Must Visit Dive Shops?
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jengineer61
Registered
That is a loaded question and folks may think there is an ulterior reason for your questions. When I was wanting to get certified I wanted it done quickly a I learned my parents were going to Australia and New Zealand and invited the kids along. KIds in their 20's. We only need to pay air fare.
We had two months to pull our passports and Visa's together. I am of the opinion of always have a valid passport as you never know when you will need to leave the country in a hurry so the visa application was sent off to the local consulates. Unfortunately I subscribed at that time to the articles in several dive magazines and got my gear from 3 different shops. This was before I learned it is best to support your local Sheriff meaning get you gear from the shop you are going to get your training from. That left out the local shop in the South bay but left open Orange County La County and even Ventura. I found a class that would complete in 2 weeks meeting Fri night Sat and Sunday some 50 miles from home Scuba- Duba-Dive (no longer in business). The beach dives dive 1 & 2 were incredibly short for a class of 7 - not even 20 minutes in silty waters north of Malibu. The ocean dives were a bit better but not by much out of a the Oxnard harbour.
The shop I waned to learn from didn't have a crash course - their was at least 4 weeks long. But they did have a weekend in Catalina Advanced Open Water course in a couple of weeks. In the meantime a friend from work took me out every sat for beach dives in Laguna Beach where we worked on buoyancy and some basic navigation. I could suck a 95 cu ft steel tank dry in 20 minutes. Learning in low visibility and surge prepped me for Australia. Over time the original gear was sold off and bought from the shop I taught at. Why did I choose that shop.
1 yes the people - the sale folks dive, and they dive the gear they sell.
2. The owner was willing to bring in other brands and let the divers dive the gear before committing to carrying a brand.
3. They have been in business since the 1950's, granted they were a full on sporting store/gun store at that time.
4. In the 90's some of us started getting into voodoo gasses aka oxygen hackers Guide and went to other organizations to learn nitrox and trimix before the biggies jumped on board. We were allowed aprivate room for mixing and wehn the alphabet groups finally endorsed osome of the things the outlaw group was doing the shop was in a posiiotn to sell mixes as we had certs from other organizaitons but now the liability to the store would be covered. The owner did not need to do this.
5. They maintain the gear including Hydro on the premesis - what they sell they service.
6. Buy gear at the shop try it in the pool, if it doesn't work for you as long as it has not been in the ocaean trade it for differnt gear.
Finally when I was taking my Advanced open water the instructor stated the shop has private classes and I would have completed in a not so rused manner but would have more time in the pool and a one on one t4rianing. I told them they didn't have that listed on their board or any of the training material that haey had - that was corrected.
So in answer ot your quesiton When I started I went to about 9 differnt shops ingreatr Los Angeles aarea. Some of them were small some of them were large. I setteled on a shop where I felt welcomed, the atmosphere is friendly, I was allowed to look without being haseseled to buy gear. They sponsor multiple dive trips a year some local and at least one international each year. Through them I was able to expand my dive experience and gained friendhsip that has lasted 30 years.
Not sure this iis what you are looking for but hey I am trying to get to 25 posts so I can DM someone about the Vyper software. I had another ID but it is not working so startig over again.
We had two months to pull our passports and Visa's together. I am of the opinion of always have a valid passport as you never know when you will need to leave the country in a hurry so the visa application was sent off to the local consulates. Unfortunately I subscribed at that time to the articles in several dive magazines and got my gear from 3 different shops. This was before I learned it is best to support your local Sheriff meaning get you gear from the shop you are going to get your training from. That left out the local shop in the South bay but left open Orange County La County and even Ventura. I found a class that would complete in 2 weeks meeting Fri night Sat and Sunday some 50 miles from home Scuba- Duba-Dive (no longer in business). The beach dives dive 1 & 2 were incredibly short for a class of 7 - not even 20 minutes in silty waters north of Malibu. The ocean dives were a bit better but not by much out of a the Oxnard harbour.
The shop I waned to learn from didn't have a crash course - their was at least 4 weeks long. But they did have a weekend in Catalina Advanced Open Water course in a couple of weeks. In the meantime a friend from work took me out every sat for beach dives in Laguna Beach where we worked on buoyancy and some basic navigation. I could suck a 95 cu ft steel tank dry in 20 minutes. Learning in low visibility and surge prepped me for Australia. Over time the original gear was sold off and bought from the shop I taught at. Why did I choose that shop.
1 yes the people - the sale folks dive, and they dive the gear they sell.
2. The owner was willing to bring in other brands and let the divers dive the gear before committing to carrying a brand.
3. They have been in business since the 1950's, granted they were a full on sporting store/gun store at that time.
4. In the 90's some of us started getting into voodoo gasses aka oxygen hackers Guide and went to other organizations to learn nitrox and trimix before the biggies jumped on board. We were allowed aprivate room for mixing and wehn the alphabet groups finally endorsed osome of the things the outlaw group was doing the shop was in a posiiotn to sell mixes as we had certs from other organizaitons but now the liability to the store would be covered. The owner did not need to do this.
5. They maintain the gear including Hydro on the premesis - what they sell they service.
6. Buy gear at the shop try it in the pool, if it doesn't work for you as long as it has not been in the ocaean trade it for differnt gear.
Finally when I was taking my Advanced open water the instructor stated the shop has private classes and I would have completed in a not so rused manner but would have more time in the pool and a one on one t4rianing. I told them they didn't have that listed on their board or any of the training material that haey had - that was corrected.
So in answer ot your quesiton When I started I went to about 9 differnt shops ingreatr Los Angeles aarea. Some of them were small some of them were large. I setteled on a shop where I felt welcomed, the atmosphere is friendly, I was allowed to look without being haseseled to buy gear. They sponsor multiple dive trips a year some local and at least one international each year. Through them I was able to expand my dive experience and gained friendhsip that has lasted 30 years.
Not sure this iis what you are looking for but hey I am trying to get to 25 posts so I can DM someone about the Vyper software. I had another ID but it is not working so startig over again.
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I like shops that the owners/staff are heavily involved in the local dive scene, not just a business that could run a liquor store or dry cleaners just the same.
My local dive shop is excellent.
My local dive shop is excellent.
mgoodness
Registered
All the classic cave shops in North Florida are worth a visit, and each have their own character: Cave Country, Extreme Exposure, Dive Outpost, Amigo's (omg Amigo's), Cave Adventurers out in the panhandle, etc.
tankha in playa del carmen.....matt was always a pleasure to deal with, as was all his staff. very well organized operation.
dive adventures st maarten.....when vinnie ran things he was superb to deal with. most of the staff there was a hoot to be around. always fun.
i could list others. we have been lucky in that most shops we dived with were pretty good. not all though.
dive adventures st maarten.....when vinnie ran things he was superb to deal with. most of the staff there was a hoot to be around. always fun.
i could list others. we have been lucky in that most shops we dived with were pretty good. not all though.
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