We all ways need good want Scuba diving Very grateful for…read morehealthy happy my experiences Review my profile for reference my history Excellent for warm area can but good enough My friends had done scary but recourse was good time worthy not cheap

Wow. Just wow. I ordered a snorkel mouthpiece last May. Never got it. Emailed Nick and Brandon…read morethree times. Never got a response. I attached a screenshot of the order confirmation of the item never received. Thanks for taking my money and running.

Very helpful and friendly staff. People are always watching if your in trouble and in general is…read morevery safe and beautiful.

Great place to sail, windsurf, kayak, and BBQ. The NU sailing center offers many sailing and…read morewindsurfing instruction courses that are friendly and a lot of fun. The staff is solid as well. I've sailed for many years and got my start here in the month sailing class. Now I sail competitively and teach sailing at the center! There are a number of boats (420s, Hobies, Lasers, Vago, Bug, etc) and plenty of windsurfers. You can't beat this place on a windy summer day!

Went on the 2 hour sunset kayaking with a bunch of girlfriends recently and had an awesome time…read more Even though they provided maps as to where the boat launch would be--I still went to the wrong area--boo for me and directions. They provided all the equipment: lifejacket, oar, and kayak. I recommend water shoes just because Im not a huge fan of sand or rocks in between my toes. The fabulous trip leader gave us some instruction/safety and then we were off and paddling--ok maybe not at first :) The staff was so patient and nice---especially because I felt like the first half of the trip I definitely needed special attention--since we were veering in the opposite direction of the group---geesh who would've thought it would be so difficult to turn or keep going straight--but with the proper instruction and a little special ed tugging from one of the trip leaders---we were on our way to cruising on lake michigan. Being that this was my first time and I didn't fall out or become traumatized--I definitley will be doing this again.

What a fabulous time we had on Northwest Passage's Crete (Greece) Kayak Adventure. Rick, Zane and…read moreAnna were excellent guides who quickly taught us the skills necessary to paddle a sea kayak. They also knew the area so well that they could point out things or take us places we would never have discovered on our own. The towns chosen for the overnights were well selected; also, the lodgings were comfortable and the restaurants served good Greek food. Having previously done this trip multiple times before, Northwest Passage has it down to a "science" for a seamless trip. It was an outstanding way to experience Crete. We would count this adventure as one providing the proverbial "memories of a lifetime." We highly recommend Northwest Passage Adventures.

Good company to rent a kayak from, hourly rentals are available $30 for a tandem, & $25 for a…read moresingle. Friendly knowledgeable staff. Three locations that I know of anyway. But only open through the month of October. Happy kayaking!

Every staff member has always been so helpful and friendly! Things have always been great every…read moretime I've gone.

Shore is outstanding. Couldn't be better. Erik gave me a free five minutes packed with information…read moreabout my handgun; I've never owned one. He brought up and answered questions I never even thought of. Legal issues. But most important, he showed me about firing and grip and loading and unloading. All the safety issues too. He did this like it was fresh, like he hasn't done it a thousand times before. Erik has a passion for firearms and ammo. The whole experience of Shore is refreshing. The shore staff is top-notch. Very knowledgeable and appropriately friendly. I used the range. I haven't been on a range in 50 years. But within minutes it felt like home. (BTW, if you read bad reviews, they may be outdated and misleading.)

I'm a woman in my 20's living in Chicago. Despite my hobbyist/entry level interest, my…read moreopportunities to shoot have seemed few and far between. Part of that is because it can be a bit intimidating entering this kind of environment while you're still building up your confidence. Until I found Shore Galleries! I've been to ranges where asking questions is treated as ignorance rather than a desire to learn. I had the opposite experience here. Upon passing off my FOID card and while filling out my waiver, the gentleman behind the counter managed to strike up a conversation and had us chatting like old buddies in just a few minutes long interaction. I immediately felt welcome and at ease. My friend and I came in on a Sunday afternoon and after browsing the downstairs shop for a few minutes, we were given a stall in the upstairs range. The range is smaller than some others I've been to, and plenty of other patrons wandered in and out while we were there, but it wasn't overly crowded and we didn't have to wait. A full hour in the range and 6 targets purchased ran us a very reasonable $50 for the two of us to share a lane. They have a solid variety available for rent, though we brought our own equipment so I can't speak to pricing on rentals or ammo. There are no ranges in Chicago proper, but from Lakeview to Lincoln Wood the trek felt very reasonable and well worth the short drive! I will definitely be returning here, and am so excited that I found a place I can comfortably learn, practice, and grow.

