Atlanta, GA LDS recomendations

[M_Bipartitus]

I'm moving to Atlanta in a few days and I was interested in any experiance board members have had with area LDSs, good or bad. I'm considrering taking Tech and/or divemaster courses in hte next year or two, so any thoughts on more advanced instruction would be helpfull as well.

 

[rsanders]

I live in town, so I've only tried the nearby ones. I took my PADI OW at Divers @ Sea, which is a small husband and wife place, and NAUI AOW and Nitrox at Diving World, which is a somewhat larger husband and wife place with some employees Both seemed to be run by decent people who care about the sport. More than that I can't say. The owner of Diving World is still diving in his mid-70's, and has YMCA instructor card #1 or so. They can offer a reasonable range of courses, but depending on how you define "tech", these may not be the best places to look.

I've been thinking of dropping by this place to check into more technical courses once I've got some (a lot) more experience under my belt.

There's a nice map here, and the folks of Reef Dwellers are probably more than willing to share tales.

 

[mike_s]

There's a nice map here, and the folks of Reef Dwellers are probably more than willing to share tales.

You're right... that is a nice map of where all the dive shops are located.




M_Bipartitus, noticed you were from Los Alamos. I used to work out there.
Big difference in weather in Atlanta from there. Especially in Humidity.

 

[The Kraken]

Bipartitus,
In what area will you be residing?

the K

 

[dyarab]

I'm moving to Atlanta in a few days and I was interested in any experiance board members have had with area LDSs, good or bad. I'm considrering taking Tech and/or divemaster courses in hte next year or two, so any thoughts on more advanced instruction would be helpfull as well.

I recommend SeaVentures in Alpharetta, Ga.

www.seaventures.com

They are a great shop. They have their own onsite pool... one of the few in Atlanta area I believe. They have some tech courses(TDI - Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures, Solo as well since some consider that Tech) and are newly certified to train instructors. Check them out, you wont be sorry. My wife and I drive 40 minutes, passing up other dive shops to get to SeaVentues. The owner has been in the dive business his entire life, but beware he is an OUTSTANDING salesman.

FYI - Apparently 3 more shops in ATL will be going out of business this year.

 

[The Kraken]

In addition to what Dyarab stated about SeaVentures . . .

. . . they also have a "Preferred Customer" club that costs $50/yr and $25/yr for each additional family member.

Membership in the club gives you free access to the pool along with free air fills if you own you own tanks and $5 tank rentals if you don't.

If you do any amount of diving, this may be something you might want to consider.

the K

 

[Corigan]

I removed my public flogging of seaventures, but if you would like to know why I would suggest against going into seaventures, feel free to PM me and I will tell you a few good stories about ole Wyatt and his tactics to screw people out of their money.

Matt

 

[SubMariner]

DS has two locations in the Atlanta area: one in Marietta on US41 and the other on I85 in Doraville.

Of the two I'd have to say I prefer the Doraville store because their bigger floorplan = a bit more inventory. However, that being said, they can usually get just about anything in fairly quickly because they have several store locations both in and around GA.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I'll have to appoligize for not repling sooner, but my computer broke just after I got to Atlanta, and I haven't been able to fix it yet. I am actually living almost downtown. near the civic center. Also, thank you rsanders for the link to reek dwellers, I had not seen the site before. I'll try to make the meeting next week.

 

[Esteban]

I was there yesterday and snatched a new Xcel Hydrospan and Henderson hooded vest wetsuits. As far as prices are concerned, the hooded vests were comparable to what I've found online (with shipping) and the Hydrospan is too new to be anywhere online yet.