This dive shop is awesome. I am finishing up my certification and wanted to say that Gene and his instructors are the best. All the instructors were so patient and encouraging. Overall they made the experience great. I highly recommend Dive n Trips!!! read more

This may be a very good place to learn to scuba, but make sure you call to see if the place is actually open. I drove 15 miles just to find a Closed sign in the window during business hours. I needed a full service of my equipment, but I will take it to another store that honors its 'open' hours.I am new to the Bay area,but not to scuba and have never experienced this type of service. read more

This is a real dive shop, where the customer is number one. The staff is also very knowledgeable and friendly. This shop is highly recommended if you are looking for a good quality dive shop. read more

I live in SoCal and needed to get a Discover Scuba course for my dad who lives in the TriValley area. Doing things like this from afar can be iffy, but I got Gene from Dive N Trips on the phone and immediately felt confident in the service I was getting. He was incredibly helpful in getting me what I needed and I was more than satisfied with the transaction. You could tell he was very customer-minded-- I'm sure that's reflected all over his business! I'd certainly do more business with them in the future. read more

Absolutely one of the best shops I've been to. And I'm not just talking dive shops but shops in general. Gene, the owner, took the time to explain all about the PADI certification and pricing. They are extremely friendly and welcoming. From the moment I walked in I felt like I was with a bunch of friends. They love answering questions and take the time to explain everything to newbies. They are competivly priced and have a few class options for the certification. They even do monthly club dives and basically act like a big family. I've never had such great customer service from Gene or John (the instructor). I wish everywhere I went had such a great and knowledgeable staff. I'm looking forward to getting my certification and all future equipment here. read more

This review summarizes my experience taking advanced recreational scuba classes through Dive'N'Trips. I had been recreationally scuba diving for about 13 years as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver with a bunch of specialty diver cards in my wallet. I have done numerous dive vacations with manta rays, whale sharks, WWII wrecks, and caverns, in hot water, in cold water in freshwater and in various oceans with diverse visibility conditions. So why take another dive class? Initially, it was only an item on my bucket list. At some point in my life, I wanted to complete the PADI recreational dive career chain. When I then turned fourty in October, I decided to put a checkmark near that item and go for completing the PADI Master Scuba Diver. Let me tell you that good dive education past introductory level is not only hard to come by but it's also often tied to class schedules that don't fit busy middle-aged career people family schedules. Here is where Dive'n'Trips shines: 1) I haven't seen any dive shop in my entire diving career that has so many high-ranked instructors. Dive'n'Trips has several IDC staff instructors and a course director. This is, they cannot only instruct instructors but also create their own PADI-certified speciality classes. 2) As a consequence, they offer pretty much any specialty in the book and more. The list is seriously impressive. 3) Instead of always having to drive to Monterrey, they can dive in Shadow Cliffs lake. This saved a huge amount of travel time. Granted, Shadow Cliffs lake is not pretty. However, the goal is to get technical training, not to see a colorful underwater world. Dive'N'Trips set me up with my instructor, Anthony Farmer, and we agreed on a "career path" and a schedule via phone and email. I took the rescue diver and 3 specialty classes with Tony, including the EFR class. The 3 specialties classes were: equipment, kayak, and self-reliant diver. In general, Tony really knows what he is doing. For the rescue diver class, he took into account that I had training and experience as a life guard before so he zoomed in on diving-specific stuff and spent less time on stuff that I had already done many times. In general, the rescue diver class is really worth it and it's definitely a step up in terms of challenge compared to (advanced) open water diver -- especially for people without life guarding experience. One can take the equipment speciality class as e-learning now but no app in the world can substitute the two 4-hour evenings with Tony. We went hands on and looked at a cross-section of a regulator first stage. He right away helped me diagnose a specific problem with my own regulator and I was able to get it fixed based on the measurements we performed. He provided me with the maintenance manuals for my equipment and answered all my questions. Another direct result of the class was me being able to put my own redundant equipment together for the self-reliant diver class (see below). The Kayak diving class is one of those specialities that Dive'N'Trips created. I learned a lot about Kayaks and how to dive with them using different anchoring and tethering methods as well rescue and self-rescue techniques. Kayaks are like bicycles on water, useful for distances that are too far too swim but not far enough to require a motorized boat. Even though the kayak diving specialty class doesn't count for the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating, I am so glad I took this extraordinary class. The grand finale of the adventure was the self-reliant diver class. This is a rather new PADI speciality that allows divers to dive without a buddy when they carry redundant equipment, especially a second air supply. The class is not easy, as it requires navigation skills (which is definitely hard in Shadow Cliffs), dealing with an SMB and a lot more equipment than usual due to the redundancy requirement. Also, there is no standard on how to realize the second air circuit. In other words, the only way is DYI! This is where the equipment specialty knowledge came in handy. Just like the other classes, Tony taught the self-reliant class spending time on what matters. For example, we spend extra time testing the pony tank setup a week before and made sure everything was smooth. During the class, he then used his Kayak to monitor the presence of bubbles from the surface of the lake to make sure his students are OK during their first solo dives. All in all, even after all these years, I know I have become a better diver through these weeks of training. I went on a dive boat in SoCal right after and everything was so much easier, quicker and at the same time safer. I learned that the Master Scuba Diver rating is not just a bucket list item. It encouraged me to acquire a set of skills that are really worth it -- even when only diving recreationally. Bottom line: This was a great experience and I can whole-heartedly recommend Dive'n'Trips and Tony Farmer for such or similar endeavours. read more

