As winter (in the northern hemisphere) draws to a close, it’s time to start planning our summer family vacations in warm, and wet, environments. If you’re headed to the beach this spring and summer it’s important that you bring the proper toys for playing in the water with your kids. Everyone knows about sun block, kayaks, water noodles and that kind of thing, but there is one important personal watercraft that I almost never see dads enjoying with their families at the beach.
Personal Submarines
Sure you COULD just get a water ski boat, Jet ski or stand-up paddleboard, but why not explore below the waves with your own submarine. This is a guide meant to help you decide which submarine is right for you.
U-Boat Worx C-Explorer 5
CAPACITY | The first thing to think about when buying a personal submarine is how many people you can fit inside. The U-Boar Worx C-Explorer 5 is an air-conditioned, 200 meter submarine that can cary a family of 5, or a family of 4 and a friend who’s dad can’t afford a submarine or a family of 3 and 2 grand parents who never bought you a submarine or a couple DINKs and their friends who have a kid and can’t afford a submarine. If you are on your own and you can afford a submarine, then capacity probably isn’t that big a deal to you. In that case, just get the 2 person version and you can put your coat in the second seat.
International VentureCraft SportSub
CAMOUFLAGE | When enjoying the underwater world it’s important to blend in with the locals lest your wildlife observations are spoiled by frightened fish. That’s where the SportSub from International VentureCraft shines as it is nearly indistinguishable from a gigantic clown fish. With 2 or 3 person versions, this sub is designed for tours at resorts and beaches. Three passengers sit on either side of the pilot.
SportSub III comes standard with a complete set of all accessories necessary to operate it, and includes many advanced systems such as Fly-By-Wire Joystick, Electronic Buoyancy Control, and Electrical Systems Monitor. Optional equipment such as Lights, Ultrasonic Communications, and Expanded Air Supply systems can all be added to make SportSub III operations even more sophisticated. Ideally these options are specified at the time of manufacture but it is possible to retrofit a basic model with any options. Read More
Propane Tank Personal Submarine
DIY | For the maker set there’s no reason not to make your own personal submarine. As long as you have a welding kit, some tubing and some grinders and stuff you should be able to make one of these. You might need a giant tractor, or you could just use your heavy-duty diesel pickup truck. Either way, this is a pretty pro submarine for being built in a garage.
SEAmagine Hydrospace
DEPTH | This is great option for those who need to go DEEP. With depth ratings down to 1000 M these two and three person submersibles have an awesome glass sphere cabin with a spectacular field of view for up to 6 hour tours of the deeps. Whatever you do, don’t buy a personal submarine that is only good for 3 hour tours. SEAmagine also offers pilot training so that you don’t get stuck trying to parallel park your submarine outside spongbob’s house.
Triton Submarines
STYLE | When you go deep, the pressure can get to you. The Triton Submarine has a spherical cabin that remains at 1 atmosphere for your entire dive. So when your toddler drops a bomb in his pants you can pop back up to the surface and dispose of the offending turds. This one is pretty well built and finished. Check out the 360 degree tour of the cockpit below for a virtual ride in this personal sub.
Deep Fight Super Falcon
AWESOME | There’s no reason that a personal submarine has to look like a some wimpy bionic crystal ball when it could look like something from Battlestar Galactica. The Super Falcon is a two-seater fighter-jet style undersea joyrider that can probably also make the Kessel run in under two parsecs. Deep Flight is made by Hawkes Ocean Technologies who also makes undersea jets for Virgin Oceanic. If you are a Richard Branson type and you need a custom submarine, Hawkes is your company.
US Submarines Phoenix 1000
This is the only TRUE submarine of this list (see below) as the US Submarines Phoenix has twin diesel engines for powering travel at the surface and charging batteries while being able to stay submerged for days at a time and crossing the Atlantic so you don’t have to fly to your Riviera summer home. It has 460 square meters of interior space, a flying bridge that is inundated when diving and even an optional docking mini sub that you can take for deeper excursions while submerged. A good use case for this is if your kid drops his Wreck-It Ralph action figure in 600 m water and the main sub can only go to 65 m. This is also the only “luxury’ submarine. This is for the submarine buyer who doesn’t want to look like he’s riding in Wall-e with goggles on, or some kind of R2D2 with pontoons.
If you are seriously considering a US Submarines Phoenix, I recommend you examine their Development Proposal for a 65-meter Private Luxury Submarine. It’s a PDF, but well worth a read.
Submarine vs. Submersible Vehicle
Some, if not all of these under sea vehicles, while billed as submarines are actually (technically) submersibles. The difference being that a submarine is cabable of generating it’s own power, breathing air and operating for long periods all by itself without the aid of a support boat or ship.
A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is usually supported by a surface vessel, platform, shore team or sometimes a larger submarine. In common usage by the general public, however, the word submarine may be used to describe a craft that is by the technical definition actually a submersible. There are many types of submersibles, including both manned and unmanned craft, otherwise known as remotely operated vehicles or ROVs.[1] Submersibles have many uses worldwide, such as oceanography,underwater archaeology, ocean exploration, adventure, equipment maintenance/recovery or underwater videography. [Wikipedia]
Your Personal Submarine
So which one are you going to get? Clearly, your choice in personal submarines says a lot about you as a person, so choose wisely. My choice is clear: The Super Falcon. I would paint that thing like a F-14 and insist that my son call me maverick while we streak around Lake Tahoe in that bad boy!
-Mike
YES