SAN DIEGO — Thrill-seekers will have a new roller coaster to check out at SeaWorld San Diego beginning in March 2022.

The theme park said Wednesday that the new dive coaster, named Emperor after the world’s largest penguin, will be the tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster in California, as well as the only floorless dive coaster in the state.

The coaster will hit speeds of more than 60 miles per hour, according to SeaWorld, and suspend riders in the air on a 45-degree angle at the crown of the ride before plunging down a 143-foot facedown vertical drop.

Other moves riders will experience include inversions, barrel roll, Immelmann loop, hammerhead turn and flat spin as they race along the nearly 2,500 feet of track. Each floorless ride car will hold 18 riders in three, six-person rows, the first seating configuration of its kind in North America, SeaWorld said.

“Due to the unprecedented challenges of the last two years, the opening was delayed, we know this has been disappointing and we’d like to thank our guests for their patience for this long-awaited ride to open,” John Dunlap, SeaWorld San Diego Park President, said. “Opening just in time for spring break, this free-falling, feet-dangling ride is going to provide even more thrills that our guests and coaster fanatics have been craving.”

In another first for the theme park, SeaWorld is hosting Howl-O-Scream beginning on Sept. 17. The brand new, separately-ticketed event will run for 24 select nights through Oct. 31, joining the park’s annual family-friendly Halloween Spooktacular during the day.