Any Dive shop recommendation near Pasadena for AOW?

[red_infinity]

Ocean Safari in San Gabriel. They use the pool in LA East College, very nice.

I second Ocean Safari. I took my OW and AOW there, and I must say it was some awesome trips. We did a 4 am dive at catalina for our night dive, and we actually turned off all our lights and swam around with just the moonlight. Very surreal experience, and by the time we surfaced, it was sunrise, a nice end to our first night dive. We also got into some fun surge and current situations there and at San Miguel Island. Our deep dive was at San Miguel island, where we saw a lot of krill and various canyons/coves/reefs down there...very cool, but very cold. Gabriel (our instructor) is awesome, he'll push you a bit but he's really cool and he'll take care of you, and you can learn quite a bit about underwater navigation from him. The rest of the staff is also very helpful and friendly.

I've never been to Hollywood Divers or the other dive shops, but they also sounds like great shops. Whatever works for you. Hope this helps.

-Francis

 

[scubatomwetzel]

Hey, there's Tom Wetzel at the YMCA of Glendale.
YMCA, NAUI, PADI, Los Angeles County

 

[drbill]

Lot of good shops and folks mentioned above. Watch out for Tom Wetzel though... stay clear of him if he has a bag of frozen peas in his hand and there's a giant sea bass in the vicinity! Just teasing ya, Tom.

Ken... a tad bit biased? With good reason! Teasing you too.

You should have no trouble finding what you need with the names offered.

 

[SunScuba]

Wow, this is what I'm talking about! What a great forum! Thanks for your recommendations. I'll definitely check out the shops mentioned above. SoCal is such a great diving environmnet. Lucky to live here.

I just started diving recently and now I'm totally addicted to it. I used to play golf, tennis, mountain bike, hike. But now all I think about is Diving! Whenever I see a body of water I get an urge of jumping in. Is that normal? Maybe I should attend a Divers Anonymous meeting ???

 

[CompuDude]

Wow, this is what I'm talking about! What a great forum! Thanks for your recommendations. I'll definitely check out the shops mentioned above. SoCal is such a great diving environmnet. Lucky to live here.

I just started diving recently and now I'm totally addicted to it. I used to play golf, tennis, mountain bike, hike. But now all I think about is Diving! Whenever I see a body of water I get an urge of jumping in. Is that normal? Maybe I should attend a Divers Anonymous meeting ???

Normal for the population at large, or normal for this group? ;-)

Welcome home.

 

[Diver_Jan]

I highly recommend Reefseekers. When I got recertified 4 1/2 years ago, I had a not so positive experience with a LDS in my area (Orange County). It was through a scuba board like this one that got me connected with Reefseekers. They are like family to me now.

Two instructors I would highly recommend for AOW would be Hal Greenburg or Jerry Del Rosario. Jerry usually works at the shop on a regular basis, feel free to give him a call at (310) 652-4990. Jerry also teaches an Equipment Repair Specialty Class that my friends and I have taken and has proven to be very beneficial that you might consider in the future.

Roger who is the Manager at the Pacific Wilderness Store in Orange is an excellent instructor as well. Their pool sessions are held at the San Pedro store.

You will be happy with whomever you choose.

 

[socaldiver]

I got my OW and AOW thru Dolphin Dive. Of course that was quite a few years ago, the owner at the time has since sold the shop. The instructors I had have since moved on - Tony is freelancing as an instructor and he did an outstanding job, Dave Harvey has since purchased the Pacific Star and I am not sure if he has time anymore for teaching.

The present owner, Tim, seems to be a good chap but I am not familiar with his instructors, but the shop seems to be okay.

 

[FRISCO_01]

I Am A Friend Of Most Of This Shops And As A Recomendation I Suggest You Go To A Shop Where They Are Going To Follow Up Even When You Are Done With Your Instruction And Not Just Trying To Sell You Gear And Classes Then You Are On Your Own.i Mean A Local Small Shop Not The Big Gurus All In One Sport Store.
I Recomend In Burbank Aqua Adventures Because I Seen That Even Though Everybody Can Teach You How To Dive I See The Quality Of Instructors That Really Care How Well You Do And As Far As I Know This Shop Has Never Had An Accident Or Incident In Their Record.
Of Course Some Are Not Going To Tell You That.
Well That`s My Opinion For Open Water Or New Divers For Other Advance Teaching You Might Want To Go Some Where Else Later.

 

[merxlin]

I learned (again) thru Dolphin and Tim the owner is a great guy. Small shop so classes can be a bit spread out, but very friendly and he and Stu, (the other instructor) know what they are talking about. All the dives are usually done at Catalina off the Sundiver. I'd go in and talk with Tim, let him know what you are looking for, and see if it works for you.