I was recently OW certified and would highly recommend anyone whose interested in scuba diving to be certified with Bill. His pricing is the same/similar as other local dive shops around San Diego, but his expertise and the individual time he spends with you is absolutely worth it. His classes are relatively small, so he can dedicate that needed time to you. (There was only one other person in my OW class besides me.) He does work around your schedule and is relatively easy to reach; I reached out to Bill to be certified before my Hawaii trip, and he was very flexible throughout the entire process. I'd say the only downside was not having a better fitting wetsuit (mostly because I'm short as hell and have larger quads than most people), but that definitely wasn't a show stopper and wasn't a big deal. He still reached out to a lot of his friends to see if they had any better fitting wetsuits I could borrow/have/buy which was very kind. I ended up renting a wetsuit for my last ocean dive which was a personal comfort choice. Nonetheless, he is incredibly patient and explains things very clearly and thoroughly. His number 1 priority is your safety and understanding, and he explains that from day one. He also wants you to have fun and enjoy diving. He's a great guide at La Jolla Shores and points out any sea life he sees. If you're new to scuba diving and/or are a bit clumsy/anxious like me, Bill focuses on your individual needs in becoming a competent and confident scuba diver. I'm sure you will not get the same attentiveness and care as you would in a crowded class at a dive shop. I'm definitely reaching out to Bill for any additional scuba trainings because I know I'll feel safe and comfortable after his instruction. read more

I recently completed my Rescue Scuba Certification course with Bill, and I have to say I am very grateful to his attention to details & safety, and not taking any shortcuts. I appreciate his honesty and upfront clarification about how the class will run. He runs small classes; we were only 3 people in the class, which is a huge positive upside in scuba training. I took my OW and AOW certs with two different shops previously plus 100+ dive on my log; I know how to compare instructors, so I can confidently recommend Bill for any new divers or experienced divers who want to advance their skills. read more

Bill Powers Scuba Lessons - Rescue Class - Scuba Diving Near Me - San Diego, California

I needed to quickly complete my PADI open water training for an upcoming trip. I contacted Bill and he set me up with everything I needed. Bill made sure all the equipment fit and performed properly and spent a great deal of time ensuring that our dives were safe and fun. Bill has a wealth of knowledge and his tips and anecdotes are valuable to me as a new diver. Bill Powers Scuba Lessons will be my go to for future training. read more

We just got our two teens 16 and 17 scuba certified before our first big scuba trip. I can't say enough great things. My kids are water babies and love all things water so scuba was a natural step for them. Bill helped build great safe divers who have 6+ Mexico diving outing with great success! Looking forward to our new family hobby. I loved the private classes taught by Bill which gave my kids the personal attention and details they needed. From books, to pool, to ocean dives in La Jolla - we loved learning from bill! read more

Bill Powers Scuba Lessons - Scuba Diving Near Me - San Diego, California

Bill is great! We're very lucky to have him as our instructor :) My husband and I went to Bill for our open-water certification, and we definitely recommend him. He prioritizes safety and he is both knowledgeable and accommodating. His teaching is very fluid, which made the content from both the classroom and dive sessions fun and easy to absorb, and it also made the classes feel more like conversations than lectures. read more

Refresher training with Bill was exactly what I needed! Bill was thorough and direct and I am so glad I went with him. Our first dive got called off at the site for conditions and many instructors might have taken the risk, he rescheduled and showed up when it was safe. In the water he was attentive and reassuring and helped me to feel confident again. read more

If you're aiming to become the most competent and safe scuba diver you can be, you need a solid foundation and Bill Powers is the instructor for the job. He's not your run of the mill instructor. With Bill, you're not only going to master the skills (he'll insist upon it), but you'll gain the type of confidence that will make you eager to explore the underwater world. I've recommended him to many close friends. Can't go wrong with scuba lessons from Bill. read more

Bill Powers Scuba Lessons - Bill Powers and I on the way home from diving Cortes Bank. - Scuba Diving Near Me - San Diego, California

I thought I would update my old review. I'm now about 200 dives into my dive hobby. I have gone on to get my advanced, nitrox, deep and will do my rescue this winter. Don't let Bill scare you away from this sport. If you notion his name in scuba circles people either love or can't stand him. No one feels in the middle. I'm just posting to say - if you get discouraged by him, please don't let it stop you. I didn't. read more

