Sea-Doo Seascooter Explorer Review

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(More customer reviews)I read one review on this scooter that was very negative and I think it does not reflect properly on this scooter. First of all, let me go over the negatives. First and foremost is that trying to get a service and repair manual for any sea scooter is near impossible and the Sea Doo explorer is no exception. I contacted Sea Doo, NFM, and other distributors of Sea Doo clones (all of which are manufactured in China) including the distributor who sold me my Explorer, without any luck in obtaining a repair manual. So, if your scooter breaks down you either have to spend the bucks to ship it to have it fixed if it is under warrantee or send it to a sea scooter repair shop if you can locate one. Second negative is the digital battery is a very expensive item to replace but is suppose to give several years use.
So lets talk about the Explorer. It is light years ahead in engineering over the old style Sea Doo's and clones. It's three speed switch is awesome and power comes on immediately unlike the older Sea Doos which slowly power up. Second, changing and charging the battery is a snap and the battery life per charge is twice as long as the original Sea Doo. As to weight, yes it is larger and heavier than the original Sea Doo but once in the water its easy to maneuver and my six year old daughter had no trouble turning it while surface snorkeling.
At high speed, it is as fast as you want to go underwater as the force of water against you will tire you out quickly especially if you are using scuba gear but I found that the middle speed is about perfect for cruising and low speed just about right to keep up with the dog.
For a free diver, this scooter rocks!! It will pull you down quickly (4 ft. per second)
and will go deeper than I would comfortably go without a backup air source (spare air/pony tank) and in fact this scooter will exceed the save diving limits of recreational scuba diving with its maximum depth rating of 160 Ft.. For a free diver this translates to a round trip from the surface to 160' and back up in just a little over one minute and 20 seconds at full power.
I have taken this scooter down over 100', lingered a bit and back up to the surface while free diving but I highly do not recommend this unless you are a disciplined and trained free diver and can make it to the surface without the scooter.
If using scuba gear, this scooter is great in conserving air and getting around but it is best to ascend using your BC and fins and carry your scooter up to the surface to avoid getting bent or injuring your lungs from over expansion especially when nearing the surface after a deep dive or when surface conditions are experiencing high swells.
Another plus for this scooter is the extreme ease to adjust its buoyancy with four cylinder weights and their exterior placement holes so your scooter can either be buoyant to keep the kid at the surface, or negative to go deep.
So, far I have had zero problems with my scooter but I just might be lucky as my older Sea Doo's were always having problems. I recommend diligent servicing of this scooter as you would any of your scuba equipment and follow the service and care recommendations in the user manual.
Bottom line, considering it's price and abilities in comparison to the older generation Sea Doo scooters and the pricey high tech scooters, this scooter is highly recommended for the serious diver who does not want to compromise performance and not have to spend the big bucks to get it!

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Engineered to withstand the toughest environments, the Sea-Doo Seascooter Explorer is ideal for both recreational and professional scuba divers. The dive propulsion vehicle runs at a speed of up to 3.3 miles per hour and dives as deep as 160 feet, helping you navigate your way through choppy currents while exploring both deep and shallow dive spots. Snorkelers will also get a kick out of the Explorer, which works as well on the surface as it does underwater. And thanks to the variable three-stage speed control, you can find the speed that works best for your situation--whether at play or at work.
The Explorer comes equipped with a host of safety features, including low-battery voltage protection, over-current protection, high-temperature protection, and audible water ingress alert, an auto shutoff function, and a safety lock. The scooter, which runs for up to two hours per charge, measures 23.5 by 14.6 by 12.2 inches (W x H x D) and weighs 32 pounds. It's also backed by a 180-day warranty on parts and labor.

