Nice little place and the guy behind the counter went out of his way to help me. Great business to…read moresupport vs online or cheap big box.

I was stoked they had the fish stringer I've been looking for. Nice and hot looking tender that…read morehelp me too.

Dropped off my Moth sail to repair some tears and a broken batten (the battens are sewn into the…read moresail). They extended their opening hours to facilitate me dropping of and picking up the sails. Great service and a very good repair to my practice sail that will add another year of usage to it. Unrelated upside is that you can stop by the Verve coffee roasters next door and have a great coffee for the drive home I see from Yelp that the link is wrong, they are now an Ullmann loft and can be reached at the below: http://www.ullmansails.com/loft_detail.aspx?q=203

These guys are great! They repaired a genoa for me that I had to do an emergency repair on while…read moreunder way. They were able to fix the sail and make it look almost new. They also went out of their way to help get the sail back to me. My boat is in another harbor. The work they performed was very reasonably priced and was done when they said it would be finished I can give Santa Cruz sails my highest recommendation. You are in good hands.

SO MUCH FUN! I am a…read morebig guy and was scared out of my mind BUT the nice little lady...Natalie I think...was very helpful and calmed all my fears. She showed me pro techniques that helped me in the calm water and the baby surf that was out there. I was doing hand stands by the end of the day! We got out early, it was calm and a little foggy but then the fog burned off and it was amazing! So peaceful. We got to see dolphins, sea lions and an otter with its baby! And schools of fish under your board...pretty cool! Can't wait to take my 9 year old out there! Thanks again!

1st. Class Service. This is a paddle surf shop. and I am a longboard surfer. I needed a special…read more"Waist Leash". Olivier Guincetre the owner said not problem. He took the time to show me how to take apart my ankle leash and install the waist leash and even gave me the little allen wrench.

Tropical Adventures has THE best staff out there! If your dive shop doesn't have incredible staff,…read moreyou will not have an incredible experience. John, the main shop owner and instructor, was outstanding from day one. I was nervous, not having had any dive experience whatsoever, and John spent ample time with me on the phone guiding me through everything I needed to know and how to be best prepared for my dive days. He was very clear with how much things would cost and helped me cut costs on gear where I needed to! He knows everything about gear and skills which is great, but the best of all is he is highly trained and serious about your safety whether you're in the pool or in the ocean. I knew I was in good hands considering John's 30+ years of diving experience. Plus, he is a genuine, joyful guy and he feels like your best friend right when you meet him. Rebecca was the other staff member who graciously answered my many phone calls and many questions! She's very sweet and was super clear about what our schedule would look like for training. My whole experience with Tropical Adventures, John, and Rebecca was so enjoyable and fun that I'm already getting ready to sign up for an advanced course with them! I HIGHLY suggest getting all of your certs through Tropical Adventures if you want the best of the best experience learning how to scuba dive!

I bought a Groupon to get certified at this place and was excited to sign up for a class. There is…read moreno way to register online for the classes, so I had to call. I've called at least once a day for the past 3 days and have gotten an answering machine each time. The first day I called, I left a message saying that I wanted to schedule an appointment and asked for a call back. Nothing. I don't have time to call this place 500 more times, and from the reviews it doesn't even seem to be worth it to go here. I can't speak for the classes themselves, but the customer service makes a terrible first (and second, and third) impression. Pass!

I had a great time learning from Neil. My brother in law and I got a lesson / tour from him on the…read moreocean. It is pretty easy. It's a lot easier than regular surfing, but it doesn't give you the same rush. It's really mellow. The on land instructions only took 10 min. Our tour was roughly 2 hrs. Neil didn't rush it. You can get classes a lot of places but the difference with Neil is that you get to hang out and learn from someone who has been in Santa Cruz for 35 yrs. He has written for the newspaper and has a weekly radio show (Off the Lip, KSCO AM 1080; www.ksco.com) so he is well known by the locals. We were amazed at how many people knew him as we paddled passed surfers in the water. He also knows a lot of stories about the personalities in the area. It was really cool to be around someone so knowledgeable about the local culture of surfing and eager to share it. If you don't have a wetsuit you'll probably want to rent one since the water is about 60 degrees in the summer. We picked up ours with Neil at Freeline Surf Shop ($10). Then he took us down 38th Street where we parked. He provided the boards and paddles we needed, which seemed fine. He takes cash only. Ocean lesson was $55 and the harbor was $45. He steered us toward the ocean since it was a calm day. I probably fell in 6 times, but it was very easy to get back on the board and get back up. Anyway, I strongly recommend Neil. I didn't price shop the class so you may be able to get the lesson elsewhere for less, but I don't know if you'd get the benefit of hanging out with a character like Neil.

