This place is a cash grab. I got certified here 8 years ago. Called Todd to ask if I could tag along for a dive they are doing tomorrow (all my own gear, tanks, etc) and he wanted me to pay $100 bucks for a "refresher" even though I am PADI certified and have completed courses as recent as 2 days ago. Apparently "they dont know me" even though they did my course, but if I pay them $100 bucks they will know me. What a joke. read more

I loved this so much! I learned to Scuba Dive in about a week of practice thanks to Aqua Systems.

Just completed the weekend course and I really enjoyed it. I was a little nervous about trying scuba diving but after this weekend I feel a lot more confident. The course was a good mixture between theoretical and practical. I thought that we went through the material at a pace that was slow enough for everyone to follow and fast enough that we didn't get bored. The weekend really just flew by. Todd has a great instructor and allowed us to ask tons of questions and shared his own personal experiences diving which was really interesting! The practical portion in the pool was a ton of fun and it progressed in steps so it was easy to follow along. They offer drop in sessions on Tuesday nights in the pool for a great price so it's nice that you can continue practicing even after the course is completed to make sure you are comfortable when you get into open water. I thought this course was a overall a great value for the price and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning to scuba dive! read more

Was instructed by Todd Shannon and he was very impatient and kept screaming at everyone and even made us lift the anchors back into the boat. read more

This was a GROUPON deal and worked for me quite nicely. Some of the negative comments for the weekend course are probably because the candidates did not take the time to read the material and any weekend course will result in feeling rushed if you don't fully prepare yourself or dedicate your full weekend to it. Also the price for this course is right - there are significantly more expensive diving courses they could have taken that might have been better for them. Also, I highly recommend doing a discover scuba first in a tropical destination so that way you can see if you like scuba diving or not and are comfortable with the activity overall. I spoke with Todd Shannon initially over the phone and found him to be very knowledgeable and he explained the open diver course. The GROUPON was for $399 and included the in-class lessons, confined diving (pool) and open water dives (4 in Lake Ontario) as well as all the equipment necessary. I explained I was heading to Cabo and would like to do open water dives certification there and Todd explained that Aqua Systems could provide the open water course referral. I could complete my 4 open water dives in Cabo get my open water certification and then come back to do the dives included with Aqua Systems as advanced dives in Lake Ontario. The first Tuesday lesson, Todd provided me with the PADI book and because I did the Tuesday night course I had plenty of time to prepare each week, complete the review questions and ask my questions to Todd. Also, Todd took the time to explain the dive tables quite well and always took the time to work on any questions that I had trouble with. I found him to be pleasant, informative, instructive, helpful and efficient. My first Tuesday, Todd was nice enough to drive me to the pool, but I would recommend that you have a car if you do the Aqua Systems courses - the Tuesday classes (3 separate weeks) were always small either just myself or one/two other people, you do two hours in class at their location at Dundas and Dixie then drive to the Etobicoke pool on Rathburn for two hours. Perhaps the weekend courses are very busy (2 days in a row). Also at the pool it was never more than 3 people to 1 instructor and I found the instructors to be very knowledgeable. By the second week I had done everything on the checklist and felt very prepared for the open water dives in Cabo. In fact, when I told my girlfriend, who is certified, it was 6 hours classroom and 6 hours in pool, she was impressed. Not only that but you can go in your 4th week just for the in pool session for $10 - equipment included - so you can practice more. Anyone who feels uncomfortable after the lessons and in-pool should definitely take advantage of this extra practice. Overall - I think for the price I paid I received great value - still have to do the advanced dives in Lake Ontario in July, I'm looking forward to them. read more

Found out about this place on Google. Purchased the advanced PADI open water weekend class which includes classroom instruction, pool instruction and two open water dives in Humber Bay. Todd has been a great teacher, extremely patient and helpful as I struggled with the equipment and learning the basics. The nature of the course is condensed into the weekend and Todd is efficient at delivering all the material in such a short time frame. Would highly recommend this for anyone trying to get PADI certified. read more

Fabulous instruction, super supportive and safety first. Great experience!

