I dove my open water certification for more than 10 years and thought that I knew a lot about…read morediving since I had more than 70 dives under my belt... boy was I wrong. I had no idea that I would have so much fun from the moment I accepted the Master Scuba Diver challenge (to receive the highest rating for recreational divers) back in early 2013. I have since doubled the # of dives in less than 2 years than I had completed during my first 10+ years of the sport! The staff, especially Drew have been extremely patient with me as I continue to build confidence from achieving each milestone along the way. Advanced Open Water was fun, but Rescue was even better! Working through all of those specialties were a lot of fun...thank you Drew! The rest of the friendly staff at Sterling Silver Scuba seem to know the answers to my 100's of questions along the way. The camping n diving weekends are a great way to unplug from a busy 8-8 schedule. You just can't beat 4-6 dives in a weekend while having awesome food, wonderful accommodations and of course all the stories and laughter that one could handle. Melissa has gotten the logistics down to a science. She and her staff works hard to provide everything that you need to be and stay successful in the sport so that you can enjoy yourself learning new skills in the water. Oh, and thank to Jason, I have watched movies while enjoying smores next to the campfire can't go unmentioned either... Bottom line: Great Staff- knowledgeable on all safety requirements, competitively priced trips, sell top of the line gear... what more could you ask for in a friendly family-oriented local dive shop?

I stopped by this past weekend to look at some fins. Grace is very, very knowledgeable and she was…read moreable to answer all my questions and more. She pointed out the trade-offs between various types of fins and fin straps. I was surprised there was so much to consider when buying fins. She also pointed out some other things about scuba (not about fins) that were very helpful. I also had some questions about regulators. My concern was that the hose I used at the OBX felt too short and was almost about to come out of my mouth so I had to hold the regulator in my mouth or bite down hard on the mouthpiece. She answered questions about that as well as concerns I had about water leaking into the mask. She pointed out many things to consider. In short, Grace is very knowledgeable. She definitely knows what she is doing. I hope Diventures is paying her well because she deserves it.

Compass Dive & Sail is the best great place to get your scuba certification. The staff focus their…read moreentire course on getting students comfortable with skills, live scenarios of diving, safety, and swimming underwater. Amazing people who make the experience so memorable with their great personalities and unlike other companies who try to have large classes, Compass Dive & Sail want small classes so they can pass all their knowledge to students about scuba, the sciences of it, and marine life. They are very passionate about what they know with scuba and all facets to it would rather spend less time on the corporate blah and pass everything they know to prospective scuba candidates. The last thing I'll say is that they don't nickle and dime every little thing. Unlike many other dive companies, they are all inclusive from online training, pool skills, scuba gear and check out dives, camping and meals which happen at Lake Phoenix in Rawlings VA...which is an amazing place to practice open water skills or just dive! Only costs not paid for are transportation, wetsuit, fins and snorkel/mask.

We got our OW Certification for the pool and open water this summer with Compass Dive. The…read moreexperience could not have been better. Doug and Meg took their time as we progressed through the requirements. The attention to detail, 1-1 training and confirming we learned the skills was invaluable. The open water certification at Lake Phoenix was a blast, with Matt's help the weekend flew with smiles after each dive. After discussing with friends, it's apparent that Compass Dive provides a personal experience that the large shops can't replicate.

Really friendly staff. Got a new mask snorkle and fin there before a trip to the Keys because I…read morerealized my old mask rubber was shot from 10 years in the garage lol. I'm thinking about getting a dive certification now.

Terry helped me pick out snorkel equipment before a trip to Aruba. I hadn't planned well and only…read morewent out a week prior to my trip. Very knowledgeable and pleasant Englishman. If I can work up the courage to take scuba lessons, I will look into getting them through this store. Thanks for your help! Only negatives: it's a store among several stores along the road, so it's not obvious, and you'll probably drive past it. You need to park on the street and it looks like you can only park on their side of the street, which was full when I arrived. I think I ended up parking next to a school and daycare and I needed to cross a busy road.