After an extremely bad experience at another dive shop in Fremont, I went to Dive N' Trips yesterday. Gene and Dale were polite, helpful, and I had the absolute opposite experience from the one I had had in Fremont. They will get my business in future. Thank you, guys! Your prices were great. read more

I was certified through this shop today for my open water course. The staff are great people, they really want you too succeed and have FUN while doing it. That is what its really all about, great prices, you feel welcome as soon as you walk into the door. They really have their stuff together, I can't wait to keep diving with this shop. On top of it, everyone is extremely knowledgeable, and if they don't know the answer, they know where to find it. Would recommend to anyone! Chris read more

Just had a horrible experience with this place. Tried to sign up for private lessons and over the phone the owner made a lot of promises about how the pool location and availability and ocean sessions would be totally up to my schedule. But, when I drove down to arrange things (his insistence that I come in to do this even though I'm 30 miles of nasty freeway traffic away), he gives me 1 option for night pool sessions at a location I'd already told him over the phone wouldn't work. He rudely said "take it or leave it". The owner was a total jerk and has some real credibility issues. I drove 60 miles in heavy traffic for nothing and wasted 4 hours because of this irreputable establishment. read more

I just got certified today and I felt more accomplished than when I graduated from college! After my first lesson in the pool, I was about ready to quit because I was simply scared of being in the deep water. The owner, Gene, told me he would never give up on students who wanted to learn and I just needed to have more pool time to feel more comfortable in the water. He then had Shelly work with me, she was an instructor-in-training, and she was wonderful at helping with my underwater anxiety! I took baby steps and slowly caught up with my classmates-- my instructor, Dan, is another great guy, he's no nonsense, but if he passes you, you are going to be a confident diver, he's looking for solid skills which are extremely important to keep you calm underwater. Everybody in Dive N Trips are friendly, supportive, and knowledgable, and there's a strong sense of community which I really like. Now everybody in my family is certified and we can't wait to have our underwater adventures together! Thanks again Dive N Trips!! read more

I took my Open Water there. The instructors were great and did a great job making sure I was ready to dive. After the course I felt reasonably comfortable in the water and able to handle a variety of emergencies. I highly recommend taking courses from them. Their dedication to detail and commitment to quality are something that I have not felt from every dive shop. read more

This is the only Dive Shop I purchase my equipment and training through any more -- the staff is very freindly and knowledgeable. If you haven't tried the shop yet I highly suggest visiting them soon. read more

If you want to learn to dive you need to come to Dive N Trips!!!!!!!!!! I took my Instructor Development Course with Gene, Dan, and John; I have never felt so prepared for anything in my life...no exaggeration. Gene, Dorothy, Sam and their staff are the best. The Dive Shop is run like a family and they treat you like you are family. Dive N Trips can offer you any dive course; they have monthly group dives and seminars and their equipment is cutting edge. Check them out; I am glad I did! Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

My husband and I just completed our open water cert. The staff at the shop were great. They help us find the right size mask, fins and dive boots. We were also fitted for the right size wetsuit and dive equipment. They were very friendly and helpful. We got a 10% discount on our purchased equipment because we were enrolled in the class. The 2 instructors we had were fabulous. They took their time and let us learn at our speed. They were patient and encouraging which went a long way with us in our learning experience. The professionalism and positive attitude from all the staff was great! read more

My wife and I just got certified and from start to finish it was a great experience. Jason the instructor was very patient. All the staff is very knowledgeable. Great selection of gear. read more