Seattle area dive shops?

[nwflyboy]

I'm considering shopping for gear packages for me and Mrs nwflyboy (currently looking for BCs & regs, and possibly computers), and weighing the positives and negatives of buying at a local shop versus on the internet. I live in Seattle. I'm not necessarily opposed to spending a little more at a LDS, especially on life-support gear, rather than getting the absolute lowest price online (although I do like saving money). I'm fairly picky about my gear (although I'm still fairly uninformed) and currently in the investigate-and-learn mode, but do not like being "sold".

I'm familiar with the one well-known shop nearby (on Aurora), and we've generally bought most of our stuff from them over the years (we've actually spent a fair amount there over the years, and have had what I would consider mixed experiences there). I figure I should at least consider other local shops - but I don't know of many.

(Hope this doesn't bum out my local friends but we do all our diving at the other end of long flights, so we are shopping for tropical/warm water gear, not stuff for our local waters. No offense to those of you who love the local diving, I know it has much to offer. I'm not looking to start a discussion of the relative merits of diving here or there, just adding this since knowledge of local NW diving (and stocking gear for local diving) is not an issue for us. Not looking for technical/exotic gear, either - just good quality stuff for dive travel that we can enjoy for a long time.)

So, can anyone recommend/disrecommend any local Seattle shops?

Thanks.

 

[TSandM]

I really like Northwest Sports Divers. Matt carries good quality equipment at a fair price, and won't try to sell you the "next new thing" that the manufacturer is trying to promote.

But for regulators, I honestly don't think you can beat the deal on HOG regs through Sound Aquatics (Scott Christopher). They are VERY reasonably priced regulators and appear to be very good quality as well. Scott also carries other HOG and EDGE gear, and it's all reasonably priced. I don't know which items might appeal to you -- We are currently playing with a HOG wing, which seems to be quite satisfactory, but you may not like backplate systems.

 

[trevorsg]

I've been very pleased with the Underwater Sports shops in the Puget Sound area. Granted, it's the only dive shop I've ever been in to, but I haven't bought anything for more than I could find it online. The prices were extremely reasonable!