San Diego Dive Shop

[bruce90292]

Hello,

In case anyone is looking for a San Diego dive shop to arrange a trip, I wanted to relate a recent experience.

I live in Los Angeles and was looking to do a S.D. dive (my wife was going there on biz). I contacted Get Wet Scuba (619-275-1822) and made arrangements to go out on a boat (they were not the operator but handled the booking, payment, etc.) and also to have one of their staff accompany me (as I didn't have a buddy to go with).

I spoke to Rich at the shop on Thursday evening and finalized everything, including getting the cell phone of his instructor who would be my buddy, got directions to the boat, etc. All was set for me to meet the instructor at the boat at 8:00 a.m Friday (I was driving down Thursday night).

I get to the boat at 7:30 friday morning and no one is there. I wait until 8 and then find a mechanic for the boat operator who tells me (and confirms with this boss via cell) that the trip was cancelled b/c not enough divers.

Meanwhile the Wet instructor never shows. I call him on his cell and he tells me that his boss, Rich, told him not to go that another instructor was going to be diving with me. Rich is unavailable to speak to.

I finally speak to Rich at 5:00 that night (I'm back in LA by now). He acknowledges that he is a partial owner of the boat company but claims that he did not know that they cancelled. He also acknowledges that though this has happened before, he didn't think it would happen this time which is why he never mentioned to me the possibility of the boat operator cancelling when he booked my trip (knowing that I was making the trip to S.D. specifically for this dive).

Moral of the story, be careful who you book with. I would not recommend this particular dive outfit.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

That really sucks! They definitely should have contacted you. Perhaps you should have done a little research and booked directly with the boat operator. I would say you did the right thing by calling and they definitely dropped the ball. Who was the boat operator? With DCI (gottadive.com) you can see how many people are on the boat via their website and they will tell you how many people are necessary for the boat to go.

Somtimes the boat doesn't go due to large swells. These things happen.
You got them back though by telling your story! It's a good lesson for people to hear! Book with the boat directly if possible! I hope you got your money back!

 

[California Diver]

rich is partial owner of dci.

 

[Hoosier]

Black List:

Get Wet Scuba (619-275-1822)

 

[bruce90292]

The boat operator was Dive Connection. Yes, as it turns out Rich (from Get Wet) is a part owner of that operation.

 

[Turtle Diver]

I recommend Lois Ann and Dive Bliss for boats in San Diego. Book directly with the boat, and avoid the middleman.

 

[wetrat]

I recommend Lois Ann and Dive Bliss for boats in San Diego. Book directly with the boat, and avoid the middleman.

Agreed. Lois Ann carries 20+ divers and Dive Bliss carries six but will go with a minimum of four, so it depends what kind of experinece you are looking for. Dive Bliss also is fast - 27 knots to the Coronados on the last trip I took with them. I have never dove with DCI but I know there are some veteran divers on the board here that think highly of them.

Dive Bliss

Good luck!

wetrat