Friday, Oct. 11: Eye-to-Eye Shark Dives

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

By Volcano Staff on October 7, 2013

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the folks at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium pull something like this. They're allowing visitors to dive into the South Pacific Aquarium with more than a dozen sharks - including a 450-pound, 9-foot lemon shark. In addition to the lemon shark, there are blacktip reef sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, loan sharks, a sand tiger shark and a Japanese Wobbegong shark. And no diving experience is necessary. Non-certified divers, ages 8 and older, will breathe surface-supplied air as they view the sharks up close from an underwater cage. Certified scuba divers, ages 15 and older, will be escorted around the habitat by professionally trained diver/guides. All will get a never-before-offered, eye-to-eye view of sharks. Plus, the 240,000-gallon South Pacific Aquarium is home to dozens of other interesting fish.

EYE-TO-EYE SHARK DIVES, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, 5400 N. Pearl, Tacoma, $50-$65 cage dives, $160-$175 scuba dives, 253.591.5337