This was my first attempt at Stand Up Paddle Boarding, when Neil asked me what my experience level…read morewas, I asked him if there was am option below zero. he told me if I could listen, i could learn. He was right. I had an amazing experience with Neil, he coached and corrected me without making me nervous or nuts. I'm a SUP Boarder Por Vida. Thanks Neil.

Absolutely phenomenal ASA 101 experience with Pacific Sail!…read more I had the pleasure of learning from Dylan and Darrel, and I couldn't have asked for a better team. Both instructors took the time to thoroughly cover the material--balancing hands-on learning with classroom-style instruction (Darrel even led lessons right in the hull of the boat!). We practiced tacking, jibing, tied a variety of useful knots, and learned all the parts of the boat in a way that was both fun and deeply informative. Even during wild weather (30+ knot gusts that caused racers to retire their boats!) and a brief engine hiccup, the experience was safe, empowering, and invaluable. I learned not just the textbook approach to handling situations like a man overboard, but also real-world knowledge--like how to troubleshoot engine issues (thanks, Dylan!) and who to call in a marine emergency (thanks, Darrel!). Dylan's patience and steady encouragement made sailing feel approachable, even when conditions were intense. Darrel brought humor, depth, and thoughtfulness to every moment--together, they're a truly outstanding teaching duo. I also had the chance to meet Kate, another instructor, who was all smiles and incredibly helpful, waving while passing up on her tow boat and then cracking jokes to Darrel when she prepared for her Chardonnay crew to take off. On land, Natalie and Ethan from the front desk were warm and welcoming. Natalie and Ethan even walked me over to the boat with my coffee in hand to make sure I didn't get lost. I left this course genuinely feeling like I have a solid foundation in sailing--both in skill and confidence. I highly recommend Pacific Sail to anyone looking to start their sailing journey. This team is the real deal!

Just finished my asa 103 lessons. Dylan is a really great captain! He's very encouraging and…read morepatient for my tons of weird questions. There is nothing he doesn't know he even knows the best fresh restaurant in Santa Cruz! You should all try his lessons and start to love sailing in the blue ocean with beautiful creatures!

I was just thinking back to our California vacation that we did a short while back. One of the…read morebiggest highlights from our trip was our surf lessons. My son and I joined with some friends to get a group lesson from Barry at "Making the Drop". To help out, Barry brought his good friend Tyler Fox (pro surfer - how cool is that???). So, for a couple hours, these two guys helped us figure out the basics of surfing - paddling out, looking for the right wave, getting on the board, etc. They were both SUPER patient and some of the friendliest guys around. To this day, I'm still positively affected by Barry's laid-back take-it-as-it-comes attitude. I'll always remember him saying, as we're floating out in the water with dolphins watching for waves, "how can you hate your job when your office looks like this?". I can see how Barry is an effective life coach as well as top-notch surfing instructor. Whether you are a strong swimmer or not, love the ocean or not, I would highly recommend some lessons here. Learn something about yourself as well as life, in general, with just a few hours on the water with Barry. It'll change your life.

Why I chose Making the Drop: I bought my first board a month ago, and have gone out 2-4 times a…read moreweek since then. Another surfer, after seeing me struggle with catching waves, suggested a lesson. She has surfed for 5 years, and still takes lessons from Barry when she hits a plateau. That recommendation carried a lot of weight since she caught a lot of waves when I was out. In addition, the reviews on Yelp and other places were top notch. The Surf Lesson: Barry doesn't follow the cookie cutter approach, but instead looks at a lesson like that of a coach in any other sport or discipline in life, as a long-term relationship to improve one's craft, and in this case, it's surfing. I wanted to focus on wave selection, my paddle technique, and catching waves primarily, with wave riding being secondary. Barry taught how to read the waves, the lineup and how to maximize the amount of waves, paddle technique, pop-up technique, and would give feedback after each wave. He found several things I could work on to improve catching more waves, and gave very helpful and positive feedback. Overall Barry is a great guy who loves what he does, and is very good at getting results for students. The Day After: I think the best way to judge a coach or a lesson is based on the results you get the next time when the coach isn't there. In my case, the results were stellar. I took the lesson yesterday, and I went out today for an hour because that's all the time I have. I caught at least five waves with solid rides, one of which was definitely the longest of my life, all at the second bowl at The Hook. I would definitely recommend Barry, and I intend to call on him for another lesson when I hit a plateau.

Professional and reliable...my boat is seems run faster and catch more fish after they clean it…read more Capt. Rick H-Dock Santa Cruz Harbor

We have owned several boats in various marinas over a sixty year period. For the last thirty or so,…read morewe have fished out of Santa Cruz while also keeping other boats up in Alameda and Discovery Bay. This gave us a good perspective on marine service personnel, mechanics, electricians and such. How refreshing it is to have someone like Steve taking care of our boats bottom, zincs and running gear. Dependable, reliable and thorough would be understatements. Cannot recommend California Commercial Divers highly enough.