Jetpacking with Wild Dolphins CudaJet Explorer Series EP4

Beneath the surface of the Pacific, wild dolphins passed alongside us as we turned and rolled through the water. With the Jetpack on our backs and the ocean open ahead, an ambition that CudaJet founder Archie O’Brien had held for years was becoming a reality.

For Episode Four of the CudaJet Explorer Series, Archie and his brother Joe joined wildlife filmmaker Patrick Dykstra for a five-day expedition aboard a yacht. We had come to explore what underwater flight could make possible in the company of wild dolphins.

Reaching that moment took patience. Patrick, Joshua Barton and the crew brought the knowledge needed to find dolphins across an immense stretch of ocean. Even then, sightings did not guarantee an underwater encounter. Our first attempts were brief, with the dolphins moving away before we could experience what we had imagined.

When the opportunity finally came, the scale was remarkable. The crew estimated around 5,000 dolphins in the gathering, and we spent several hours taking turns in the water.

The CudaJet Underwater Jetpack gave us the power to move through open water and the freedom to guide that movement with our bodies. We could turn, roll and change direction, with dolphins passing beside us and nothing held in front to interrupt the view. Back aboard, Archie and Joe described moments of close eye contact and the exhilaration of being there among them.

For Archie, this brought a deeply personal dimension to the engineering. Something he had imagined, designed and built in England was allowing him to experience the ocean in a way he had once only hoped might be possible.

That possibility extends far beyond this expedition.

A yacht can take you to extraordinary places. Underwater flight adds another dimension to what you can experience when you arrive. For an owner exploring a remote coastline, or a charter team creating a voyage around discovery, it opens up new ways to spend time beneath the surface and appreciate the world around you.

Our encounter with the dolphins depended on their presence, the conditions and the expertise of our guides. What CudaJet contributed was a new freedom of movement when that opportunity arose. The experience left us wondering what else we might discover, and where we would take it next.

That curiosity is at the heart of the Explorer Series and Live in the Real World®. We build CudaJet for experiences worth going out into the world to find.

Our greatest thanks to Patrick, Joshua and the crew for making this expedition possible.

Watch Episode Four: Jetpacking with Wild Dolphins.