Diving the Georgia Aquarium - Journey with Gentle Giants
This guide walks through the full Journey with Gentle Giants dive at the Georgia Aquarium. You will find booking and check in tips, how rental gear is sized, the orchestrated dive plan, and what the VIP flow feels like. Expect a highly structured experience with whale sharks, manta rays, and clear staging from staff.
The Basics
- Book a reservation at least a few months in advance
- Double check height, weight, and sizes since rental gear is based on those entries
- This is a full VIP experience with staff handling most logistics
- You also need a general admission ticket for the aquarium
- You can bring your own mask and computer only, but loaner masks are available
- Must be OW certified
- Fill out the online waiver to speed up check in
Checking In and First Hour
- Arrive at the second floor check in desk at least 30 minutes before your time
- A divemaster in a red shirt will confirm your sizes and certification
- If volunteer staffing allows, non divers in your party may get a free behind the scenes tour
- You will be guided through a backstage door to a small training room after a wet floor briefing
- If you arrive solo, you will be paired so they can form two by two teams for the dive
Suiting Up and Descent
- Jacket BCD (Seac) and a traditional hose configuration
- Wetsuit and boots are provided in the locker room
- Water temperature is about 75 F
- Weights are pre installed in the BCD based on your submitted measurements (mine were spot on)
- After suiting up, pick up your disinfected and defogged mask and optional computer, then walk to the dock and find the BCD labeled with your name
- Put on fins and wait for staff to help you into your pre configured gear; this is part of the VIP format
- On cue, forward roll into the water, signal OK, descend with the divemaster, and kneel in a line while the group assembles
The Dive
- Team includes one divemaster leader, one safety diver, and one videographer
- My SPG started near 2100 psi and I ended around 1000 psi after about 35 minutes
- The path is highly orchestrated: pairs are released about six feet apart to follow the leader
- Stay in the bottom third of the water column to protect the whale sharks and mantas
- You will kneel three times for checks: beginning, middle, and end; confirm PSI and OK each time
- Photo moments are built in beyond the paid video capture
- Route: cross the underwater tunnel to the deep side, make two circuits at the gallery window, then recross the tunnel for exit
After the Dive
- Exit via ladder; a divemaster checks on your dive, then another removes your BCD
- Shower and change in the locker room
- Return to the classroom to debrief
- Stickers and T shirts are handed out and you watch the custom video from your dive
- You will be offered the video and extra merch to purchase
- Plan on about three hours end to end with roughly 35 minutes in water