Favorite Northern CA dive shop

[Noboundaries]

I want to thank you for this post, Mike Johnson is a personal friend of mine and Mr Rick Rowett is my Instructor/Friend And I take personal the kind words of your post, Mike keeps an eye on this board and the post's that are about his shop and he will be very pleased to see your post.

Jim, just speaking from the heart my friend. Mike is a great guy. They must have an infectious outbreak of Smile-itis in that shop because we always leave with a bag of goodies and a smile.

Rick was our AOW instructor up at Lake Tahoe. He is a great instructor. It was because of him we learned about the rear trim pockets in our back inflate BCs. I had 20 lbs of weights in my front weight pockets and was about to go face first into the water as he was giving a post dive debriefing on the surface. He pulled me to shallow water and pointed out the rear pockets. Low and behold, what did we find inside one or the rear pockets? The soggy owner's manual!!!!! How I survived 6 dives prior to that moment still escapes me.

I don't know how good a story teller he is, but ask him sometime about the disappearing rope trick. I still crack up every time I see the memory of him arriving back at the float and reaching for the rope.

Have a great day,

Ray

 

[Smelly]

Ya I'm a big fan of Dolphin aswell. Wallin's is my second vote. I'll drive to sac just for there customer service. Paul helped me out a few time, he's very honest and won't give ya the run around.

 

[BrianM]

If I had to pick one shop that is my all around favorite, Dolphin is it. They have serviced my regs for the last 5 years and it is always a great experience. They are over an hour drive from me, so I don't always like having to go so far, but here's where I decided they were a cut above the rest:

I was taking a trip with them on the Ocean Oddessy for lobster at Cortez Bank. Two nights before the trip I hooked up my wing and reg to my tank and decided to check things... I noticed a hiss coming from the exhaust on my first stage!!! OH NO!! So I drove up there the next day and told them what was up... they said it usually takes 10 days but since I am going on a trip (they didn't even know it was THEIR trip, so it's not like I got special treatment because I was on their boat) they had me go upstairs and talk to Jan. So they pull my first stage apart and found a bad HP seat. They decided that it didn't need a full rebuild and since it only needed a seat, they had a few extra seats from some extra kits and they fixed it on the spot and didn't even charge me labor!! Talk about customer service!!! I went straight downstairs and bought a $150 dive bag because I felt like I needed to do something to show my appreciation.

Ok, so I go on the trip, have a great time, get plenty of bugs... it's all good. We get to the dock and we grab a cart and I tell my buddy to grab the gear and I will run 3 blocks to the parking lot and get the truck to beat the crowd. He meets me at the top of the ramp and I say "you got all of the gear, RIGHT?" and he says yes so we load the truck and leave. The next morning I notice my dive bag is missing!!! 2 sets of regs, 2 high dollar computers, plus everything else you can imagine is stuffed in that bag and he left it laying on the dock next to the boat. I call Mike Johnson and he says they also left some stuff on the boat and they are shipping everything to the store in Sac. So I go up there to pick it up, knowing I must owe them $75 since the bag weighs a ton. Mike says "you know, I have no idea how to figure how much of the shipping charge is from your bag, so don't worry about it, we'll cover it". UNBELIEVABLE. These guys rock.

 

[biz_nate]

I'm pretty new to the area, so I've no had much experience shopping around yet. However, time spent researching and talking with friends led me to two fantastic local dive shops: Advanced Diving Technologies and Any Water Sports.

Since ADT shut down recently, I guess I'm down to AWS- which works better for me anyway, since I live/work in San Jose. They've always been very friendly and helpful, and will talk with you for hours if you get them started. They take time with fills, and Frank will help guide your purchases according to your personal needs. I remember one of my first experiences there- I'd just grabbed 4 nitrox stickers for a couple sets of doubles. He told me not to waste my money- that I wouldn't have any trouble getting fills, and pointed out that I'd just need new stickers if I decide to pursue more exotic mixes in the future (which they fill, BTW).

So, though my opinion isn't based so much on experience with many other local shops, I don't really feel any need to look around. AWS has given me great customer service, solid fills, and fair prices.

Oh, one last thing- they gave me no trouble when I brought in my "Ebay special" SP regs to be serviced. Couldn't give me the warranty parts, but charged a fair price for the service.

 

[fobturbo]

I frequent Diver Dan's a lot, mainly because it's close to work. I got certified through Paul Miller for my OW/AOW, he's a great instructor and has a great sense of humor, very honest, and has no problems suggesting other places to buy equipment. He also has no problems answering the most trivial questions as I recently purchased a drysuit and have been badgering him with questions on gloves, insulation, etc.

The staff at Diver Dan's can do the hard sale alot, and I hear this from other people too. There are some staff that will spend time to talk to you and make sure you know exactly what you're getting and whether or not you're going overboard (i.e. Jonathan). One of the managers Mike can seem rough around the edges at times, but from my experience, it depends on what days you catch him. Diver Dan's does have a yearly sale which basically means things are tax free. A great weekend to buy a full outfit (you get the 15% + tax free). Their prices are ~10% more than leisurepro except on Suunto products.

I've rented gear from Anywater Sports as well as Diver Dan's. Diver Dan's seems to have newer gear than Anywater. Anywater seems to have more of a tech. diving focus (though I could be wrong). Anywater does have a great service policy/discounts if you buy stuff from them.

During my Advanced Open Water certification, we rode their boat and Capt. Phil is quite a character. He has a great sense of humor and gave great tips about where to go when we hopped into the water. I do have to say I have only been on one boat dive so far, and that was it. And frankly, I don't see any reason why I should look for another boat/crew to go with.

Whoops a bit of a longer post than I intended.

 

[BrianM]

ADT was my favorite local shop, and I was very sad to see them close down. I do have good news though, I spoke to Sherry a few days ago and they are still filling tanks and doing VIP inspections. If you call their new number which I don't have in front of me, they will tell you how to drop them off at a location in Antioch and they will fill/VIP your tanks to order. I have a set of HP100s that are out of VIP and I will be dropping them off this week.
Whatever I need, I can get it from Dolphin or ADT. The other closest shop is Sport Chalet, which is like the Wal-Mart of dive shops. Going in there to get a fill is a joke... nobody is able to fill tanks 90% of the time.

 

[bbianchi]

I like Diver Dan's in Santa Clara for classes/purchases. I go to California Dive Center in San Bruno for air fills (close to work).

Mel

I have had quite the opposite experience with Diver Dan's. So much in fact that I am done visiting that shop.

 

[bbianchi]

I've always liked Aquarius. If you go, ask for Rod. Great guy and very knowledgable diver.

I dont know of anyone named Rod at Aquarius Divers... Bruce, Wesley, then theres the weekenders, Joe, Matt, James.... oh and the yellow lab, Cody, but he doesn't dive much

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

I dont know of anyone named Rod at Aquarius Divers... Bruce, Wesley, then theres the weekenders, Joe, Matt, James.... oh and the yellow lab, Cody, but he doesn't dive much

There are two Aquarius Dive Shops in Monterey, one on Del Monte and one at the
Breakater. Different ownership. I think there's a guy named Rod who works at the
one on the Breakwater.

 

[cmburch]

I like AWS and Wet Pleasure. I think AWS has great service and gives the best fills, but I have spent more money at Wet Pleasure due to selection. I think all of my tanks and wife's gear is from AWS. I have also had great service on my gear from WP. I have been spending quite a bit at Dive N Board in Concord. They have the best selection and killer deals for me. I tried to spend some money at AWS the last 2 years, but Dive N Board gave me a better deal for the same high quality equipment.