Marin Diving Center

"The service is on par with what you get in a rundown backwater gas station. The male attendant has the attention span of a 3 year-old and customer (people) interaction skills of a broken tricycle; his knowledge of the store does not fare much better either. The lady attendant is professional and attentive though."

"Where to start? Excellent shop, always keen to adapt to you and trying to accommodate your needs. I've always been surprised by the spot-on pricing of everything in the shop : you won't find cheaper online and you will certainly miss all the knowledge of the staff. Being a CMAS certified diver a long time ago, I came to them wanting to start over. Jon first tried to save me some money by accepting the equivalence of my CMAS levels but it was a long time ago and I wanted a fresh start! Since then, I've done a lot of certifications with MDC from Open Water to Tech 50. I'm happily diving with everyone at the fun dives (thank you so much guys for organizing these!!) and I've found a vibrant and caring diving community in our neighborhood. Excellent instructors for all levels, very knowledgeable staff, excellent prices, a big variety of items in the shop and most importantly: lovely people. What more do you need?"

"Great team of folks who really put a genuine effort into running a great dive shop. I'm very pleased to have landed here as my home dive shop. -photo from final dive AOW cert 2/24 Jonny is a fenominal instructor. The pride in one's work is evident."

"Unprofessional, all what they care about is getting your money. A lot of hidden fees. It is very inconvenient that you have to pick up your equipment from the store yourself and return it too. The store is closed on Sunday so you have to return it on Monday. The dive itself is very short, you spend most of the time swimming from the beach to the diving spot and back."

"I'm pretty new to diving and I was certified here. I have rented and bought gear from other dive shops in southern CA when needed, mostly weights and tanks because it's easier to get them close to the dive site. But I like this place more. It's a family business and the prices and service are excellent. They also have good deals on second-hand gear, which is a must for newbies. The last dive trip I went on, I rented some gear here. A day or two before I left for the trip I had to change plans and pick the gear up a day early. Then when returning I missed a ferry and had to return the gear a day late. It was lobster season so I gather that they were very busy and maybe rental inventory might get tight, so I offered to pay for the extra two days but John said no, don't worry about it. See ya next time. He knows I'll keep coming back. Love that. Also the rental prices are exactly the same as they were last year when I did the same trip. While everything else we pay for is going up in prices, Marin Diving Center is trying their best to keep prices the same. I love that too. Name one good or service you paid for last year that isn't more expensive now. I can't, except this place. Very importantly, they organize regular "fun dives". Weekends when people subscribed to their newsletter meet up for dives around Northern CA. For someone who is new to diving and may not know a lot of other divers to dive with and get experience, this is huge. It's hard to get experience if you know few other divers to go with, so this really helps with gaining experience and meeting other divers."