Imagine dining al fresco over a plate of beef bourguignon while staring down the throat of a killer whale floating only a few feet away. At SeaWorld San Diego’s Dine with Shamu, visitors become happily distracted feasting along the rim of a 30-foot-deep tank stocked with nature’s most marvelous sea mammals, which can send mini tsunamis your way as they playfully show off their largeness.

The attraction, located in the park’s redesigned “Shamu: Close Up” pool, starts with an indoor all-you-can-eat buffet, where guests pile up their plates with salads, various hot dishes and freshly carved turkey before seizing a table in the covered, outdoor seating area. The experience is offered twice daily (breakfast and lunch) and requires advance reservations. The cost is $34 for adults and $19 for children ages 3 to 9.

The dining area allows visitors a close-up look at the killer whales in a relaxed setting. Trainers donning wetsuits stay nearby to answer questions about the killer whales’ behaviors while engaging them in feedings, front flips and gentle play. At the end of each hour-long dining session, the trainers signal a whale to hoist itself up onto one of the pool’s slide-outs for a remarkable full view – a grand finale seen during the Shamu shows, but here in the company of a much smaller audience.

When asked if diners could get wet while eating, a trainer replied: “We don’t prompt them to splash on guests, but they’re killer whales, and they could do it on their own. They’re like little kids at times.”

And given the whales’ enormous girth and powerful tail flukes, a sudden roll of their bodies can push water over the pool’s short ledge and under the tables placed along the perimeter. For many, this scenario makes the experience all the more exhilarating.

The buffet features dishes that are atypical of theme-park food, such as a variety of salads, including Oriental, pecan-rice pilaf, creamy garlic tortellini, chicken Dijon, beef bourguignon with mushrooms and whole smoked turkey. An offshoot buffet designed for kids includes mac and cheese, hot dogs and chicken tenders. And from the dessert table are fudge brownies, Shamu-shaped cookies and fruit trifle bursting with grapes, pear and pineapple.

Non-alcoholic beverages are included, and patrons can purchase Budweiser and Michelob products from the wait staff.

Also new to the park is the Brewmaster’s Club at the Anheuser-Busch Hospitality Center. At no additional fee, park visitors can enter into a tasting room and choose from three different beer flights, each listing four to five different selections that include Bare Knuckle Stout, Anheuser World Lager, Michelob AmberBock and several others. Small plates of cheese, fruit and chocolate are offered free to each table.

Says “brand ambassador” Jefry Thomas: “People are just learning about the tastings we offer at SeaWorld. Sometimes there’s up to 20 people in line outside, and sometimes it’s wide open and you can just walk in without waiting.”

The tasting room is equipped with plasma television screens that show Budweiser commercials, some of them from previous Super Bowls. The area is open daily from 12:00 noon to 90 minutes before the park closes. (Park hours vary by season.)

For more information or to make reservations for Dine with Shamu, call (800) 257-4268 ext. 5 or visit www.seaworld.com.