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BladeFish 5000 DPV Sea Scooter Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all - Yes I own a bladefish. I have tried it in a pool, I have tried it snorkeling in the ocean, and I have tried it in full scuba gear at 100' down.
Pros : Compact, light, portable, great for snorkeling, uses lithium batteries, near zero maintenance (just need to lube a couple of o-rings), good battery life, and quick charging.
Cons: although a great snorkeling accessory - this scooter is an underpowered recreational scuba scooter. You find yourself constantly wanting to fin (just like in all the advertisements and demos you see with this thing) just to keep the fish from laughing at you. Yes it will pull you in full scuba gear - very slooooooooowwwwwwwwly and no where near their claims. Your constant desire to fin will negate much of the positive aspects of a scooter - to conserve air and to have fun! Don't get me wrong - I so wanted this to be the awesome amazing magic scooter invention that cures all the woes of the traditional diver propulsion vehicle (DPV).
I am frankly outraged at the bold faced lies that the recreational scooter manufacturers are allowed to use. Those of us just getting into using a scooter and into diving are not often engineers and we trust the manufacturers... well.. at least we kind of do. We are looking for something fun and the claims of 3.75 miles per hour sure sounds fun - If it could actually do it! I'm ashamed to say that bladefish does not have integrity on their side in this claim. COME ON BLADEFISH -How about if I tell everyone what you don't want them to know.
Let's just be real and talk some math shall we? If you understand speed of a scooter in water you have to understand the concept of thrust. There is a direct correlation between the thrust provided by a scooter and the speed of a scooter as shown by all the hard work of those great guys in the TAHOE BENCHMARK where divers work for days to make sure scooters are given a fair shake and tried in real conditions by both tech and recreational trials.(shouldn't the manufacturers be doing this?)
In order for the bladefish to even come remotely close to its claims of 3.75 mph you would have to travel at 330 feet per minute - which would require thrust equivalent to having X over .00065 to the nth root where 2.08 is n. If you do the math to figure out what X (THRUST) is.... that would mean you would need 112.5699 pounds of thrust. (which if you understand - that amount of thrust would probably rip your mask off - and pull your arms so hard you could get injured - you definately wouldn't be trailing behind it feeling the need to kick) Just watch the demo videos - is that what you see?
That large amount of thrust is required because as the speed increases it gets proportionally harder to pull something through a dense liquid at faster speeds. It only takes 70 pounds of thrust to pull a scooter through the water at near 3mph... but it takes an enormous 113 pounds of thrust to pull only .75 miles faster. (which is what the equation basically shows)
Currently there is only one scooter I know of that comes close to the 3mph mark and has the stats to back it up. That would be the Silent Submersion Magnus which retails for over six thousand dollars and puts out 70 pounds of thrust and 1000 watts! (and weights 4-5 times more because of the large lithium ion battery needed to power such an engine!) Other scooters in that category are the x-dive series of scooters which also sport impressive speeds of over 260 feet per minute. (yet none of them make the false claim of 330 feet per minute!)
Remember the bladefish only puts out 240 watts, and very little thrust. Even if you were a keebler elf shaped torpedo you would have a hard time breaking 1mph. Don't be fooled by some video of people kicking with it. This is a snorkeling accessory or a suped up pool toy that I wouldn't let my kids play with. (do you let them play with a circulating fan at home?) In all honesty it is not as dangerous as a circulating fan because you need both hands to turn it on. (Which is only one more negative thing for scuba)
IF you don't believe me -or the math - then just try it. You will be using amazon's return policy as soon as you can get your scuba gear off. There is no denying the math. I would love to see any bladefish representative explain how they got that figure for speed. Don't be fooled - it does not go 3.75 miles per hour unless it is towed by a boat.
My hats off for pushing the envelope of design, for pushing the industry to lithium ion batteries, and for making the first truly portable scooter. I know in the future you will design one that is made with scuba in mind and the power to back it up. The bottom line is if you're a snorkeler or a rapid diver - this is a great tool. Scuba divers should probably move on to something more powerful.

