What dive shop to rent from?

[kensuf]

CCDS will likely have a wider assortment of cylinders for rebreathers and sidemount config, ability fo fill O2 at higher pressures, will only charge you for the gas you use in rental bottles, plus helium.

EE will have better inventory if you need small bits, able to fill higher pressures of 32%, and fills will be included in cylinder rentals.

Regardless of which shop you decide to go to (why not both??), I'd recommend making a phone call to them and reserving the bottles you need before coming down here. That will give either shop the opportunity to pull stuff together for you and have it ready when you arrive.

 

[mr_v]

My wife and I avoid Dog Outpost. I join those who recommend Extreme Exposure or Cave Country Dive Shop.

I am waking up this thread to give a different perspective. I absolutely liked Dive Outpost and will be back! Great service - the owner went out of the way to help me out.

The dog is non-issue. She is a door bell that alerts the owners about incoming customers. Within 30 seconds we were best friends. If I ran a business in that area, I'd have dogs and carry, too.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I am waking up this thread to give a different perspective. I absolutely liked Dive Outpost and will be back! Great service - the owner went out of the way to help me out.

The dog is non-issue. She is a door bell that alerts the owners about incoming customers. Within 30 seconds we were best friends. If I ran a business in that area, I'd have dogs and carry, too.

A doorbell doesn't run up to your car as you're trying to get out and bark at you. That's aggressive behavior, not a lap dog curled up on the porch. No shops with aggressive-behaving dogs for me. YMMV.

 

[rddvet]

I am waking up this thread to give a different perspective. I absolutely liked Dive Outpost and will be back! Great service - the owner went out of the way to help me out.

The dog is non-issue. She is a door bell that alerts the owners about incoming customers. Within 30 seconds we were best friends. If I ran a business in that area, I'd have dogs and carry, too.

To each his own. The female owner can be very courteous when she wants to be. The male owner is a different story. The sheer number of local divers and regular out of state divers that run from their shop for the same reasons is very telling.
There is a difference between being an intelligent concealed carrier vs intentionally making the gun's presence known to people to be a tough guy.
Just be cautious ever saying a negative about them. I and several other people have been targeted personally by the male owner (Adam) online for giving our opinions on his shop. In my example, I have only shared my opinions here and on cdf when they were relevant to a thread. I have never started a thread to bad mouth them or ever left them a bad review, because that's not how I am. I will share on forums meant for cave divers. I am always honest, but never intentionally going out of my way after them. Simply sharing my opinions on how I was treated multiple times. Rather than taking that as constructive criticism and attempting to improve (because so many have agreed on my viewpoints), Adam chose to slather his fb page with images from my website, derrogatory comments about me, he and his friends left my business fake negative reviews, and they even called my office twice to try to speak with me. When my staff explained I was out of the office, they chose to try to tell my staff how horrible of a person I am. There is a long history here. So it's great you had a good experience, but that is not the experience of many locals and regulars to the area.

 

[KevinNM]

I think EE has long ill whips so tanks can remain in your vehicle for filling nitrox. CCDS does for sure.

Yes, I’ve seen people doing that at EE. Mostly guys with RB80s in their pickup beds…

 

[Manatee Diver]

Yes, I’ve seen people doing that at EE. Mostly guys with RB80s in their pickup beds…

I don't think I've seen very many remove tanks from their cars at EE for nitrox. No reason to since they don't do water cooling.

 

[Rilelen]

I go to EE for most my fills…almost everyone leaves tanks in their cars/trucks.

 

[bglaess]

Both EE and CCDS are good shops, I've used both. CCDS has SM tanks to rent out and I don't think EE has rental SM tanks so if that's your configuration CCDS would be the choice.

 

[Rilelen]

EE is more geared towards backmount, but we've rented sidemount tanks from them before. (You may need to ask or call; I don't think they're listed on their online rental reservation system)

 

[rddvet]

Both EE and CCDS are good shops, I've used both. CCDS has SM tanks to rent out and I don't think EE has rental SM tanks so if that's your configuration CCDS would be the choice.

EE is more geared towards backmount, but we've rented sidemount tanks from them before. (You may need to ask or call; I don't think they're listed on their online rental reservation system)

Its a misnomer that EE doesn't have sm tanks. They have for years. Believe it or not there's some of us that have gue training that still enjoy sidemount and sidemounted bailout for our non-GUE approved CCRs. EE is also just a dive shop. Although there is clearly a strong, direct link to GUE, EE is more than happy to serve any diver regardless of training. I brought all my sm tanks and regs to EE for fills and service for years prior to getting GUE training.
At the end of the day, EE is just another dive shop trying to make money. The difference is the level of professionalism that you don't get at alot of shops. And I'm not saying that EE is the only shop to use. It also has its pros and cons just like other shops.
You will definitely see more sm divers at CCDS, which is also a great shop.