I've been diving very consistently for a decade and have had a multitude of instructors, many of which weren't worth the paper their certification cards were printed on, and sadly with PADI instructors in particular I've seen an all too common theme of bending rules and catering (rather pandering) to the irresponsible desires of ignorant clientele that have no place in the ocean to begin with. This was all too prevalent when I first obtained my Open Water certification in Mexico where I was shocked by the level of negligence and lack of care by numerous outfits and instructors. If you paid the fee, you got the cert card even if you lacked the skills or aptitude to dive safely. When I returned to the States, I made sure to continue with my certifications and training and experienced both the bad and good here as well when it came to Instructors. Eventually I met Bill Powers and signed up for my Wreck Diver Certification through him and was extremely impressed by his capabilities and commitment to diver safety which is something he takes very seriously, never bending the rules, nor making exceptions for incapable clientele that have no place in cold water diving to begin with. He puts his reputation on the line every time he takes a student under his wings. I remember having to make numerous attempts at completing the course due to either environmental conditions, issues with fellow students taking the course alongside me, or frankly due to personally not having all of the skills needed to pass the course 100% dialed in. It took a bit longer than it would have if I took the course with any of the other instructors I had previously but when all was done and said, I truly grasped all of the fundamentals to be a competent and SAFE wreck diver. Bill has to be the best PADI instructor I've had the pleasure of working with and wouldn't imagine going to anyone else for certifications. If you lack the capability to dive in cold water conditions or aren't 100% committed to diver safety then Bill is not the instructor for you. There are countless resorts that will throw you into a heated pool and ignore your lack of capability as long as you fork over the fee and more than likely won't shed a tear when you drown or endanger your fellow diver and they would be much more suited for you than Bill if you're not 100% committed to safe diving practices and feel entitled to be in the water because you paid a fee when in reality you have no place in the ocean to begin with. If you want to truly learn how to be a great diver, are committed to diver safety, and laying a strong foundation to build on to pursue your love of the ocean as only a SCUBA diver can then Bill Powers Scuba Lessons is the place for you! I can't thank Bill enough for teaching and always reinforcing the fundamentals needed to dive safely. Not everyone is meant to dive in the ocean and Bill will never cut any corners to earn a buck when he's seen numerous individuals lose their lives to ignorance and lack of capability. Kudos to Bill and his love of Scuba! read more

Highly recommend scuba lessons with Bill! I was nervous to get into the ocean, and was looking for a smaller class so that I had a more personalized experience, and Bill was just that. Not only did he answer every one of my million nervous questions before getting in the water, but once we stepped onto the ocean he helped guide me in looking around to help calm my nerves. He makes sure that by the time you're certified, you're both a confident and safe diver. We even got to see leopard sharks on our last dive! If you're looking for a more personal scuba diving experience with an extremely knowledgeable diving instructor, this is the class for you. read more

Are you looking for scuba lessons, from beginner to advanced? I can confidently recommend Bill Powers for several reasons. The most salient benefits to me were: 1) Small class sizes. Bill isn't interested in churning out students at neckbreaking pace; he's invested in the success of each individual student, and his class sizes reflect that priority. 2) A focus on individual performance. If you haven't *mastered* a particular task, an instructor may not have the time or inclination to individually help you to do so. Bill will laser-focus on any areas needing improvement and help you become a great diver. 3) An all-around good time. Bill's pretty fun to hang out with. 4) Competitive prices for PADI classes/certifications. Don't take my word for it, just ask him for a quote. read more

My 13 year old son had been bugging me to get dive certified for years and I was nervous because of his age. A friend had used Bill to help certify her teens and he came very highly recommended. She was not kidding. My son got excellent training and went on to do an advanced certification with Bill as well. Safety comes first and Bill is the best! The small group certification was the perfect format for learning and my son has gone on to dive with Bill many times since completing his course. read more

I took a deep diver course with Bill Powers. I thought i would be nervous about going deeper than i ever have, but after the lesson reviews and answering the many questions about partial pressures, and decompression, and safety stops i had no problems at the depths we dove with the confidence i had aquired from our thorough classroom time. I look forward to taking the wreck diving course with him next. Very meticulous instuctor and attiention to detail for my safety concerns. Ira McKillip read more

I have recently completed about a year of scuba lessons with Bill and it has been a life altering experience. I have taken my advanced and rescue courses as well as some specialty classes. There are some highs and lows throughout the sequence but Bill always put safety and quality instruction first and foremost. You are paying for the instruction and not the certificate, and he never shorts you on the quality of his classes. Taking classes from a private instructor also facilitated a wide variety of dive locations, as opposed to simply another day at La Jolla shores. The only thing keeping this from being a five star, off the chart review was difficulty in scheduling. There is no office staff, and no instructor pool to work with. When bad weather strikes and diving delays happen, the patchwork of weekend classes gets disturbed and it's, somewhat understandably, difficult for Bill to untangle it. If you want quality instruction from a passionate scuba professional, you should consider Bill Powers. If you want to pipeline courses, collect certifications, and work on a tight time schedule, these are not the classes for you. read more

