In the past, the LEGO subaquatic subtheme has focused predominantly on scientific missions, treasure hunts, rescue missions, and similar. Recurring props included expensive equipment such as submersibles, research vessels, shark cages, underwater habitats, spear guns, helicopters. I find it refreshing to finally see a divers set that is centered on much more common everyday pleasure diving activities.

The main characters of the set are a well-funded young scuba diving couple that apparently enjoys underwater filming and photography. Their vessel is the modern-looking 36-ft yacht the "de Luxe". The yacht features high end navigation system and crew quarters with a double bed. A small but well packed underwater scenery completes the set providing a wealth of photography subjects for the divers. The box does a nice job of illustrating the set.

The build was straight forward, brisk, and enjoyable. The set includes two bags of bricks numbered 1 and 2 which all but eliminates parts sorting and hunting. A generous amount of spare pieces remains after final assembly. Interestingly enough, I got one 2x1 white brick which had a noticeably thinner wall on one side than the other. When installed between two other brick, this brick sticks tight to one side and leaves a noticeable gap on the other side. It's not a huge deal, yet makes one wonder about the state of LEGO's quality control today. One could expect to encounter this kinds of defects in Chinese knockoff sets, but it is a surprise in official LEGO products that are claiming 0.01mm molding precision.

The yacht uses a common LEGO watertight hull piece and is therefore able to float, although this is not advertised by LEGO on the box or in the instructions. With the divers loaded on the boat, the water line is almost at the rims of the hull. A bigger issue is that the boat lists dramatically to one side or the other unless the divers and their equipment are carefully positioned. The superstructure is removable to expose the living quarters of the boat. With the superstructure off, the water-worthiness of the boat improves dramatically to the point that it rides higher above the water level and exhibits excellent lateral stability regardless of the cargo positioning.

The stickers add a few bluish accents to the yacht, but it also looks just fine without them IMHO. One of the deficiencies of the yacht is that the double bed is not able to fit both minifigures at the same time, but that is understandable since the hull does not provide sufficient width. The second problem is that the yacht does not provide any way for the divers to secure their equipment. There is no storage hatch under the red plates and no attachments to secure the cylinders, fins, and helmets. The poor divers have no other option but to toss their gear on the floor in their luxury boat and let it roll around with the swells.

Speaking of the diving couple minifigures, they look quite nice in this set with their yellow double cylinders and accented wetsuits. In my eyes, these classic space cylinders look a lot better on blocky LEGO divers than the single cylinder pieces we have seen in other diver sets. I only wish the divers were not predominantly black head-to-toe. Perhaps some colored fins could just add the missing touch of color. Finally, I have never really liked how the motorcycle/space helmets look on LEGO divers. IMHO LEGO could improve the look of their divers a lot by modifying a few hair pieces to accept the transparent diver mask pieces and fit with the cylinder pieces. It would also be nice if the diver's masks could lose the snorkel and gain a regulator to complete the look.

The sand bottom, rock formation, vegetation, corals, crab and fish of different sizes and colors work well together to create a small but dynamic scenic landscape. Only the treasure chest with the gemstone inside feels out of place, since the diving couple don't look anything like treasure seekers. I think the set would be better if in place of chest the scenery included more corals and animals in different colors.

There are three other details in the set that seem odd. First, the dive flag in the buoy does not make sense. In real life, a diving boat would display a dive flag on its mast to warn other boaters that there are divers in the water. A buoy mounted flag would not be deployed around a dive boat since it is far less visible. This small oversight is easy to correct by mounting the flag on the boat. Second, the video camera used by the divers looks more like a weapon of some sort than an underwater camera system - it is way too long. Finally, I find the choice of the male diver's blonde surfer-kid hairpiece strange given the "de Luxe" diving yacht and his far more serious-looking female companion.

All said, I think this is a very nice divers set that is well worth the price. The boat, diving couple, and underwater scenery look very nice. The build is quick and fun. The playability is pretty good. There are a few aspects that could use improvement, but noting deal-breaking. I hope we get more good divers sets from LEGO in the future.

This is an exceptional example of Lego doing a wonderful job in creating a set that appeals to adults and kids. This is packed with hours of play and imagination between the boat, the divers, the sea life, and a sunken treasure.

What I loved:
This boat actually floats! Take it in the bathtub, put it in a full sink, or in the family pool. Building the details on the boat are pretty fast and look like something you'd see in Miami or Honolulu. The completed boat model is sleek and stylish. I'm a land lubber but I'd love spending time on this boat.

