Scuba shop Manhattan, NY

[pilot fish]

Pan Aqua - You will pay a bit of a premium here but in my view its the best shop in Manhattan (I have not been to Village Divers). Everyone there is helpful but I would recommend that you speak with Lorraine.

LeisurePro - I love the store, good selection and great prices. I tend to buy masks, wetsuits and other "non-critical" items there. I prefer buying computers, regs, and BCs from places like Pan Aqua.

Scuba Network - I got certified with them years ago but have never been overly impressed with them. You don't seem to get the personal attention. It has more of a "chain" feel to it if that makes sense.

I think there's another place called Seahorse Divers on the Upper East Side but I don't have any experience with them other than going in a few times. From what I remember, it seemed like a no-frills shop with really knowledgeable staff.

Paragon Sports has some dive equipment but its a major athletic chain.

Seahorse Divers is out of business on the upper east side. The store on the westside might still be open, not sure. There is another Dive Shop that just opened on upper east side in the 80s along 2nd ave but I don't remember the name of it. He posted on this board once.

 

[aquaoren]

Thanks for all the advice!

The reason we want to buy scuba gear in NY is that we are from Sweden, where scuba gear is outrageously expensive, and most stores keep low stocks. Since we will go to NY on holiday for a few days, we will "bargain" (the US$ exchange rate is very much to our favor right now). Ordering on the internet is of no use since we do not have any address in the US, and if shipped to Sweden we have to pay import duty, Swedish VAT (25%) and freight.

Anyway, looks like we will visit LeisurePro and maybe Village.

Thanks again for all the advice!

/Gustaf

LeisurePro

 

[jedah]

We went into Village divers about a week ago looking for wetsuits. Lubomir was helpful, but they didn't have much in stock at the time. Given your time constraints, you may not have enough time to wait for them to order stuff.

I also went to Pan-Aqua and they were very friendly, it was my first time there and they let me try on 3 wetsuits. My fiancee got certified with them and she had a positive experience.

I would stick to Pan-Aqua, they have a larger inventory than Village divers, and they are authorized dealers for a lot of brands. Leisurepro is NOT an authorized dealer for any brand, so, should something go wrong with whatever you buy, you may find it hard to get it serviced / replaced from Sweden.

Have a good time in NYC!

J.

 

[divad]

I would stick to Pan-Aqua, Leisurepro is NOT an authorized dealer for any brand, so, should something go wrong with whatever you buy, you may find it hard to get it serviced / replaced from Sweden.
J.

This doesn't make sense. LeisurPro has a huge inventory compared to PanAqua and is an international seller that does mail-order sales and returns all day long. I think PanAqua has more drysuits in stock than LP so:

Wetsuit-LeisurePro
Drysuit-PanAqua

The thing to remember with LP is that there isn't much on display. You look in the catalog, or already know what you want, and ask them to bring it up. It reminds me of an old wooden-floor hardware store.

 

[SteveFass]

I've been to Leisure Pro, Pan Aqua, Scuba Network (Manhattan - the Brooklyn store was supposed to be terrific but it closed last year), and Paragon.

My experiences are the same as everyone else who posted here. I tell everyone to Avoid Scuba Network. It feels like a high commission, say anything to get the sale, kind of place. If you only have one day to shop and you need a great selection at the best price, go to LP. If you need lots of customer service you should probably try Pan Aqua, which is where I got my Henderson suit.

LP has good customer service too, but it is very low key, and they get pretty busy on Sundays. I like the guys there but they are low key and may appear unfriendly. But if you can go on a weekday when it is slower, they will talk to you on a personal level. I can spend 2 hours there playing and they don't seem to mind.

Their inventory is insane, and their discounts may sometimes be small, or may be big. The point is, you don't have to comparison shop because their prices are always the best.

Easy walking distance from LP is Paragon. A very fun store to walk around. But for scuba, I'd say good for masks. They carry a lot, but their salepeople's knowledge are hit and miss, and their prices are currently 10% off list.

 

[divad]

For scuba, Paragon sucks and it sucks bad. I asked them once where the reels were and they directed me to the fishing department. Don't waste your time.

 

[JulesVerne]

- First PanAqua (service, people, inventory), then give it a shot to LP (inventory).
- Visited Scuba Network in Manhattan and Brooklyn and had the same experience than everyone on this board. To be avoided unless you want to be sold a wireless AI dive computer when you don't even own a reg to put the transmitter on (they tried it on me - little did they know)
- Village Divers - lived 1 block away from it I visited a few times. the shop is smaller and darker than a NY apartment so if you are looking for wide selection, don't bother but if you know want you want, it may be worth calling them to see if they carry it or have something similar (info at http://www.villagedivers.com/). They are divers at heart so they are not really happy behind so far from the water so they are sometimes grumpy.

Enjoy the shopping

 

[fsik]

Seahorse Divers is out of business on the upper east side. The store on the westside might still be open, not sure.

The westside store closed first, the eastside right after, like June last year. I think they lost their lease or something since they moved seemingly overnight to Florida (had our regs! Got 'em back fine tho.)