Gulf Coast Divers? Mobie, AL??

[steelemagnolia6]

Anyone know anything about gulf Coast Divers??? I am trying to get info for a friend of mine. Who seems to think that just because I dive and I am orginally from the south that I know everything... LMBO!!!!

anything you know good, bad, or otherwise would be appreicated... Thanks

 

[mike_s]

see Denisegg. She uses this shop.

Ask her about getting nitrox fills there.


Here's their webpage. http://gulf-coast-divers.com/


I was looking at their web page last week. Their training seems way overpriced compared to other shops, especially when you add the $125 for manuals for Open Water diver, but maybe you get a lot more for it that isn't listed, such as boat dives inlcuded.. (just my opinion). Their open water training package is $525 to $799 plus $125 for books. *ouch*.

Maybe they are a great shop though. I don't want my opinion of their higher prices to cast a negative shaddow on them.

 

[seadoggirl]

I bought a speargun from them. They are very nice and seem to carry a lot of equipment that other shops don't have on hand but can order. I don't work in Mobile anymore, so I don't shop there. I think it is still the same owner and they seem to work hard at lining up dive trips to warm cozy places.

 

[pro99line]

All I can say is excellent excellent excellent. I am taking classes with them now and they are by far the best shop around. I talked to the other shop in town and they just wanted to rush me through the class. GCD is defintely teaching me and making sure I learn. You can check out my post and it describes some of the things we are learning in each class. I would highly recommend this group to anyone I know.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=180884

 

[ShagMan]

I did my training with, and associate with, Deep South Divers (a PADI outfit in west Mobile), and agree with the above from pro99line. I was comfortable in my self-learning abilities, and dive with a buddy who's a retired instructor, so I knew I'd be ok even rushing through classes. DSD does push through pretty quickly, I did OW in 1 night of class, something like 4 nights of the Y pool and two days of spring diving, and the advanced was even more "rushed", it was two boat dives and three more spring dives (two days total) and no class time... I have a loooooot of diving before I feel like I'm really qualified to use my AOW card.

I will say to counter my negative review above, I like the folks there a lot, and they have cheaper prices on some equipment and their fills are VERY cheap, $4 fill, $8 rental. They do classes at a very reasonable rate too, last week they were still at $200 plus $70 or so in books. They carry mostly aqualung products.

P.S. Hi Brian

 

[jeepbrew]

Their open water training package is $525 to $799 plus $125 for books. *ouch*.

WOW... that is insane!

 

[steelemagnolia6]

Thanks for your replies.... and good luck with your dive training pro99line... Josh I think that most folks that got their AOW cert really fast think that they need a looooooot more diving before they feel advanced enough to use the AOW card...


I'll pass the info along... any other AL divers have a report about Gulf Coast???

 

[frankc420]

Uhm, AOW is all diving and no book work. Yes, your supposed to read the book and fill out the knowledge reviews, but to my knowledge, there are no tests etc for AOW.

I did my training with, and associate with, Deep South Divers (a PADI outfit in west Mobile), and agree with the above from pro99line. I was comfortable in my self-learning abilities, and dive with a buddy who's a retired instructor, so I knew I'd be ok even rushing through classes. DSD does push through pretty quickly, I did OW in 1 night of class, something like 4 nights of the Y pool and two days of spring diving, and the advanced was even more "rushed", it was two boat dives and three more spring dives (two days total) and no class time... I have a loooooot of diving before I feel like I'm really qualified to use my AOW card.

I will say to counter my negative review above, I like the folks there a lot, and they have cheaper prices on some equipment and their fills are VERY cheap, $4 fill, $8 rental. They do classes at a very reasonable rate too, last week they were still at $200 plus $70 or so in books. They carry mostly aqualung products.

P.S. Hi Brian

 

[snepdiver]

I have used Deep South Divers a time or two and have nothing but good things to say about them. One weekend I was diving in Gulf Shores and was not going to be back in Mobile until after the store was closed. I rented tanks. The owner gave me his cell number and said, "Dont worry about getting back before we close. Just give me a call and I will meet you here". Wow, Now that is service. I olny spent 20.00 there. Imagine the service I would have received if I had bought all my gear from them.

I have never dealt with Gulf Coast Divers.

 

[mike_s]

Their open water training package is $525 to $799 plus $125 for books. *ouch*.

WOW... that is insane!

Yeah I kinda thought so too... but I think they teach one of the 'other' training agencies where you actually spend a lot of time in classroom and pool instead of the 'hurry up method' used by PADI, etc.

So maybe the insane cost accounts for better training.