Pacific Scuba Divers

"Brothers and I took the open water diver PADI diving certification course with instructor Sabine - it was amazing! Super helpful, one weekend with tons of review and exercises packed into two short pool sessions. Way more confident and excited about diving now!"

"Great spot to rent scuba/diving gear in the Bay! Rented 7/8mm suits, weight belt and weights, fins, gloves, booties and a hood from Pacific Scuba Divers for a recent free-diving excursion. This is my second time renting with them and I’ve had an amazing experiences with them both times. The shop does get pretty crowded right before the weekend so be sure to call ahead and book an appointment for your suit fittings etc."

"Rented gears from this place in 2021 and was charged $25 for not returning with dust cap screwed back in on the regs. Argued this was not made aware when checking out. Staff threatened that I had signed the contract therefore agreeing to the terms regardless. Still remember staff's *Gotcha* face to this day."

"They have an instructor I would tell any diver to avoid- and seeing this is how this place handles courses, I would probably advise anyone to not do their OW there. I did not partake in a class- I merely was a bystander for two days at Breakwater watching. Watching in part because the tall brunette German accent instructor set her students up so close to my dive equipment it was not only awkward, but also impossible NOT to hear. Over two days we heard her belittle students, scare students from asking questions, say “don’t give me that look” to multiple students, not to mention do things I HIGHLY disagree with - such as saying “everyone has 25 minutes to get gear on you have to get moving don’t be sitting there your tank should be attached come on” etc etc - rushing students- rushing ANY diver getting set up is the single worst thing! Everyone needs their own timing to setup their gear especially when learning- I cant imagine having an instructor literally saying “hurry up” to me! Not to mention she would take HOURS to get her students in a water building generally tension you could see in the group. I get this style may work for some- but as a relatively new diver, I doubt I’d be a diver if I took a class like this one."

"Overall, my experience getting open water certified here was good, and I would recommend them to others. However, there are some things that it might be helpful to know going in so that you're not surprised/frustrated. My review is long because I want to be thorough about what the experience was like, so that everyone knows what they're signing up for. I want to be clear upfront that I am happy with my experience here and think all of the instructors and employees were very nice and helpful. Communication: There were some instances of poor communication, and we would hear different things from the shop vs the instructor. When I signed up for the course I was told that we needed to be at the pool at 7:30 am. Then a week beforehand, I got an email saying to show up at 7:15 am, then another email a day later saying to show up at 7:00 am. There were also a few times I had to go to the shop to pick up/return my gear, for which I was not given very much advance notice. It's perfectly understandable of course, but it did create some scheduling challenges for me, as I didn't live near the shop and I had to shift around my work hours to make sure I could participate in the certification course. For those with less flexible work schedules, last-minute schedule changes may be difficult. Pacing: While I felt the course overall was good, my one complaint would be that some of it felt rushed. We had two pool days and two ocean days, and there was quite a lot of material that had to be gone through during the two pool days. The shop had rented the pool for a certain number of hours, and this time limit definitely impacted the course. There wasn't a lot of time to get used to things before we had to move on to demonstrating the skills required, and there also wasn't really any chance to practice skills before demonstrating them to the instructor. Some students weren't able to finish all of the skills by the time we were forced to leave the pool on the second day, and had to come back for an additional pool session in the evening a few days later. The instructor and shop tried their best to make this as convenient as possible (even moving the date of the session so that I could attend, which I was very grateful for). However, it was still a last-minute change (and expense), and I felt that if this was a common/expected practice, it could have at least been communicated ahead of time as a sort of "heads up, this might happen." Instructor: The best part of the course was the instructor, Thomas. He was very helpful and approachable, and he was both friendly and supportive, while also making sure we did everything correctly and understood the risks involved in scuba diving. He was always happy to answer questions and explain concepts, and on the days when we didn't have a time limit for the pool, he seemed willing to spend as long as it took to make sure we were comfortable with what we needed to do. Shop/Gear: The folks working at the shop were very helpful, especially Sabrina. I had some trouble finding gear that fit me, and she spent as long as it needed to make sure I had the right gear. For the thicker wet suit needed for the ocean, she even gave me two so that I could have a backup in case one didn't work out for me (and to be clear, the issues were not with the suits themselves--it was just that the medium felt too tight for me, but the large might make me too cold). If I had any issues with gear at any point, I knew I could ask them for help and they would be very understanding. I never had to pay any extra fees relating to the gear. I am glad I took this course through Pacific Scuba Divers, and found everyone involved helpful and knowledgeable. If they were to maybe book longer sessions at the pool, and clear up some of the communication ahead of time, I would have no issues at all. I'm glad I got certified here and if I ever need to take another scuba course, I would definitely go here again. (I have a slightly longer review on Yelp because Google has a lower character limit.)"