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Sea Doo Replacement Battery for Explorer Scooter Review

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(More customer reviews)What a rip-off. I bought two Sea Doo Explorers. Used them last summer and loved them. Pulled them out for this summer and both batteries were dead and would not recharge. I bought two new batteries in June and now they came with labels that say you have to recharge the battery within 24 hours after use, and if not in use, you have to charge them AT LEAST every 3 months. So I tried to recharge them both after 2 months and they are both dead and will not charge. Another $400 down the drain. How can Sea-Doo even put their name on a product like this?

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Sea-Doo SD6545X VS Supercharged "Plus" Sea Scooter Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this for our family to play with in the pool. It pulls the kids around quite nicely. I'm 210 pounds and it will pull me but not very fast. It stuggles to pull me to the bottom of the pool without my kicking to assist. We can play with it pretty much all afternoon without the battery ever going down. I have heard the cheaper ones can't even pull the kids around very well. My oldes it 7 and he is about 50 pounds. It pulls him around very well. He really likes it. As you have read, pulling the battery out to charge is kinds of odd, but not that big a deal. Takes a couple of minutes. By the way, ours got very scratched up from hitting the sides and steps of our pool. It really needs more rubberized protection along the bottom. I'm planning on finding something at the hardware store like rubber stick on pads or something to stick on the bottom so it won't get even more scratched up.


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Push your diving experience to a new level of excitement. SEA-DOO SEASCOOTER™ VS SUPERCHARGED PLUS, now features a reinforced nose cone that protects the unit during transport and in rough environments. This ultimate dive propulsion vehicle was rated No.1 overall by Diving Science and Technology (DSAT). The VS SUPERCHARGED PLUS delivers two levels of thrust. So save air, stay down longer and get more fun out of diving!

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Sea Doo Explorer X Sea-Doo Sea Scooter Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this on an impulse buy - it was on sale on amazon. What a killer deal! In any case I took it out along side a bladefish 5000 this last weekend and I had three tanks to play with. I took the sea doo first... it was awesome. No leaks, no problems adjusting trim, and it was quite powerful. Not as powerful as a Mako but on high it could keep up with my mutant fast dive partner in his cressi fins with no problem. He dove an aluminum 100 and I had an 80. He also secretly has gills and barely sips air while going boat speeds after diving for 20 years. Before now I never get close to him on dive time but with the sea doo I literally outlasted him. So little effort on the scooter because it goes fast enough you don't need to kick to make up for it like the bladefish.
I was impressed the whole time and it brought a smile on my face how effortlessly it floated completely neutral while I was working underwater. The second dive was on the bladefish - a big let down - it is nothing like what is advertised and this sea doo kicks its tail on speed and power. (I would imagine though not on reliability - sea doo has had issues in the past but i'm sure i'm the one customer to not get a lemon... knock on wood)
In any case - the third dive - the bladefish sat on the boat. My sea doo definitely made it to the 1 hour mark no problem. When I got home - the pump they give you helps you pop off the top so no pulling - the battery is a verticle charge so you just drop it on... very nice guys.
One word of caution - the bladefish has zero maintenance - lube an o-ring every now and then and then plug it into the wall. The Sea Doo is a bit more. You have to lube the o-rings and you need to pull out the battery and charge it after every dive. Battery maintenance has some rules and you need to let it charge longer than the bladefish. The bladefish you can even charge in your car for 2 hours and then hit the water again. What a great snorkel toy!
The sea doo is more like a traditional torpedo scooter - if you are planning on getting a pro model later - the sea doo will get you prepared for what to expect. I can't vouch for reliability - something I would imagine the bladefish would win - but for the price Amazon had it for (I won't say the price) I couldn't resist trying!
UPDATE: Dive #3 from shore was nearly an hour in length and my trusty explorer X did an excellent job. I had so much fun and I am still loving the removable weights to make it the perfect trim. It is made of plastic so you have to be more careful that a $4000 dpv but come on - this thing is under $1000 and is a lot of fun. (and the grill over the propeller is probably an excellent idea for the average scuba diver who needs to get used to the prop and would otherwise mangle an expensive computer or gauge console - or end up servicing their scooter way too early) I can't wait to try dive #4 - I'll keep you posted.