Mixed Feelings :Great Start in Adult Group Level 1, But Disappointed in Level 2…read more I was genuinely excited to enroll in Level 2 swim lessons this year after having such a positive experience in Level 1. My coach in Level 1 was amazing,patient, encouraging, and I truly felt like I was learning and growing as a swimmer. Unfortunately, my Level 2 experience didn't live up to those expectations. On the first day, I was assigned to a coach , and it quickly became clear that he didn't have a structured plan in place. There were only two of us in the session, yet I felt like the other swimmer received the bulk of the attention. As someone who's still very much a beginner and working through things like fear of the deep end, I felt unseen and uncomfortable. Building trust and rapport in a learning environment like this is essential,and I didn't feel like that was prioritized. That said, I did appreciate that he introduced side swimming, which was a new and useful skill for me. So there were some moments of learning! During the second lesson, there was a new coach . Once again, I had to re-explain my swimming background. He was kind and acknowledged that he hadn't been given any info about the students beforehand, which explained some of the confusion. He reassured me that I belonged in Level 2, but I still felt mostly overlooked during the session as the more advanced swimmers got the majority of his attention. Because of these experiences, I ended up missing the final two classes;one due to travel, and the other because I just didn't feel comfortable returning. I didn't see the value in making up the missed session given how things had gone. While I'm grateful for the strong foundation I got in Level 1, my experience in Level 2 left me frustrated and disappointed. I'm sharing this review in hopes that the program improves communication as I emailed them my experience 07/06/2025 and haven't received any response yet and support for all swimmers, especially those still building confidence in the water.

The star rating is specifically for the portion of class I was able to attend. The class itself was…read moregreat, but the hassle and difficulty of getting/parking around here would make this otherwise a one star rating, as you can read below. I've been wanting to get my baby into swim lessons since about the time she was six months old, but just didn't get to it until now. They do offer infant lessons, so I signed up. I don't know that we'll be at the pool a lot, but I also recently started bathing her in the tub, and I want her to be safe there as well and decided it was time. Lakeside may be the closest swim option to us since it's maybe 10 minutes from my home and I've heard good things. I was really pleased that I was able to get in so easily--my friend is taking her son to swim lessons at another, more well-known brand of swim school, and it took her several weeks on the wait list to get in. The price is the best I've seen, and it's easy to register--I have been able to register just a few days before the class I wanted to attend, and for the baby lessons I didn't have to sign up for a month in advance or specific number of classes, which is a huge bonus. The instructor, Josie, was nice. I enjoyed our class a lot; it was small and the instructor was able to give us attention. The baby wasn't sure about being in the water, and got upset a bit (especially just as we were getting in), but she calmed as the lesson continued. The teacher sang some songs so we could bounce and sway and twirl. She showed me some techniques for getting the baby acclimated to the water and to entering the pool, and getting the baby's legs kicking (though she wasn't real keen on kicking at that point). I actually wanted to take adult swim lessons here too since they offer them. Unfortunately, as great as it was, I just can't continue paying $25-30 per class when out of the two we've signed up for, I've only been to half of one of them. Because of the parking (see further down), we weren't here until about halfway through the lesson, and the second class I signed up for we missed altogether though I left 20+ minutes early. By the time we got there, got her swim ready, and started heading toward the pool it just wouldn't be possible for me to get in with her in my arms for the last 10 minutes of class. And maybe it's still the pregnancy hormones but I was fighting back tears. So even though the class is easy to get into and the class size is great, I don't think that Lakeside works for me because I don't generally have time in the morning to leave an hour before class to make sure we can find parking. If I was in walking distance, this would hands down be my choice. Logistically, the address listed for the swim school is the Edgewater Athletic Club address, which for some reason is the Granville side. But don't let that fool you because the entrance is about halfway down the block on the Kenmore side of the building. The Edgewater Athletic Club has no access on the Granville side of the building. There's some parking across the street, though the lot is tiny and can be really hard to get parked into (it's a little narrow). The lot has 14 spaces, of which one is a disabled spot, shared with several businesses. But the lot is terrible. It's too small to have cars parked in straight, as it's currently designed, though I know they do it because it allows for more cars than diagonal parking does. But the parking lot isn't even wide nights three cars would fit if parked bumper to bumper, so getting in and out is not for the faint of heart (and if you don't like parallel parking this would probably stress you out). I waited for another car to leave so that I could pull out more easily since they came out a couple minutes after we got into the car. In theory, there's lots of street parking, which one may think would easier when Loyola is out since the dorms are only a couple blocks away but you'd be wrong. I've never seen apartment buildings with driveways in Chicago the way they are in this area; along Kenmore almost all of them have them, so what you think may be a spot is actually the driveway for apartment parking. I can't help but wonder if some of the cars belong to students who don't move them often. And if the parking is that bad in the morning, I think it would be worse in the evening so I think I need to continue looking for adult lessons, too.

