Diving with Seals in Maine: A Day to Remember

If you’re new to this blog, then I am Mia DaPonte and I share my life underwater with you after I got certified as the youngest female Master Scuba Diver in the USA! I was also chosen to be a member of the 2025 PADI Jr. AmbassaDiver team. Our AmbassaDiver motto is “Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.” That means we want everyone to experience the amazing world beneath the waves — and take care of it at the same time.

You can also follow me and all my adventures on Instagram: @underwaterwithmia.

We’re back again!

Recently, I went to Portsmouth, Maine, to do an awesome seal diving experience. We went with a group of our diving friends, which made it extra fun. It was a lot of fun and was really cool to see the seals.

We had an early excursion, so my mom and I drove up the day before and got to walk around and get dinner. The next morning, we headed to Portsmouth Scuba to start our adventure.

When we got on the boat, it was a short 30-minute ride to the dive site named the Isle of Shoals. Along the way, we talked about the dive plan and learned about seals. There were two different kinds of seals for us to look for. One is a harbor seal, and they are on the smaller end. Gray seals are larger. We learned how to tell them apart by their size, shape, and coloring.

They can be a little shy, so we were told to move slowly through the water and not have flashlights or camera flashes because it would scare them. They usually come up from behind and can be very curious. We were told that they can be really playful and might even interact with us, but that we were to let them come to us. We could not try to touch them or chase them. I was really hoping that one would get close to me, but they stayed at a distance.

We could see all the seals popping their heads above the surface of the water, so I expected that they would be everywhere when we finally got in the water. We geared up and split up into small groups so that a big group of divers wouldn’t scare the seals away.

The dive was going to be shallow, only about 20ft deep, but the water was very, very cold. I have never been so cold in all my life, and I was wearing my Sharkskin and a thick wetsuit.

I was surprised because, on the first dive, we only saw them from far away, more like moving shadows. But then our group got lucky on the second dive, which made it worth jumping back into the cold water!

The seals were so adorable, and it was amazing to see them swim around, have fun, and observe us divers. They reminded me a lot of puppies, and we saw about five of them. One came up behind us and lay down for a few seconds while it watched us.

After the dives were over, we headed back to land and had a barbecue, and I officially earned my PADI New England Seal Diver Certification!

Overall, this experience was so cool, and I would definitely do it again.