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Underwater Pumpkin Carving- A Scuba Halloween Tradition

Underwater Pumpkin Carving- A Scuba Halloween Tradition

Written by Noreen
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Published on October 31, 2010

Carving pumpkins into Jack-O-lanterns has been a Halloween tradition for centuries. But you count on Scuba divers who call the Ocean their second home, to turn this simple tradition into something more exciting and take it underwater. Yes, we’re talking about carving pumpkins underwater!

Underwater pumpkin carving is not a novelty in the Scuba world, but has become an annual ritual or tradition of sorts in a number of places like Florida Keys, Coeur d’Alene- Idaho, Otter Lake-Michigan and a lot of other cities across the United States and Canada. And while it might sound fairly simple to gut and carve the burnt-orange colored fruit underwater, it’s a lot tougher than it seems. People take it quite seriously (well as serious as a diver can get) and bring in their ‘A’ games so you have to be creative as it is a competition afterall.

Contestants put on their diving gear and drop down to a depth of less than 30 feet, where they try to carve the most intricate jack-o-lanterns to claim the top spots. It can take upto 2 hrs to carve a pumpkin underwater and the toughest bit is getting the pumpkin down as they are VERY buoyant. But once divers manage to wrestle their pumpkins to the bottom, hack off the top with their dive knives and expel the big ol’ air bubbles inside, the pumpkins are easier to sink and work on. It’s a little messy when the innards get floating around, but they make for some cool food for the finned audience on site. Winners usually get a cool prize like free dive trips and the likes making getting into the cold waters well worth it if you win. Plus it’s a lot of fun nonetheless.

So the next time you’re in Florida Keys, South Carolina, Lake Tahoe, Pennsylvania, Idaho or Michigan among other places, look up when they’re hosting their annual underwater pumpkin carving contest to participate. All divers need are their dive knives and creativity to take part. But, it would be pretty cool to drop a small dive light/dive torch inside to illuminate the pumpkin underwater.