help on the Reefdancer Glass-bottom Adventure or Atlantis submarine

[blue cruiser]

hi am traveling to maui lahaina in november , and wondered if anyone could give me tips on what to choose , both sound good in different ways and also one is far cheaper than the other having read info on both on the web am a little confused as to me the reefmaster sound better if you not interested in going down to a 100 feet in the submarine as one states you will see more at less depth and they have a diver out there that will show things to you.

 

any info or recommendations would be of great help.

many thanks for replying

[bug_dan]

Hi Bluecruiser,

 

We did the Atlantis Submarine in Kona last year. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised at the amount of sunlight that penetrates to 100', although it does strange things to colors. We had previously done a glass bottom boat cruise in Bermuda and were a bit disappointed in it, which is why we chose the submarine.

[kapoho2]

We just did the Atlantis Submarine in Lahaina on our Hawaiian cruise 2 weeks ago. It was one of the highlights of the cruise. We saw thousands of different fish around the reef on the ocean floor. We also had some huge fish coming right up to the sub and looking in the windows!! Also, the naturalist who was narrating for us was very interesting and informative. We went down 149 feet and it was quite an experience. We will definitely do another Atlantis sub someday. If you can swing it....go for it!!

[blue cruiser]

many thanks for your help on this

[KVR]

We did the Reef Dancer on our Hawaii vacation. We've been on semi-subs in Cancun and Grand Cayman. The Reef Dancer was better than Cancun, but the Nautilus in Grand Cayman was the best.

 

We took the 90 minute tour which included snacks of fresh fruit, crackers, cookies, soda and water. No bathroom on this sub, so be careful. The viewing was not very good as the water was cloudy. We were told it was due to the 2 days of rain before we did the excursion. We were able to see a variety of fish, coral, an moray eel and several turtles. However, none of the pictures I took came out. This sub had 2 scuba divers that retrieved a variety of sea-life and brought it to the window to show us. That was nice. We were also able to go on deck and see more turtles around this one area of coral reef.

 

We've never done the Atlantis due to the expense, but after 3 semi-subs, we would probably splurge next time and do the full sub. However, I would definatley pick a Caribbean Island known for its clear water and not so dark and cloudy like Hawaii.

[spleen93]

Actually, I'd say that visibility in Hawaii waters is no worse than Caribbean waters. Again, runoff and specific beach location does affect visibility to a great extent.

 

Spleen