttle Bus
The Atlantis shuttle bus picked us up in the Sheraton Waikiki's car park, this was very convenient to our hotel as it was straight across the road.
The open air shuttle bus arrived about 10 minutes early and we were welcomed to board.
The bus got underway on time and we drove to the 'Port at The Hilton Village’. The walkway took us out to a pier where a photographer took souvenir photos of the various groups and couples.
We passed on this photo opportunity as we had our video camera, our digital camera and our stills camera, I think we were pretty well covered for photos.
We milled around a little bit and then we were invited to board the DISCOVERY, the boat that took us out to the submarines. There were two tour groups on board and we were differentiated by the color of our tickets.
The DISCOVERY Shuttle Boat.
After sitting through a safety video, we were free to head up to the viewing deck and walk around a bit. The DISCOVERY was your typical small cruise craft, inside seating and a viewing deck upstairs. a small snack bar and souvenir shop were in the rear, you had to pass it to get to the roof deck. There were restrooms which I didn't use so can't give you the lowdown there.
We headed upstairs and took in the great views of Waikiki , the cruise was worth the asking price itself as we got sweeping views of Waikiki and Diamond Head ... absolutely stunning.
We passed through a channel in the reef which was surely big enough for sharks to get through as well, I did spot a shark off the reef and luckily another person saw it as well, I could tell by the skeptical look on Mr H's face that he didn't really believe me as I am always doing this.
The water was the most amazing turquoise blue I had ever seen, absolutely gorgeous and has to be seen to be believed.
We came to the submarine site and watched as one popped up from the ocean depths. These were little mini subs which carry about 64 passengers very comfortably. You don’t feel squished up or claustrophobic at all while inside the subs.
The Submarine
Our boat nuzzled up to the sub and all passengers carrying yellow tickets were asked to come downstairs. That was us so we went down and watched as the previous passengers disembarked and were directed upstairs and then we were invited to board the sub.
The small ladder into the sub was easy to navigate and we took our seat, each passenger has a large viewing porthole and it’s easy enough to look through other portholes if there is no action on your side.
The hatch was locked and down we went, we were told to yell out if we noticed any arms or legs as we went down, just in case they accidentally left someone on top...
There is a headphone set to use but the onboard commentary was good enough, As we went along descriptions of what we were seeing or what was coming up were given in English as well as Japanese.
We descended slowly to the seabed, there was a depth counter which ticked off the feet as we went, we ended up at 100 ft down and moved along the seabed. Initially there was nothing much to see and then we started to see Sea Urchins on the bottom. The reefs were all artificial so, if like me you were waiting to see colorful coral beds … sorry, you are out of luck.
We cruised past the first ‘reef’ which was called The Pyramids. These were concrete type constructions that were provided as a breeding area for the fish.
Next was the Pali O Pono and the Japanese Reefs which were a network of wire coils – sort of like over sized crayfish (lobster) pots.
These ‘reefs’ were surrounded in shoals of fish and you could see where the coral had started to inhabit the area. In a few years time it might be quite spectacular. The fish were still a sight to see and occasionally shoals would come right up to the windows or pass very close to us, this made everyone gasp and cheer.
We continued along like this with big empty sandy spaces between the artificial reefs, the sub made sure to give both sides equal viewing opportunities by doing u-turns and going back past the reefs.
The crème de la crème of the reefs was a scuttled aircraft. The wings and part of the cabin section made a great hiding place for a large and varied amount of fish, we even got to see a moray eel sticking out of a hole and just to cap it all off, a sea turtle was stirred by our passing and swam off from it’s resting place, it was a real treat to see.
I could have been happy to pass by this reef over and over but it was time to head back to the surface.
Back to reality
We filed out of the sub and made our way back on board the DISCOVERY, the next tour party disembarked and we watched them get on and then we pulled away and watched them submerge. As they submerged the 2nd sub come to the surface and we went over and picked that party up before cruising back to Waikiki.
We were given the option of doing an add on tour which was free, this was all about the Black Coral divers or some such thing, we passed on this excursion and walked back to the shuttle bus which delivered us back to the Sheraton Waikiki's carpark.
Will the kids be safe ?
The passengers covered the age range from under 5's through to pensioners and everyone had a great time. I noticed the only time the parents had trouble was when their kids momentarilly got away from them when exiting the sub, there were staff all over the subs deck so there was no risk of anyone falling into the sea and with the DISCOVERY pulled up along side, it was as safe as houses.
When we were submerged I never heard anything other than delighted squeals from the kids on board, no tears or screams so obviously they felt comfortable about it all.
Will the photo's come out?
The crew advise not to use the FLASH when taking photos but being me, I couldn't figure out how disable the flash on my camera, the photo's were okay but not great. Got a good one when the fish were right up at the porthole though.
The Digital camera picked it up okay and the video was okay as well.
Worth it?
Even though I felt let down about the lack of coral gardens, what we did see was a glimpse into an undersea world without having to get our feet wet. The bay cruise was a treat affording fantastic views of Waikiki, the submarine trip was a once in a lifetime experience and, the tropical fish, moray eel and turtle more than made up for the fact that there wasn't much in the way of coral.
I felt that I got value for money with this tour.
Facts and Stats
There are two price ranges for the tours.
The morning tour goes in a bigger sub and is about $100 pp.
The afternoon tours are $64 pp, $39.99 child.
We took the afternoon option, I am not sure if the morning run does the same course we did or not.
Ph : 973-9811 for reservations and tour times.
Website . www.atlantisadventures.com
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
hollynz
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Member: Christine
Location: New Zealand
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~ In memory of Barbara ~
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