Friendly service (and a friendly 2-year old big black labrado!). Clean and organized. The only…read moredrawback was they did not have too much of a range in terms of what they stock (from diving masks to diving suits). Very limited selection especially for women. We did end up buying something, but I wish there is more selection (colors, sizes, styles). Spacious changing room. No mirror though. They offer lessons and run tours.

Tanya is the most patient and helpful instructor - we were lucky to find her. If you are a little…read morenervous but really want to get into diving, this is the place to go. My wife and I trust her judgement and skill and look forward to our next adventure. You will me welcome in her shop! Doctor Phil and Kathy Nicholson

So, we had a mix up with an appointment for Discover Scuba Diving and instead of just saying sorry…read moreand sending us on our way they jumped thru hoops to fix it. The staff here is awesome and so is the shop!!!! Can't imagine going anywhere else!

Great dive shop. Good instructors who are willing to work around your schedule to get your…read morecertification on time.

I completed my dry suit certification with Everett and Valerie at Lake Phoenix. They are skillful…read moreteachers, experienced divers, and great to spend the day with. I left confident in my new skills and appreciate their excellent training.

My sons had a great experience with their weekend pool course as part of their Open Water…read morecertification. The instructors are thorough and attentive. The people in the store were also great - knowledgeable and helpful. All the staff is so into diving, which is really contagious.

I signed up for the reactivation class. Sam was very helpful and responsive when I asked questions…read morebefore and after I signed up. I did the reactivate this past weekend. My instructor was Israel. Over the last few years, I tried getting back into scuba at two other places which sucked because they couldn't correct trim problems I had. Israel is definitely the best dive instructor I've had. He was very patient and more than willing to answer the many questions I had. He also mentioned things that other dive instructors never mentioned. I'm glad I was assigned to Israel for the reactivate class. If you decide to take a class through One Ocean Scuba, I would recommend requesting Israel as your dive instructor.

I've always been curious about this shop tucked in a corner of Kemp Mill Shopping Center next to…read moreShalom Grocery Store. Rich and I don't scuba dive but recently went in to drop some toys in the Toys for Tots donation box. It's a nice store with items displayed neatly. There were goggles, wet suits, and a variety of products I'm not familiar with. There were some scuba/ocean related like stuffed sea creatures and a few holiday ornaments. On a black board in the back was a list of upcoming excursions, including one to the Maldives. I heard the owner talking to a customer about the difficulties of picking up trash in the Potomac River because you can barely see anything in front of you. I was really impressed with the neatness and organization of the store and with the wonderful attitude of the staff.

Did the intro to scuba course. Had a great time. Fred was very helpful and patient. Excellent…read moreopportunity to test other scuba is for you.

I stopped by for some advice on dive computer and other equipment I am in the market for. Mel and…read moreSy (?) were helpful, they clearly have a ton of knowledge. The store carries a lot of quality equipment and they offer classes as well as amazing dive trips. I only had a short amount of time to pick their brains but I will definitely be back!

Stay TFA from this place... tried to get a pool dive scheduled from this place, and the owner…read moreinitially "forgot" my information (even though I actually had filled this all out on an official form when I got there). I was attempting to get my pool dives done to get my PADI certification (was assured they had a PADI instructor available even though this is a SI dive shop). Paid for the training and everything... After multiple weeks and multiple phone calls (and an official email, mind you), I finally got in touch with the owner (Laird) who when I asked for a refund for the lack of service they provided, had the audacity to say to me, and I quote... "We don't do refunds" WTF Stay the F away from this place, it's beyond toxic and if you get swindled by this dude, get your credit card company involved, they will certainly fix this dude's "business transaction"... they fixed it for me! Stay away from this place, go to SOS Diving instead... that's where I went to get my certification, for like 40% less of the cost too!!!

