Review for the shop:
This shop is huge, their selection for all types of diving is excellent, and the staff there was friendly and better yet, informative on everything.
They went above and beyond in answering all of my questions, including being able to tell me the mechanical details of how a regulator first stage (piston type) works, the pros and cons of each type of regulator, possible freezing temperature (unlikely but possible), air flow capacity etc... they were able to tell me the different types of BC's and all of their pros and cons... list goes on for everything I purchased. Now naturally, one would expect sales people to be attentive, sure, but they were educators first and salespeople second. I never was pushed, just helped and I'm satisfied with everything that I purchased. They helped me assemble my regulator first and second stage, and hoses. (I would have liked to have seen the process for that- but then again, I didn't ask, so that's my fault. I can always YouTube it.)
Before buying, I even grabbed some food and double checked what they told me in the car via online research, and they had been honest. I had spent an hour at Best Buy last night trying to get a GoPro to no avail (Best Buy didn't have a waterproof glass casing in stock), however this store had a pretty decent competitor to the GoPro 4 for less than half the price, and it already came fully encased, waterproof up to 300 feet. And yes, I checked all the specs.
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Review for the dive instructor/class:
Immediate pro is that it cost only like $210 for the entire advanced certification, including 5 entire dives, 2 days with instructors, AND a drysuit rental.
I found it exciting, challenging, and more difficult (in terms of dealing with cold water, low vis) than your average warm water dive or pool class. Which is exactly what I expected and wanted, walking into it. It was great for training and building mental toughness in the water. The instructor is very informative and helpful, and the class size was small (me and maybe 1 person), which is never a bad thing as you get a lot of help and focus. He's friendly but also expects you to perform your skills right; which is how it should be for an advanced diving cert/class.
The only thing that didn't go as planned is that we weren't able to perform all the skills we were supposed to, as visibility was only about a foot (it rained heavily this week). Which is completely understandable from a common sense/liability POV, but it still sucked. The instructor said next week should be better though, so we'll see. If it is, I'll update review to show that. Either way; I get to come back for free until lake conditions are acceptable for training. Worst case scenario if they're not is a free day of partial dive training.
Only things to work on: try to get a better range of sizes for drysuits and 7mm wetsuits.
Bottom line: I highly recommend every new scuba diver in the entire D.C./MD/VA area come to this shop for their gear, and also for their advanced certification read more