The only way to explain it is that this is the bait shop by the lake that you'd imagine in your…read morehead as what the the perfect bait shop by the lake would be like. The guys there know the city, county, whole state and region so well. They sure know fishing- duh, it's a bait shop. That's sort of the vibe but kindly. And they have every bait, tackle, hook line and sinker out there. It's like a surreal magic shop. And the love bait is stupendous. Cheap pets for children!

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Tiny bait and tackle shop…read more Guy behind counter was rude, condescending and snarky. Don't ask him about fishing. Don't ask about public bathrooms. Don't interrupt his TikTok time. PUBLIC RESTROOMS Yes, they ARE in the blue and white building just over yonder. Yes, you can drive up to them if you need handicap parking. Don't bother asking about anything having to do with bait and tackle. He's busy. And he's angry. And I definitely won't be back.

We had our daughter in park district swimming classes but she wasn't making progress. At Foss she…read morebecame more comfortable and confident, and after a couple years now swims considerably better than I do.

I am truly sad and disappointed in our Foss experience at Elmwood Park. When we started at Foss,…read morethe quality of instruction and kid-friendly environment made it worth the steep price. Our son loved his lessons. However, several major factors have caused us to pull our son out mid session. This year, Foss stopped offering any make up sessions. To us, this was unreasonable as the current session is 13 weeks long and the price is $30 for a half hour. Instead, Foss offers family swim as a substitute for a make-up lesson, which books out months in advance. Other swim schools offer tokens for make up sessions as inevitably, very few families are available for 13 weeks straight. We also experienced a major lack of communication with management. Nobody answers the phone. We missed a session once and when we arrived the following week, the building was closed. There was nothing on the website or any form of communication to inform us of this closure. When I called and asked why the building was closed I was told that there had been a note on the door the previous week (the week we missed.) Most unfortunately, the quality of swim instructors at Foss varies widely. Although our three teachers before this session were great, our most recent teacher wasn't in the pool when class started, had 4 year old kids sitting on the step for long periods of time, and put the kids in time out if they moved to the other end of their lane for their turn. Of course the top priority is safety, but she never showed the children what she expected of them. I'm still not sure how they were expected to get to the other side of the lane for their turn. I had to stick up for my son when the teacher put him in time out for moving down the lane. During the first class with her, my son only swam for 10 minutes total, as the kids sat on the step for the first 10 minutes, played games for 5 minutes and were sent out of the pool early. This is not acceptable when classes cost about $1 per minute. When I spoke with the manager about my concern, another mom was doing the same thing about the same teacher. Instead of listening to me, the manager said she'd call or email me the next day, but I never heard from her until I followed up a few days later. If I were the manager, I would be interested in knowing why families were ending their sessions. Overall, this lack of communication, and poor teacher experience is no longer worth the high cost (and parking nightmare.) We were hoping to keep our son (and eventually enroll our daughter) at Foss as there are few swim environments close to us that are as kid friendly. We know a lot of families at Foss who have had great experiences, but unfortunately, it was not for us.