In May 2019, Uber presented to the world, ‘scUber’ the world first ride share submarine. In the quest to become the powerhouse of all things transport, Uber went above and beyond in creating a submarine experience you can book through the regular Uber app.
scUber sounded epic but something I never thought I would be able to experience (something about a submarine is so damn cool that it doesn’t even make your bucket list because you don’t see how you would ever be able to tick it off) so I was absolutely blown away when late Saturday afternoon I got a message mid June from Tourism Events Queensland asking if I wanted to go…
In fact, it’s been two months since my day with scUber and it still feels very much like a dream.
“Helicopter to the launch pad leaves at 9am” was how the message signed off. So, unable to believe my luck, bright eyed and eager, I was at Cairns Airport the very next day, more than excited for not only my very first submarine ride, but also my very first helicopter ride.
It is always mind-blowing how close Cairns is to the Great Barrier Reef, only a few minutes of flying out over the ocean were we greeted with the stunning Great Barrier Reef. I have seen the reef from above once before via a small plane and it is something every single person must experience. All the photos in the world can not do it justice, although I’ll certainly try with the following…
I wasn’t the only lucky one invited on scUber. With Cairns photographer extraordinaire Rian Cope joining as well (feet pictured above!)
It wasn’t long until we arrived at the Quicksilver pontoon. Coming by helicopter meant we beat the reef tour boat and had the entire pontoon to ourselves. It was pretty damn cool.
From the pontoon we were taken on a boat, transferred to a second boat, before being transferred to a third boat that housed the scUber submarine. (It all made sense when you were there).
We were introduced to the friendly crew, asked what turned out to be the equivalent of ‘so has it been busy tonight?’ to the scUber driver: “how do you become a submarine driver?”. Then the scUber was submerged into the water.
The scUber fit myself, Rian and our scUber driver Erika. The glass was made especially to increase visibility. It was insane, you could not tell where the glass was vs the actual water. I actually ran into a friend a week later who asked me how I edited the inside scUber photos to make it look like there was no glass. It was just that good.
The submarine moved so effortlessly throughout the water and took us so close to the Reef (without harming any of the precious eco-system). It was crazy to be completely dry and yet be so deep down.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you… a playstation remote drove the entire submarine. Absolutely amazing.
In addition to taking our own photos and having the experience of our lives we were also being filmed by a documentary film crew. It was pretty epic to see them at work diving around the submarine. You can check out the clip on scUber Queensland page.
After we were brought to the surface and greeted by the awesome crew unable to wipe the smiles of our faces we were taken back to the Quicksilver pontoon. Here we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch thanks to Quicksilver (seriously reef lunches on a pontoon are some of the best lunches in the world) before the helicopter arrived to take us back to Cairns.
This day was a once in a lifetime experience and one that I will never ever forget.
Rian also made an epic video of the day, check it out below.