Honestly the worst experience I could have had with Scuba diving. Teacher Todd Sharon is such an unfriendly, impersonal character who gets very annoyed with people in general. Course rushed, he doesn't care if you don't understand. The pool session was totally over crowded, he just wants to get out of there so he yells all the instructions in passing. The open water in the lake was HORRENDOUS -- do not do the open water here: do this portion of your padi elsewhere--everyone was very confused, people were getting frustrated, and things were very rushed and overall a very unpleasant experience. The only positive thing is that the divers who work for Todd Sharon and help us are very kind, friendly and really want you to enjoy your experience....even though there is only one of them for 7 people. It has literally made me hate scuba diving, and I the idea makes me anxious and stressed out. I didn't feel safe at all, and at times his lack of proper management skills endangered the divers. Take your money and go somewhere where it isn't overcrowded, and where the people CARE that you enjoy your experience and take the time to go through the course material. Also, he wasn't even in the classroom with us, he just popped a video in and made us do the homework questions at the same time we were watching.....which was confusing and difficult to do considering this was all brand new information. When I tell my friends about this experience, they are all so shocked because when they passed the padi license, it was a great time and they were usually with two other people MAX by professional diver so they always felt safe, and understood everything that they tried out. read more

Courteous, helpful, patient and professional!I would recommend certification through these folks!

great experience learning scooba diving. Todd is an amazing instructor with lots of experience.

I had no experience in scuba diving before but doing this course here made getting PADI certification easy and fun!

Todd is a very knowledgeable instructor. Course ran smoothly, just finished first day! Lots of snacks available during the modules! Pool portion was fun! Class was conveniently located close to highway, limited parking available so be sure to arrive early! read more

Good customer service at the store. Very knowledgable staff. The open water classes were informative but quite large. It was a good experience. read more

Preparing myself for Caribbeans with friends for diving and Todd is just making this happen faster and nicer! Great teacher! Great lessons! Thanks! read more

Good quick course for an introduction to scuba. The procedures in the pool moved quickly which made it engaging. Knowledgeable instructor. Jen read more

I did the weekend course and than the Wednesday and Thursday open water dives. I normally never posted a review about anything but I have also never had a course were I felt I needed to let people know how disappointed I was about it. Where do I start? First of all, this course is a huge money grab. I understand the initial fee of around $500, but than the constant rental fees of $50 for the weekend and $50 for the open water dives if you don't have specific snorkelling gear. You get the tank and everything else included, except for the fins, mask and snorkel. That will run you another $100 for th course. The idea is to get you to buy their equipment and they would waive the initial $50 rental fee. They tell you it's a gift. To me it's a money grab. For $500, they should provide all the equipment. Another money grab came at the end when we were getting our licenses. Just as we filled out the information for our license, the guy says "that will be $50". This was never mentioned in their advertisement or their website were we would need to dish out an other $150 during their course. I ended up buying the gear anyways as I didn't want to loose $100 on their foney rentals. I rather buy it than feel like I got scammed. The first part of the course was the instructor talking about all the stuff we can buy and the services they provide. I wasn't thrilled about it too much because I didn't pay to get advertised to. Another negative thing was the classroom size. The class is probably around 300 square feet and that might be pushing it. They had 23 students in that space. A few of them in chairs down a narrow hall. Just picture that. Than after the instructor's intro he mentioned that if we post a positive review on here and show him the next day we will get a free $15 mask soap defog. To me that's just scetchy. So be aware of positive vauge reviews on here. After that he proceeded to play videos all day as he went down stairs to the shop. We took up a few quizzes and that was the learning part. 23 people in a 300 square foot space watching videos for 4hrs. The next day, it was the same except that he did teach at the end, but really rushed the dive chart section as I feel few people actually learned much. As for the final test, you mark it, so if you don't want to fail, than just make sure you get a good mark. The pool sessions weren't bad. Only thing was that the equipment was never cleaned. He said that the pool disinfects the snorkels. The rental gear was also pretty bad as some of it was dirty and ripped. The open water dives were pretty good as well. Unfortunately, the visability was not very good, but I can't blame anyone for that. It was rushed though. It seemed like they just went trough the required skills as fast as they could to get them checked off the sheet. The instructor also changed the Thursday time on Wednesday. So instead of coming for 4pm as everyone planned, he told everyone last minute to come for 2pm to finish early. Most people weren't able to make the second day. The second day was all about just scuba diving. No lessons as apparantly we went over all the skills the first day. It was a bit weird as one of the instructors said that we will be finishing up some skills the second day. On the positive, the other instructors were very helpfull and pleasant. Unfortuantely, they didn't run the show. So in summary: 1) You'll be forced to pay another $100 for rentals unless you have your own professional gear (you can always buy it there). The cheapest gear you'll buy there will run you around $250 plus tax. 2) $50 fee for license (which really got to me and was the final straw to write this review. 3) Very tight class room. 4) You'll watch videos all day. 5) Practical side is rushed, but time is limited especially with 23 students in a highscool pool. 6) Equipment isn't very clean and if you don't like sharing snorkel mouth peices you'll have a hard time. 7) I don't feel we went over all the skills. 8) You will learn how to scuba dive and have fun doing it. 9) You'll get any questions answered and get help. 10) You're confidence will go up and it might cause you to continue your education. 11) They offer dive services and trips that you may like and benefit from. If I knew it would be like this I would definately look somewhere else for the first 7 reasons. But in the end I got my certification and I feel alright to be able to go and do it somewhere. I would probably want to learn more and review the book we got before going out again as I don't have full confidence in it yet. read more

