If you are looking for ways to do less while scuba diving but cover more ground, the revving motors of an underwater scooter is probably the first thing that comes to mind.
Underwater scooters can be a fast and fun mode of transportation—as long as you’re riding safely, comfortably and considerately. Joey and I have tried our fins scooting around at high speeds on a few underwater mobiles. Fast slow, large small, in our experience regardless of what we have boogied around on, underwater scooters are always a riot!
The diving world has plenty of different brands of underwater scooters to choose from. On the high end of the scooter chain there are gargantuan, super-speedy missiles with hours of battery life, while on the other end of the spectrum, there are smaller, less powerful boosters. Not all scooters are created equal, but then again, not all divers dive in the same manner. Having said this let me start by highlighting that the Manta Underwater Scooter was built with a primary goal to be used for swimming and snorkeling. With this in mind, before you read more into the review, as a quick overview we would consider the scooter to be small, affordable and lightweight.
ASIWO is a Texas-based company that has been manufacturing water sports equipment for more than a decade. Founded in 2008, ASIWO has established a solid presence in Europe and North America.
Since its establishment, this customer-centric brand, designs and manufactures premium products to meet all customer expectations. Their latest innovation is the ASIWO Manta, an underwater thruster created to allow water-loving enthusiasts to propel themselves around quickly.
At ASIWO they love the sea and want you to love it too!
The Manta Sea Scooter is an affordable and innovative scooter designed to let swimmers and snorkelers explore the sea to their hearts content.
The Manta Underwater Scooter is a battery operated propulsion vehicle geared towards swimmers and snorkelers. The scooter comes in three different colours and has thrusters that enable the user to change their speed.
The body of the scooter measures 20.7 by 8.4 by 6.8 inches (527 by 213 by 173 mm) and weights between 8-10 lbs (3.5-4.4 kg) depending on which size battery is being used. These spec ultimately boil down to the scooter being relatively compact and light when considering other similar propulsion products.
In terms of speed, the Manta has three different thrust modes allowing the user to adjust their speed to suit their environment and needs.
| Slow Mode | 2 feet/second (0.6 meter/second) |
| Medium Mode | 3.3 feet/second (1 meter/second) |
| Fast Mode | 5 feet/second (1.5 meters/second) |
In conjunction with the varying speeds, the Manta Sea Scooter’s operating time varies from 45 minutes in slow mode to 20 minutes in fast mode. Recharging the scooter takes approximately 2-3 hours.
As you have probably read in my opening paragraph, the Dive Buddies quick overview and my first impression of the Manta Underwater Scooter is that it is small, affordable and lightweight.
Given our dive experience and equipment knowledge I had very minimal expectations when it came to the ASIWO scooters. Joey and I had tried underwater scooters before and these small scooters seemed better suited for pools or warm water where divers are not bunkered down in cumbersome weight and bulky dive equipment. Needless to say, I had serious doubts as to whether we would even be propelled through the water column at all. But guess what?! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The ASIWO Manta scooters pleasantly surprised me with how well they towed me and my dive buddy, a couple of cold water divers bogged down in weight and gear. After a night spent charging the scooter battery, we loaded up our Mantas and headed to a local lake to peruse the shallows and see what these scooters were all about.
Hooking up the scooters to our person was relatively easy with the coiled retractable wrist strap. I actually added a second firmer attachment on the other side as well just for ease of transportation and to keep my hands free while entering from shore and if I decided to tuck the scooter away while underwater. Once in the lake, the scooter was slightly positively buoyant it was simple to do the final preparations in waist-deep water before submerging. Given the scooter’s slight buoyancy, we made sure to bring an extra 5 lbs of weight each to ensure we didn’t struggle with getting and staying down.
At depth, it was time to unleash the scooters and see how they would ride!
In terms of mobility, I found the machines easy to hold and control. The hand grips were a good distance apart and had adequate space for a thickly gloved hand to fit and squeeze the trigger. I also loved that by merely tapping the trigger one or two additional times, the scooters would shift from first to second and third quickly and efficiently. I find that there are already so many distractions when diving, that having a mechanical propulsion device with lots of buttons and dials to worry about can really hinder the experience.
As for speed, we think that the ASIWO Manta Scooter is a good speed for a recreational diver looking to use an underwater scooter for the first time. Some scooters are so powerful that they need to be hooked up to the BCD of a diver in order to properly tow them. The Manta was not too fast and powerful, but it still needed some extent of speed and power to tow someone in layers of neoprene and leaded weight. It is a good balance allowing the user to be towed around with just grip strength.
With regards to longevity, we are pleased to report that we ran our scooters from the moment we entered the water for the entire duration of our dive. Our dive was at least 40 minutes and we tried every speed setting – but spent the bulk of our time in fast.
Personally I loved ASIWO’s Manta Scooter. While I may not be winning any races on it, this beginner sea scooter was perfect for my dive buddy and me to boogie around on. It had enough power to pull us comfortably in our heavy cold water gear but not too much power that I felt like I was being peeled from the Manta’s grip. If you are a hardcore technical diver or diver with lots of experience looking to break speed records or use double tanks, this scooter is definitely not for you. I would recommend the ASIWO Manta for newer divers who have mastered their breathing and buoyancy.
Have you ever buzzed around on an underwater scooter? If so what was your experience?
Writers Note: This underwater scooter review was sponsored by ASIWO. Two Manta Underwater Scooters were provided to Dive Buddies 4 Life by the company in exchange for the review. All comments, tests and thoughts in relation to the scooters are honest and strictly that of Dive Buddies 4 Life. For more information on the scooter or to get your own Manta, visit the ASIWO website.
Additionally, this post may contain affiliate links. We will make a small commission if you make a purchase through one of these links, at no extra cost to you. See full disclosure and disclaimer policy here.
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