SEAmagine is a very interesting company that manufacturers and sell underwater mini submarines. They also take tourists down to the kelp beds around Catalina Island and that's where we found them. Our dive was going down about 40 feet, but we were in a capsule designed for up to 150 feet depth. That gave us quite a sense of security. This little mini sub is a big clear bubble that will accommodate 2 people in the front, with electric engines and a second set of dive controls on the outside in the rear. (The first set is inside the bubble area.) You have a virtual 360 degree sight radius! The cabin is pressurized and pretty comfortable. Actually the only extra piece of equipment is a small fan that keeps the air circulating. Two people in a fairly enclosed space put off a lot of heat. There is also an oxygen supply that must be monitored and a fail safe switch that will bring the sub to the surface quickly if there is any problem. Only the tourists sit in the bubble. The pilot is in a wet suit and air tank behind you. He works the controls on the back of the sub until the tourists (like us) would like to take a turn at guiding the sub. We never did because we were much too occupied watching the undersea world around us!

We arrived at their facility, which is on the extreme south of the docking area at Avalon, about an hour before our dive. This is their recommendation. We watched the dive before us and then were given a short course in what would be happening and how to work the controls. The sub resurfaced. The oxygen tanks were checked, pictures were taken and then the bubble closed down and sealed around us. Our pilot was a friendly sort of guy who steered us out a little ways from the dock and then we began our dive. I was taking pictures as fast as I could because the chances of my being in a submarine again seemed slim. (NOTE: There is a sub at Georgetown, Grand Cayman that I found in Jan. of '01. It also goes down 40 feet but holds 30 or so people. It is called the Atlantis. Who knew!) Because the cabin is pressurized you really don't get the sense of going down 40 feet underwater. However, watching the fish and kelp around you let's you know for sure you're in a different world.

Our underwater tour lasted about 40 minutes and we had about 20 minutes on land for training prior to the dive. The cost was $98. I went to their website www.SEAmagine.com to check on current prices but could find none. This may mean they are no longer doing tourist dives. We'll be back in Avalon in Jan. of '04 and we're going to check and see if we can repeat this great experience!