Beyond Land Adventures

"Kumar your manuipulative re-imagining of events only serves to illustrate my review. I was abusive HOW? You have got to be kidding me. What equipment of yours was mishandled? And what safety precautions were ignored? Ben told me more than once that I had done great and I got nothing but thumbs up from him. And most importantly you know all this how? Because you were never there to observe any of it. With Pauline I calmly sat down and removed all of my equipment and left everything there. What on earth was thrown on the ground?I calmly told Pauline after her condescension and aggressiveness that I was leaving and calmly left. There was no abuse done to your staff. It was more like her narcissistic controlling behavior was triggered by my walking out. I actively sought answers to my safety questions which Pauline used as an opportunity to patronize. You condoning her behavior merely affirms my review. And you may rest assured I have no desire to ever enter your laughable excuse for a dive shop. For all others reading this review please see the owner’s response for an idea of how any of your concerns will be addressed. ***Original Post*** very unethical dive operator, and I would caution against using BLA. I already had initial doubts when, after having signed up for the Open Water Certification Course, I found out that the operator had mislead us regarding the $100.00 store "credit" for diving gear advertised and also found out that our diving teacher would not be the one to accompany us on our ocean dives for the Open Water Certification I had signed up for. My initial teacher, Ben, was so amazing that I put these concerns aside. He was calm, easygoing, a very steady presence under water who instilled a sense of trust and safety--just what every diving student needs. I cannot speak highly enough of him. Unfortunately, Hurricane Hilda hit and we got stuck with a domineering, condescending, narcissistic teacher Pauline Roche, who somehow thought that barking orders and patronizing/talking down to students was the way for beginners to enjoy learning how to dive. She was ultimately so nasty that I left. Unfortunately, the situation only got worse when she pursued me to my car against my wishes to get the air tanks that I had been given from the operator. Just as I was getting ready to pull away to go to the store to return the tanks, she suddenly banged really loudly on my window and opened the door to my car, yanking the tanks out, telling me that I was being "extra". As I was telling her that I was on my way to the store to return the tanks, she told me that there was no need to--as if I was going to let her behavior go unaddressed and not get my $500.00 back. She could have very easily caused an accident and her behavior was harassment at minimum. The owner Kumar was away on vacation supposedly and I never heard anything back for a week. When I called, he could not have cared less, and said he would "review my case" and get back to me. A few days later I got a generic email that he could not refund my money. Not once was this crazy, unhinged woman's behavior addressed. I had to file a complaint with SSI (who asked if I had called the police) and also dispute the transaction with my credit card company. Otherwise I was prepared to go to court. Stay away from this company."

"Hollis was an incredible instructor!! Every staff member we met had years of experience and all of them are extremely passionate about diving- they instilled a lot of trust and enthusiasm in our whole class. Kumar even let me borrow his fins for the whole first weekend in the pool. I do recommend trying to come to class with your own approved snorkel gear to save money- I ended up spending a lot on the first night of class. But now I have great gear and am so in love with diving! Can’t wait to continue practicing and enjoy the community I’ve made at Beyondland Adventures."

"We had an amazing time with Beyond Land Adventures last week! Thank you, Kevin and Patric (our instructors) , for being so knowledgeable and patient with each of us. I had so many concerns before starting the Open Water Scuba course since I had a hard time equalizing my ears, one of our friends got cold and had to take a break, and some of our friends could not balance well. Kevin and Patric taught each of us unique skills to solve the concerns, customized the schedule, and even went ocean diving on Thanksgiving day! And we all got our licenses on the 2nd ocean dive \^O^/! They also offered a very reasonably low price for renting all accessories you need for the class and never tried to sell us expensive gear like some other stores. I never thought of it before, but now I feel Beyond Land Adventures is like a Scuba diving home for me. We will definitely come to San Diego again to have more tours or courses with them!"

"Absolutely great shop. We signed up for a guided tour. We came to the shop because when we talked with them they were very helpful. After getting and testing the gear we set the location for the dive. We met up with our guide Dafna and went over the dive plan. It was amazing the knowledge of the area fish and sea life. We were unfortunately not able to make it passed the surf and the dive was called. We were refunded even though it was not necessary. I can say it enough how great this shop was looking for other ways to make the dive. Dafna and the whole shop is why I dive. Wonderful people."