I took my Advanced Open Water Cert. with Bill Powers and I highly recommend him. He is a stickler for details, but don't you want that when your life is at stake? He made sure that I was studying and my skills were perfect. I really feel that I am a WAY better diver because of Bill. read more

Bill Powers runs a top notch scuba certification program. I was traveling to San Diego this summer and looking for a certification program. I appreciated the attention to detail. Bill's passion for scuba is obvious and his expectations for safety is unmatched. I would recommend his program to anyone. read more

Trusted Bill to certify my 13 year old daughter. He provided clear no-nonsense instruction with a few dad jokes thrown in. Bills experience and attention to safety made me feel confident my daughter is well equipped to tackle her level of diving safely and with confidence. Thank you! read more

Bill is a great teacher and is very safety conscious. He is caring and really loves sharing his love of water with others

My 15 year Son and his 2 friends took Scuba lessons from Bill Powers. I highly recommend Bill to anyone interested in getting their scuba certification . Bill was highly professional and very easy to work with. The boys had a great time!!! read more

Bill's experience was obvious in the way he taught his classes. His expertise on the subject and in-depth teachings gave me confidence during even my first dive. Regarding the dives, Bill always made sure to stay with us, and despite a lack of verbal communication was able to convey important information to us clearly underwater. Overall, learning to dive was an incredible experience with Bill, and I am eager to dive with him even more in the future. read more

Bill is a knowledgeable and caring instructor. He's been diving in San Diego for much longer than most local instructors, which translates into a vast understanding about the different dive sites and the ins and outs of diving. He's a very personable man, always with a smile on his face. Bill absolutely loves diving and it shows. :) read more

Bill Powers initially comes off as approachable and friendly, but everything changes once he gets your money. Don't expect him to answer the phone, call you back, return your e-mails, or answer on Meetup (a vast difference from how quickly he responds when you initially want to sign up for lessons!). Expect a beginner diving course to take MONTHS with Bill (in comparison, this takes a couple weekends at most with a legitimate dive shop). He promises private or small group classes catering to your schedule, but it certainly doesn't feel like it when you can't even get in touch with him to schedule dives much less get him to commit to a date. Avoid at all costs. You've been warned. read more

Where do I start with Bill and his lessons. There's just so much good stuff! I came into this not knowing a single thing about scuba except I wanted to do it. I looked around and checked prices and did all the usual research, but when I came across his lessons I thought it was too good to be true. Private lessons for about the same prices as the big dive schools? I contacted Bill, expecting to be told I read something wrong or there was all these extra fees or hidden charges. To my surprise, I got a call from him, not an employee of a shop trying to sell me, or a generalized email, but a real call from the man himself. He asked me why I wanted to dive and talked to me a bit before he broke everything down for me and it was exactly what it seemed to be. That was just the start of my experience with Bill. He started out by setting a schedule, he worked with me around my apprenticeship classes to get it done in a timely manner. He explained it's 1-2 people max vs the schools that can be over 20! Needless to say, it's much more personal. Bill is very laid back and easy to talk to, we definitely had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs through the process which makes learning and retaining the information easy and natural, it makes it feel like you're doing it with a friend. He's big on safety and doing things the proper way. So don't expect him to push you through a crash course and send you on your way just to make a buck. He will make sure you know what you're doing before he lets you get into the water. In the end I was really glad he took my knowledge, safety and ability to dive personally. When it was time to do my ocean dives I was more confident than I ever expected to be and my dives were amazing. I can't say enough good things about Bill's lessons, but if you're thinking of getting your dive on and don't know where to go, please do yourself a favor and give him a call. You will not be disappointed! I was so happy I'm already planning my advanced class with him. read more

Bill is a phenomenal diver and instructor! I have received multiple post-Open Water certifications from him, and he has always been very flexible in making the class schedules and class sizes convenient for his students. I have found him to be a very caring instructor, as his primary focus is in creating a community of safety-oriented divers while still having fun. I have recommended him to multiple people for both basic and advanced certifications, and I am happy to continue recommending him to others. read more

Can't say enough great things about Bill. He trained both my son and daughter. When I first brought my son in for training Bill determined he was not up for it (son was 12 y/o). Considering the aspects of diving he was spot on. Waited a year and Bill trained him right. Have had many great dives with my kids thanks to Bill! read more