Scuba Dive

Next time you are diving, don’t be surprised if you see an object looking suspiciously like a day-glo yellow Manta Ray fly by.  Entrepreneurs from Wales have put on the market the Scubacraft, a strange boat/submersible combo guaranteed to please James Bond fanatics and technogeeks alike.

It’s the perfect gift for the diver who has every trinket known to man.  Of course, with a $164k price tag you really have to like that diver.  This product uses an internal-combustion engine to reach a dive site, then, at a touch of a button, takes the person onboard under the waves up to a depth of 100ft.  There’s no pressurized cabin, so don your gear before pushing button or you’re in for a nasty bath.  Computerized “automatic depth control” ensures that the Scubacraft won’t descend or climb too quickly, enabling the captain to avoid a nice case of the bends.

I’m not so sure I’m buying this device anytime soon, however.  There is something to be said for the traditional scuba process of motoring out to a dive site with fellow divers on a clunky dive boat, going through the group ritual of suiting up, then returning to the boat afterwards to decompress (literally!) on the way back to the dock.  I frequently find myself wanting not to speed up my scuba experiences, but rather slow them down so I can enjoy them longer.