Dive-in Theater with Acadia National Park Ranger

We are just back from ten days in the Bar Harbour / Acadia Nat. Park area. It was a beautiful early Fall vacation. Our favorite outing was this Diver Ed trip. First of all, it got us to the College of the Atlantic which is a very cool place. I love the concept of learning AND having fun at the same time. Being able to see Diver Ed suit up, dive and encounter the ocean floor was pretty amazing. And the hands-on experience with the creatures he brought up was great. Captain Edna is an amazing woman, and the Ranger was friendly, informative and easy to be around. It was great to have information so easily available to us. And the trip concluded with a rainbow that spanned two islands! My husband and I highly recommend this activity.

We found the Dive-in Theater an experience we will remember. It was educational as well as a lot of fun. Diver Ed and Mini Ed put on a great show with the underwater camera as well as on board. I would love to come back and bring my grandchildren who were not with my daughter and I on this trip. Kids would love the experience of touching the marine life Diver Ed brought up from the deep. It was really facinating to see and touch live creatures that we had never seen other than in pictures. The Ranger also was fun. She made the education about the sea fun as well as interesting. We also enjoyed watching the dogs on board. The kids in the other families seemed to enjoy everything about the trip. We also were lucky to see a porpoise and several species of birds. I can't recommend this activity enough. Well worth the price.

Well organized and well done activity by people who share their enthusiasm for what they are doing. We enjoyed the diversity of first cruising the water looking for wildlife that included birds and porpoises and then watching Diver Ed search for life on the bottom of the ocean. It was great first seeing the animals on the screen through the eyes of the diver's camera as he told us about the animal with his diver's microphone, and then watching as he put the animals into his bag to later bring onto the boat. We then had the excitement of getting to see, touch, hold, and take pictures of the animals--starfish, sand dollars, sea cucumbers, lobsters, crabs, etc.--after the diver returned to his boat with the bag. We have taken a lot of tours in the U.S. and Canada in the past few years and would rate this one in the "top five" of all our tours.

We had a blast with Diver Ed. We first heard of Diver Ed from a friend and are very glad we did. We have a 2 year old and 4 year old, both of whom got a lot out of the trip. Diver Ed and his wife are relaxed, comical and professional. There was also a park ranger and boat captain on our trip. The park ranger added some great educational stories on the ride out to the dive site. The kids loved seeing Diver Ed get in his dive gear. I knew that we would be able to see with his under water camera, but it was a nice surprise to be able to hear what he had to say while he was under water too. Being able to handle the animals found by Diver Ed was great fun for all of us. I have never considered becoming a diver for fear of sharks, but this gave me a great appreciation for the excitement of discovering new things under the sea. It also gives you a great sense of responsibility for all of the fragile life under the sea. I highly recommend this outing for anyone.

We have taken a number of sea excursions. Because this was a unique idea, it was especially enjoyable. The live underwater photos gave a sense of a realistic experience. I liked the opportunity to physically examine the specimens from the dive. Because the ship was small (about 32 passengers), the experience was a more personal one. The park ranger's on going lecture during the dive made it an educational experience. Diver Ed has a terrific personality to make it a fun outing.

The trip was terrific, the content awesome, and the staff and crew fantastic. Myself, my husband, our 7 yr old and 4 yr old all sat open mouthed in wonder as Diver Ed toured the bottom of the ocean with their camera. Meeting the animals up close was amazing and very amusing with Diver Ed's antics - we all learned something new. And the ranger from Acadia was especially knowledgeable on everything - the history, the animals, the area, the sea. I would definitely recommend this trip, however the cost was more than we would normally have spent on a trip of this sort, we even had to pay for our infant, but for us it was worth it.

Diver Ed and his wife were excellent with all on board. Eleanor the park ranger was very patient in explaining. the underwater camera is a real plus in learning about the sea floor and the animals there.

The entire family (me and my husband and our 2 children, ages 3 and 4) enjoyed this excursion immensely. First, it's just nice to be out on the water, looking at the cenery. Second and more importantly, the trip was not only educational (my 3 year old keeps talking about sea cucumbers and how the "seastar" has 5 legs) but Diver Ed and his crew are very funny. It being the middle of Sept., there was only one other family with children on the boat; the rest of the passengers were adults of various ages and those adults seemed to get a kick out of the program as much as we did. Highly recommend it to everyone.

This was our family's first trip North from Maryland. We were with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren ages 9 and 6. Diver Ed and his "crew" were very educational and kept all of our attention throughout the trip. It was exciting to see seals, an eagle, and a lighthouse on the way to the diving area. Being able to watch Diver Ed suit up and his manner of interaction with all of us, especially the children, made us all anxious to see what he would be bringing up after his dive. As he walked around the bottom and we watched him put the sea creatures in his bag (having the screen to view on the ship was great), we couldn't wait to see them--Sea Cucumbers, star fish, sun fish of many colors, lobster, and many other living organisms. We highly recommend Diver Ed. He doesn't appear to advertise as much as the other sightseeing trips, but it is well worth the money. Friends recommended him to us before we left for Maine, and we were very grateful.

My 4-year old daughter absolutely loved the tour, and even after a week, she hasn't stopped talking about 'Diver Ed'. She has told everyone about it! I also have high praise for the park ranger that led the tour, 'Ranger Eleanor'. She was great with the kids and adults and helped round out the experience.