In “Seinfeld,” Jerry and Elaine could not go scuba diving in Florida after Elaine hurt her back.
The situation occurs in “The Pen,” the third-season episode in which Jerry and Elaine visit Jerry’s parents at their retirement community in Florida. Elaine develops severe back pain after sleeping on an uncomfortable sofa bed in hot conditions. Her injury disrupts the visit and prevents the pair from taking part in the planned scuba-diving activity.
The episode’s title refers to a prized ballpoint pen belonging to Jerry’s parents’ neighbor, Jack Klompus. The pen becomes the center of an escalating dispute after Jerry borrows it, while Elaine’s back problem supplies one of the episode’s parallel comic storylines. The Florida setting also lets the show satirize retirement-community etiquette and the tense social world surrounding Jerry’s parents.
A common mix-up is confusing this storyline with “The Nap,” another “Seinfeld” episode involving Elaine and back pain. In “The Nap,” Elaine injures herself while trying to move a mattress and is told to swim in the East River. The Florida incident, by contrast, is specifically tied to the cancelled scuba-diving plan in “The Pen.”