So, I got out of work early today and decided to check out Hollywood Divers and Dolphin Dive. Now I'm totally torn between the two! I was very impressed with them both - as a shop, HD has a lot going for it in that they seem very active, lots of gear, organized shop and nice people. And they're pretty easy to get to. As for Dolphin Dive, at first I was really not into driving out to Arcadia, and found the shop not as well stocked as HD, but liked that there were lots of pictures there of customers and the various dive trips they've done. The best thing though was speaking at length to the owner, Tim. More than any shop I've been to in my search, he was the MOST willing to just sit down and talk about what i wanted, my experience, what they could do for me, etc. He even talked at length about things like decompression, certification dives, etc. I think i was there for an hour! It almost felt like i was in a class, and that i should've paid him for all the information he gave me while i was there. I can't tell you how nice it was to go somewhere and have someone there really take the time to talk to a beginner like me. Felt really comfortable with him, and also got the sense that they're very thorough there, and are very concerned with SAFETY. Also, the cost is lower than most other places - if I do it online it's $120 for the Padi e-learning fee, then $160 for the pool/ocean sessions. And obviously I'd have to cover my personal gear, and dive boat fees, but even factoring those costs in, it still seems like a better deal than most places. I also liked that he mentioned that since I'd done Discover Scuba already, I could apply that toward my 4 required cert. dives. I didn't know that! And no other place had mentioned that to me before, even after I'd mentioned doing a DSD. Overall, I was just very, very impressed, which I didn't think I would be at first.
Anyway, just thought I'd share that - i will probably end up going with Dolphin Dive, but I still really liked the vibe and greater variety of gear at Hollywood Divers too, and the fact that the reviews for them are uniformly excellent. Decisions, decisions....
Anyway, just thought I'd share that - i will probably end up going with Dolphin Dive, but I still really liked the vibe and greater variety of gear at Hollywood Divers too, and the fact that the reviews for them are uniformly excellent. Decisions, decisions....