I am a 30 + year experienced certified SSI (previous NASDS) diver and I posting this to notify all…read moreprospective divers of the business practices of the SSI Dive Center Undersea Outfitters located in Westminster Maryland and actions by owner by Laird Brown. My scuba gear encompassing a Zeagle FlatHead regulator (primary, 2 secondary, and one console) was given to UnderSea Outfitters (a proclaimed authorized Zeagle dealer) for routine annual service. I have been a certified diver since 1983 thus I am NOT new to this process. This is life support equipment utilized for recreational scuba diving. Within this service the authorized technician makes any needed repairs, replaces any needed parts, and makes any necessary adjustments. Above all this equipment is returned in FULL WORKING ORDER ready for use. This can be confirmed through any dive equipment manufacturer which also complies with governing bodies of Scuba Schools International (SSI) and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). In my instance with UnderSea Outfitters the gear mentioned above was NOT returned in working order and was otherwise damaged. Both second stage housings (the piece from which a diver breathes) were returned cracked (I can provide pictures). This was not pre-existing and if it were I should have received notification of such in that it would not have passed a bench test (that is if the technician in this case Laird Brown even did one). I was billed $120 (per a receipt I can provide). Upon sending pictures to Laird he did ask me to bring the equipment back and he would fix it HOWEVER I had travel plans PLUS due to an extensive travel distance to the merchant I would not be able to get the gear back to the merchant AND there was no way the merchant could render repairs in the amount of time necessary to meet departure dates. Besides given the nature and sensitivity of the equipment I no longer trusted this merchant center to complete the job correctly. To be blunt when submerged under water at 80+ feet my life depends on this equipment functioning correctly thus depends on the merchant doing their job to the regulatory requirement expected. I requested a refund to which the merchant agreed yet never credited. E-mails were ignored thus I was not able to resolve the issue with the merchant. Further the when approached the merchant-owner (Laird Brown) stated out right that he "did not care if I was happy or not" a refused to resolve the situation. In other words he did not care if something serious happened to me as a result of his negligence! As an immediate resolution I was forced to purchase a whole new set-up so I was ready for my travel plans which amounted to $810.90 (I can provide a receipt from Divers Den). Also I contacted the Zeagle Manufacturer (Huish Outdoors) who provided instructions to return the damaged gear (costing $25 in shipping). Finally, on September 16, 2019 I received notification from the manufacturer that the repairs as a result of UnderSea Outfitters damage and negligence will cost $225 plus shipping costs. Essentially the merchant (UnderSea Outfitters) did not perform their job correctly and returned damaged gear to me resulting in my costs of this whole ordeal equating to $1180 plus whatever additional shipping costs I will incur. Moreover although I know SSI cannot help with this it is important for you to know this center's practice. This whole situation is deplorable and one I have NEVER experienced in my 30+ years scuba diving. Further this is not as important as making sure this merchant (Laird Brown) changes his business practices or ceases business altogether which includes calling his affiliation with PADI into question. He should not be authorized to work on anyone's scuba gear. It is only my extensive experience as diver that allowed me to notice the damage prior to use. If not for this I could have sustained significant injury. Further the simple fact that he stated (which I have in writing) that he 'did not care' is inexcusable. No one should trust this person. Essentially it is not all about any personal gain for me but rather the safety of others. Personally I will never utilize his services again. Sincerely and Respectfully, Christopher C. King

Mike is an incredible business man. We are long time Annapolitans and went in to Chesapeake…read moreUnderwater Sports out of curiosity . Mike invited us in and asked if we had any questions. I told him that I'm a bit of a nervous diver and as soon as Mike heard this he immediately offered to send me some information and helpful tips to over come my fear. He had plenty of gear and even a few merch items.

Well priced dive refresher course and a great introduction to the excellent dive community in…read moreAnnapolis. Mike answered every question and helped me figure out what I needed to adjust on my gear. I even joined everyone for lunch afterward and felt very welcome! I will go back.