Divers! The minifigures have great colors and details on the torsos and both come with diving helmets and alternate headgear - a hairpiece for the male and a dual-molded cap with ponytail in the back for the female. (The plain black legs detract a bit but wetsuits aren't usually decorated.) It's nice to have a set with minifigures that are focused on exploration or learning like this instead of adversarial roles.

Fish! The set has a great sawfish with a moving mouth, a crab, and a fish.

Sunken treasure! The set comes with a wooden treasure chest to hold a couple of gems and anything else you want to place in it.

Parts selection! This set has a lot of nice pieces that can build other creations, with lots of tiles, slopes, windows, transparent pieces and greenery. The minifig accessories are equally good with two types of cameras, watermelon slices, soda cans, and their diving gear.

Safety!
The boat hull can be separated with a little fingernail exercise so the Lego plates come off the bottom piece to let it dry out after an outing. Keep those barnacles at bay!

What I didn't love:

Stickers! I understand the tactic of using stickers to save on production costs but this set has some sticker shock. First off, the exterior of the boat requires three stickers, one on each side and one on the rear. They look good but how long until they peel off or deteriorate when kids play with it in the water?

Building experience - I docked a point on this score because there's no advanced building techniques. That's okay, there doesn't need to be on everything and it's still a great set.

Verdict:

I would recommend this set to anyone with kids or an interest in marine life. It's a really good value if you account for the hull that is the bulk of the boat. The model includes a good variety of creative play and display options.

This set was added to my son's collection courtesy of relative fill-in-the-blank. A good find! A simple set in its build, pieces, and difficulty level, but makes a great end-state experience.

Overall build is pretty easy. A small underwater scene and some less common accessories (ponytail hat, 1x1 round tile soda can printed pieces, watermelon, SCUBA gear, a diving flag, jewels, and a cool shark) make this a little different than your standard City set and add to the fun factor. I was fortunate enough to get redundant jewels in my set, so lots of extras for the future.

The boat DOES float. Some other reviews may say that there's no advertising of such, but the front of the box does state it on the left side towards the middle under the SCUBA flag. Generally speaking, any of the single-piece hull boats do float, but just speaking generally, there may be expectations to this reasoning. With that fact, the playability automatically goes way up as this can be used on top of the table or the water. Given it's size, I will say that weight balancing and payload management is key to getting it right in the water. This is not difficult to achieve though.

There are some trendy decals that some with the set, but given that my decals from my childhood sets (4011 and 4021) fell off somewhat easily, I've never been able to put them on with this set. Because of this, I can't really speak to the durability of them if water play is in your set's future. Btw, the scuba flag buoy does not do well in the water as built. It needs some work to do what's pictured.

Overall, a decent value. The price per piece is a little on the higher side of 13.5c (US) but when then hull counts as a single piece, a bit skewed in the data. Price point is ok though.

A note about mold and water toys: the full boat comes apart, has drainage holes, and can be completely dismantled and dried or cleaned as desired. If you're worried about water getting trapped in areas and brewing mold, worry not as this one was pretty well designed with that safety in mind. It'll take a little massaging of the parts, but they come apart pretty easily. A really good engineering aspect of this build for my family.

A good little set that gives some out-of-ordinary pieces to throw into another creation. Having it made to take it into the pool or bath adds another layer of capability and fun. Tearing it down and building something new off the hull also allows great teaching experiences in naval architecture in order to balance it out in the water (also can teach symmetry too).

A fun little set for the kids, different than just another tabletop set, and some different potential teaching moments. Build is not much to write home about, but great for the price point.

Recommended!

This is a really fun and easy to build set that also offers some cool play for those who like aqua-themed sets. It actually floats, which the kids liked, and the mini-fig design was very reminiscent of the 2007 Aqua Raiders collection, which is pretty cool for combined play.

This was my first purchase of 2019, it flows well into the old fishing store(set 21310). You can almost see the sign at the store... diving tours here.

The highlight of the set is the numerous accessories for underwater. The two diver minifigs are gorgeous, the little underwater diorama is perfect. The main draw, the sawfish, rests comfortably on the seaweed and gives the appearance of swimming.

The whole build is an hour or less, a perfect break in an afternoon. The yacht itself is average, but a one piece hull probably allows some actual water time.

A great set for the price, a must-have if you like sea/water themes.