Tag: SCUBA

SCUBA + Halloween = Underwater Pumpkin Carving!!

SCUBA + Halloween = Underwater Pumpkin Carving!!

What’s the best way to celebrate Halloween with your SCUBA diving buddies?  Underwater Pumpkin Carving Competition, of course!

My first Underwater Pumpkin Carving Competition was with Gator Scuba Club in 2010.  At first, I was unsure about it. How can I possibly carve a pumpkin underwater?  Isn’t carving on land difficult enough?  I’m terrible with knives.  Am I more likely to cut my fingers off??

When we arrived at Blue Grotto in Williston, Florida, we gathered around the picnic tables.  We paired up with a dive buddy, and each group was issued a pumpkin.  We were ready to begin.  But first we needed to prepare the pumpkin for carving (above ground).

71523_10150306647385156_770081_n
My buddy and I removing guts from our pumpkin.  Photo credit: Gator Scuba Club

Each team cut a hole in the top of their pumpkin and scooped out the seeds and guts.  When it was all cleaned out, we then drew our design on the pumpkin with markers. My buddy and I decided to free-hand draw my design, just like my dad did when I was a kid.

33689_10150306647675156_8118540_n
Scooping the guts out of our pumpkin.  We drew a shark with a little fish.

Others teams brought stencils and traced them onto their pumpkins.

73043_10150306647525156_8190990_n
Drawing designs on our pumpkins.  Some teams drew free-handed, some used stencils.  Photo credit: Gator Scuba Club

After we finished marking up our pumpkins, we put on our SCUBA gear, grabbed our tools, and got in the water.

72526_10150306649110156_3494936_n
Diver carves pumpkin and collects pieces in mesh bag. Photo credit: Gator Scuba Club

There are several key elements that made our underwater pumpkin carving possible. We needed to have space to carve without damaging any underwater vegetation.  Blue Grotto has a concrete platform at 15 feet, which made it the perfect place for underwater pumpkin carving.

The pumpkins are buoyant.  In order to keep them grounded on the platform, each team put a weight inside their pumpkin.  As pieces of pumpkin are carved off, they float to the surface.  In order to keep Blue Grotto clean for the next divers, we grabbed a mesh bag and put a weight inside.  As we carved pieces of pumpkin off, we were careful to grab them and place them inside the mesh bag.

We descended to the platform with our pumpkins, mesh bags, and carving tools and started carving.  I found it difficult to cut small, narrow pieces.

69372_10150306649090156_4603455_n
My buddy and I checking our progress on the carving.

Divers who were more skilled knife users than I am didn’t have a problem.

69393_10150306648935156_1499829_n
The teams on the platform carving their pumpkins.  Photo credit: Gator Scuba Club

Here’s how the pumpkins turned out:

71870_10150306651915156_6365542_n

67221_10150306651935156_1775126_n
The finished pumpkins, underwater and on land! Photo Credits: Gator Scuba Club

I had such a great time that I did it again after graduation.  I found a local dive club in Atlanta, and we went to Dive Land Park in Alabama.  Learning from my first attempt, I decided to carve a simpler design into my pumpkin – a shark with less detail, without the tiny fish.

1381876_10103178649298143_311428947_n
Carving a shark into my pumpkin at Dive Land Park in Alabama.

Do you have any unique Halloween traditions?