Did the weekend course here. It was completely rushed, class was unsupervised (totally reliant on videos you can watch on YouTube) and teacher resented actually having to teach! He was impatient and couldn't articulate dive math. In water sessions were better but held at a dirty public pool. Take your money to Float N Flag in Burlington, my friends went there and said its infinitely better. read more

In Nov of last year, my friend and I took the open water course with Aqua Systems on Dundas (They also have 3 other locations: Mississauga Dive, Brampton Scuba, and Oakville Divers). I would avoid this place at all cost. The head instructor is more interested in making money and will use low upfront costs but then hit you will extra costs once you have paid. One person was changed $75 for a referral letter that just required the instructor to sign their log book that they had completed the course they had paid for. You learn about these fees until after you finish the course. My friend and I were charged $50 for the certification card. This was never communicated to us until the end. We were told that this is because the course is so cheap, but when you add up all the fees, it ends up being more expensive. The class portion consisted of watching videos and very little interaction with the instructor (Todd Shannon). He rushed everything and became frustrated if you didn't understand something or asked questions. During the tests, he would put the answer sheets up on the board before people were done and told us to start reviewing our answers. One person only had 5 correct answers on the final exam. He had them correct their sheet and told them to re-read the book later. I felt like he just wanted to rubber stamp everyone and didn't care if they understood the material or not. The pool portion was also very rushed. The class was about 20 people and there was only him teaching the class the first day. He never got into the pool with us and would just yell from the deck on what we needed to do with no demonstration. It was very difficult to hear him and my friend and I missed a bunch of the things he wanted us to do. The second pool day he had a helper who was in the pool with us and would demonstrate the things we needed to do. This person was professional and very patient where Todd was rushed. The equipment we picked up was very old and in poor condition. The wetsuits had rips and missing knee protection. The guy seemed very disorganized and rushed. He also forgot to give gloves to my friend (lucky one of the assistants had an extra pair). The lake dives were a complete mess. We weren't sure about doing the lake dives in Ontario at that time but were told there wasn't any issues doing them in late November as the water was still warm. This was not the case. I think my friend and I both had mild case of hypothermia afterwards. Todd used black duct tape to patch the holes in some of the suits. He had three people helping with the dives. One student in our group was having issues with his regulator. It would stay open and air would just flow from time to time. They asked if they could swap out for a functioning one and was told there wasn't one. One of the people helping offered theirs as their tank was low on air and they couldn't dive. Todd said they didn't have time to switch it out and that it was probably just frozen and he would be fine. Our dive was quick and easy. and we were done in 15 minutes (after speaking with a dive master where we went on vacation I learned that this should have been longer). Our group was one of the first to finish. We were by our cars and packing up when Todd left. We heard him tell one of his assistants that he wanted to go grab a few things before the next class. We had just finished changing when there was a commotion. When we got to the beach we could see one of the other divers being brought into to shore by one of the assistants. They didn't look good and the guy pulling him in was shouting that they needed help. They got the guy to shore and he looked like he was coughing up water and had to have help to stand up. He was half carried to the back of one of the assistant's vehicles. During the commotion, I could hear one guy asking where Todd was and being told Todd had left. This seemed to shock the guy who asked. One of them said they should call an ambulance and have them the person assessed but was told by the other guy that Todd would have issues with that and he thinks they guy would be OK. I heard the divers talking later and the one who was with the guy who almost drowned said he didn't know what to do and that he wished he had done his rescue diver course. While on our trip, I spoke with several of people working as assistants at our resort and they were all shocked and said that the minimum for them was dive master. One of the dive masters spent extra time with us at no charge to make sure we were comfortable and that all the skills were correct. I don't feel that Todd is a good instructor. He is rushed and focused more on selling you gear and making money. He doesn't make the course fun at all and when I asked him about how rushed the course was he blamed it on the PADI requirements and that I should speak with PADI about the course. This course is Dangerous and if this is the PADI structure, I would avoid PADI and Aqua Systems at all costs. read more

