Opinions on Beach Cities Scuba

[JamesD]

Hey all, haven't YET been diving in Southern Cal, but getting ready to hopefully do some (one of my work mates finally decided to get off his rear end and get re-certified)

Anyway, does anyone have opinions about Beach Cities Scuba? They seem to be really close to his house (good) and seem to have a good boat dive trip on one of the weekends we are thinking of going?

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Don't rent any gear from them. I did my 1st California dive while renting gear from them and it was extreemly sub-par. I know some people like them, but I never dealt with them after that experience... If you need to rent gear go to Sport Chalet. They have good equipment and if you rent on friday, you will be able to return it Sunday and be charged for 1 day rental (so I have heard)... My .02

Sean

 

[JamesD]

Sean,

All gear, or just BC's, Reg's that kind of stuff? The only gear of theirs I would be looking to use would be tanks and weights, I have the rest myself.

 

[mickeyroi]

I got certified with them, except for the ocean dives which I did in Australia. They were ok. Personally, if you're talking rental for a pool dive, I didn't care so much about the equipment quality..I would just focus on the price. Of course, the opposite will be true in the OW.

Also, with Beach Cities, I had to buy booties, gloves, mask, snorkel and fins in order to take the course. I bought it from them and they gave a 10% discount since I was taking a class too. I wonder if those could rented rather than purchased? It adds up. Anyways, if I were to do it all over again, I would take their course, but get cheaper gear elsewhere. If your friend has time to wait, he/she can also wait for the next tent scuba sale at Sport Chalet... they have some truly great deals there.

Also, is it the beach cities in Huntington Beach? If so, you should also know that when I took the class, I had to drive way down to laguna beach for the classes, and inland a few miles for the pool dives (non-covered).

You may also want to look at Scuba Toys in Cypress I think. Jim is the owner and he is a great guy. They have a covered pool on site, which I bet would make the process more comfortable.


Michael

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

James, you can usually rent the tanks and weights from the boat. I believe all a diveshop does when they are running a boat is put a DM on it. The boat is owned and operated by another company. They charter the boat and sell spots for whatever amount they want. In this case I wouldn't worry too much about the diveshop and if it's a good boat I would go for it. Another good reason to use Sport Chalet for the charters is if you do 10 boats with them in a 1 year period they give you 1 free... Pretty hard to do, but at least it's something

Have a great time and please post a report!

Sean

 

[ScubaStan]

On my way out for visiting the store in Huntington Beach, I asked about air fills. Up to 40% Nitrox costs $12.00 per fill and Air $6.00 per fill. They have three stores total: one in Newport Beach and one in Dana Point as well as Huntington Beach. I don;t think I will be returning to them.

I second Scuba Toys in Cypress.

 

[Stryker]

I originally got certified with Beach Cities in Dana Point, and my initial impression was that they were unprofessional... The owner Hosam was not very helpful when I had some issues with work, and some minor problems.

Also my friend (MissyP) got an airfill there that both her and her dive buddy suffered a pretty bad sickness that made them call their first dive early and cancel their second dive... Until then I had never heard of anything like that happening there as they have a very good compressor system.

Now on the flip side, there is the Huntington Beach store.... I had nothing but good luck there... Milo is the instructor out of that store and is usually the one who is working... He is very knowledgeable (I dove with him a few times) and will get you a good deal... If you are a regular customer he will see what he can do for you... The HB store is geared a little more towards the technical diver, but they can pretty much get you anything you want....


Another recommendation I have is to go to the Scuba.com store in Rancho Santa Margarita... They have a VERY good selection and were always very nice and had very good prices....


Both stores are good and all of their gear comes with full manufacturer's warranty, so its up to what you like....

 

[FishTaco]

Hey thanks seth(stryker),
For the vote of confidence this is Milo by the way we opened a new
store in newport beach at the site of the old Aquatic Center. I am now managing this store mon-sat. We do cater to the tec diver a little more than the other stores but we are also able to come up with almost anything your heart desires that is scuba related. Try getting that from Sports Chalet. Oh and in reply to the rental gear guy we have brand new Seaquest B.C.s ,brand new Scubapro regs and brand new Xcel wetsuits also have brand new al80 tanks are whole rental line is brand new.
I challange anyone to come in and see me down in newport beach. I promise you won't leave disapointed. I'll even go so far as to say that anyone from Scubaboard who comes in will recieve 10% off if you mention this to me.
Thanks, Milo
Manager
Beach Cities Scuba Newport
:14: phone# 949-650-5440

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Milo, did the Dana Point store get new gear too? Thanks for posting here and clarifying the difference!

Sean

 

[Ann Marie]

Try getting that from Sports Chalet.

Hey Milo,

When I come in with something I bought from Sport Chalet that you might not carry, are you going to trash that too?