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New generation SEADOO SEASCOOTER EXPLORER X is a superior DPV in the market that is easily accessible to anyone who sees diving as a passion and divers seeking new thrills underwater. The top-of-the-line Explorer X features a 3-stage seal for waterproof integrity, and is outfitted with a new pressure-valve technology that allows depressurization of the unit after ascending to the surface. Save air and spend more time exploring new dive sites, reefs and wrecks.

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Sea Doo GTI Sea Scooter Review

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(More customer reviews)I think some may have higher expectations out of this scooter than it is designed to give. Please understand that...THIS IS NOT INTENDED FOR TECH DIVING NOR SHOULD IT BE. Also...This is not going to have you flying underwater like some movies have portrayed underwater DPV use. There are two reasons I can think of why going fast is not desirable. First, you're going to probably miss half of what is to be seen and secondly, going fast will increase the chance that you change depths too fast; this is a safety issue only inexperienced and bad divers will ignore.
As far as the build quality and power, I have to admit at first I was a bit concerned when I ordered mine and even when I got it out of the box but all doubts have since gone away. The people I dive with either have Torpedoes or the SeaDoo Explorers so I wasn't sure how well it would perform against them. It did fine!! The battery life hasn't been quite the 1.5 hours advertised but then again, none of the other scooter owners I dive with get their advertised run time either, plus I'm a pretty heavy guy (200+). You use a 12V-14 Ah battery; that should increase the run time. OK...getting to the battery involves one more step than most and yes...you need to pump some air into it with a cheap-o hand pump but it works and it takes a total of 10 seconds. This is not a bad design; this allows the external nose cone to have additional devices such as a compass or depth gauge attached. They provide a band that should be used to insure the inner nose cone sealing off the battery doesn't flying off but this must be more for liability reasons than anything else. You can easily hold your hand over it while it pops up, it won't go flying off like rocket. Oh yeah... there are a lot of warnings throughout the guide but that's a C.Y.A thing companies have to do because history has shown, people do stupid things and then try to blame it on the company that sold them the product. Not to mention, you're dealing with a lead acid battery and a device not designed to be used for technical diving. Recreational scooters should NEVER be counted on as a life saving device. Your dive plan should take into account distance....you may need to swim back with a dead scooter. That's any scooter on the market.
PROS:
-The scooter is Light
-The battery lasted more than 40 minutes (continuous w/o kicking) and it seems to be getting stronger.
-Has two speeds and has more than enough power for the average diver
- Half the price of the Explorer and 3-4 times cheaper than the other recreational scooters
-Batteries are CHEAP!! I can buy a replacement batter for less than $30 on line
-No crazy control modules on the batteries
-Two "O" rings to prevent flooding although it's designed for accidental flooding
-Nose cone can accommodate a compass or depth gauge being attached to it.
CONS:
-The build quality is not the strongest (Don't be rough with it and you'll be fine)
-You won't have the power to pull multiple people
-Both hands are needed for the 2nd gear (two triggers for speed control)
-Only rated for 100' and tested to 115'. Heck...that's 15 feet shy of the recreational dive limit.
For the price, this scooter is hard to beat!


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A big performer in a tiny package, the Sea-Doo Seascooter GTI is an ideal accessory for scuba divers, snorkelers, and anyone else looking to get around in the waves. The dive propulsion vehicle runs at a speed of up to 2.5 miles per hour and dives as deep as 100 feet, helping you navigate your way through choppy currents while exploring your favorite dive spot. Snorkelers will also get a kick out of the GTI, which works as well on the surface as it does underwater.
The GTI is light enough at 18 pounds (including battery) to carry in one hand, making beach diving a reality. Other details include waterproof circuitry that protects against accidental flooding, adjustable buoyancy, and a run time of two hours per charge with normal use. The GTI, which measures 23.5 by 14.6 by 12.2 inches (W x H x D), carries a 180-day warranty on parts and labor.

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