Helpful instructor. Had my PADI certification with him. He was really knowledgeable. He has nice gear in the store. Gave me a good price. On Tuesday he organizes the practice at a Olympic pool which is really good. I arranged my open water diving with him.Hopefully goes well. Planning to do Advance with him. read more

Todd Shannon was our instructer, who was very friendly, and personable. He was patient and explained each of the sections with clarity and ensured all the students understood and could visualize what was required both during in class and in pool lessons. The location for the theory(in class) lessons was held in an older low-rise building, however, it was adequate to get what we needed. The videos are a must to watch (for PADI cert)whether you are doing the e-learning or in class. As soon as the videos were over, the quizzes and tests began. We did the first 3 sections/objectives for in-class theory on the first day. The remainder will be on the 2nd full day. Loved the practical lesson by Todd in the pool. He paced the class to not feel rushed, and ensured he came around to check each of new skills learned. When he did this, he was one on one and gave each of us his 100% attention going underwater with us to see that we were doing the skills and understanding them correctly. He pointed out easier ways to do the skills, and what to watch out for. I never felt rushed or pushed or in a panic situation at all. The pool was only being used by our class of 11 people which was great! We had a mix of genders, ages, professions, and reasons for taking the course. It was a nice touch to have some granola bars and bottled water available throughout the class to keep you going if you didn't think of bringing a snack to keep your glycemic levels at acceptable levels to absorb the information. The information I learned today actually gave me such insight into scuba diving, and I am quite exited to get my PADI certification so that I can experience more dives in Canada also. Todd gave us some suggestions on diving to see shipwrecks that are relatively close to home for us which I never honestly knew about many of them. I can hardly wait! Would I recommend taking this course with the instructor we had...definitely! Already have to both my stepson and my son and they are both interested! Keep up the good work Todd! Susanne R. Since we are going to take our PADI open water dives in Jamaica, Todd was very helpful as to what we required to obtain our PADI International certification. read more

Amazing place! Really knowledgable staff and good classes! Would definitely recommend!

Did the course and was really impressed. Todd makes the course fun and is great with answering any questions you have. i would certainly recommend taking your course with this company. read more

Knowledgeable Staff, took the open water course and the instruction was very helpful.

I just compled the weekend scuba course and have mixed feelings. They move through the curiculum so quickly, you barely have time to keep up. Mario and Todd both teach the classroom sessions and Mario is a far superior teacher. He took the time to explain and review all material. Todd flew through and would move on before everyone had caught up or understood. During the confined pool dives, the instructors would move on before everyone was done or completed the practice. Also they would begin instructions for next skill set before everyone was even above water. I felt very scattered and rushed the whole time. There is also hidden costs they don't advertise, they charged 75 dollars extra if you needed your referal package to do your open water dives on vacation. This is a very common practice (to do open dives down south) so they should be upfront about this cost. They also charge another 50 dollars to use their equipment. They do this to try and encourage you to buy your own equipment from them. They have some things to improve on, especially concidering your learning concepts that are very serious and it is critical that you mastered all components. read more

Great 2 for 1 deal for $99 for class and pool sessions if planning to get certification while on vacation. Other costs adds up like books $50, rentals $50 (but can use that $50 as a credit when purchasing equipment with them) and transcripts $75. They offer deals if one decides to take deep dives with them ($300) but have to decide before classes ends or will cost another $100. In class course a bit crowded. Had 12-13 people. Everyone not all at same level. Class continues even if you don't understand a subject. Class rushed to get to pool at a certain time. So no time to eat all day. A lot of information to retain for a weekend course. But really enjoyed the pool exercises. Get to put all that theory into practice. If you have your own gear better to use it than the rentals. One of the regulators I used was difficult to breath. Swallowed so much water. The first regulator I used was so much better. The rental mask was awful. Didn't feel safe. I brought my own and was able to clear it so much better. The fins were awful. Couldn't swim with them. Never had that experience with fins before. They offer practice sessions which is great but again another cost. So not sure if I saved by doing it this way. At least I don't have to study while on vacation. Then again I might of had more time to study while on vacation. read more