I went to Gulf Coast Scuba after my dive in Cancun - my equipment had a slight malfunction. It was getting old. Thankfully nothing major happened under the water. BCD kept inflating little. Aiar did a wonderful job explaining options in fixing part that malfunctioned, and also pointed out the really old aging part of octopus, that would need to be replaced very soon. I decided to get it all done together. Aiar completed it several days before promised schedule , called with good news. I am looking forward to my next dive in 2 weeks! Thanks, Gulf Coast and Aiar! read more

I went in for a scuba tank. The staff was very helpful in my selection. I will be referring them moving forward.

Rude, deceptive, dishonest and nasty. Incompetent on top of it. STAY AWAY The shop incorrectly measured and incorrectly ordered a $3200+ Santi drysuit that is too large for me (Santi confirmed I fit almost perfectly into a smaller size--some of my measurements were two sizes down with some measurements smaller than Santi's smallest size) I contacted both the shop and the US Santi Rep in 2020 (I have email evidence with the Santi Rep in 2020 & 2021) about how big the suit was. It never fit me. I've attached a photo from 2020 and you can see how baggy it is. The shop did not offer any options and refused to even change the wrist seals. They were rude and nasty and then stopped responding about the sizing of the suit (I have emails). Multiple people/instructors said it was too big in 2020 but the shop refused to help and the co-owners were rude. The drysuit is extremely baggy with extra fabric, which causes my harness and my sidemount CCR to slide around. My shearwater P3 also slides around my forearm because there is too much fabric. I don't have any of these issues when I dive my unit in a wetsuit or a rash guard. It is a constant source of frustration. When I was measured, the co-owner told me that women get fat and warned me not to gain weight (extremely offensive). He then told me a story about measuring a woman who got fat and couldn't fit into her drysuit so he told me I better not get fat too (still extremely offensive) While I was getting measured, the other co-owner tried to pressure me into purchasing new fins because, according to him, "all women have floaty feet" (I do not have floaty feet). He shoved fins into my hands and said "see, aren't those heavier than your current fins?" When I told him they feel heavier on land, but I don't know how they will behave in the water, he said "whatever is heavier on land is also heavier in the water". Not true. An empty AL80 is heavy on land but floats in the water. He then tried pressuring me into purchasing a Mares SCR and said there's nothing to see below 40m so I should buy the Mares. He also didn't know what gas density was and said it was the same as partial pressure. I was only there to get measured for, and purchase, a dry suit. I still use the same fins without a problem. My preferred shop is in Florida but because I was living in Houston, I unfortunately ended up at Gulf Coast Scuba. When I went to pick up my drysuit, the neck seal was too tight and the wrist seals were too loose (the wrist seals had a gap). The co-owner told me I got fat in the neck and that I lost weight in my wrists. He then proceeded to cut the neck seal with scissors while holding the dry suit up in one hand and cutting it with the other (which caused the neck seal to be jagged, suspectible to tears). When the US Santi rep saw this, he asked if I did it. I did not. The shop did it. The co-owner also said he ordered it a little large because "women get fat". The dive shop also refused to exchange wrist seals claiming it was my fault. I escalated this issue to Santi's US rep. Only then, when he got involved, did the store exchange my wrist seals. The neoprene socks, while both marked size small, are different sizes. The co-owner told me just to use gaitors because "that's what everyone does". This shop has refused to rectify the issue with the drysuit. If the shop had contacted Santi timely when I told them the suit was too big in 2020, then, per Santi, they would have remade the suit. But instead, this shop tried to hide its mistakes from Santi and the US Santi rep because it was a new Santi dealer and had just qualified to become one unbeknownst to me. Do not trust this shop. They are not competent and are not knowledgeable about the products they sell and refuse to rectify the situation and instead resort to blaming the customer. They will also pressure you to purchase equipment they claim you need even though they've never seen you in the water. They also seem to misunderstand theory even though they claim to be a tech shop. I'm sure I will receive much hate mail from their lackys but for the discerning customer and knowledgeable scuba diver, you're going to be very disappointing (and a bit shocked) by this shop. Take your money elsewhere. read more

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Great team and great selection of dove equipment. I got my 13y/o son certified and then whole team was great to work with. Jim Baber was professional and thorough and led my son through the instruction in a terrific way that made him feel safe and confident and ready to dive. You can go wrong here. If you are considering diving this is the team in Houston.. read more

Been diving since the 90's and never found a dive shop with such an amazing crew! Finding a place to hydro tanks is now impossible. They can do it onsite. Whatever your need, they'll get you back underwater in no time. In depth knowledge on diving, critters and locales. Jim & Carl are simply amazing people! And if you have fear of being lost at sea, they carry the Nautilus Lifeline locator that will send a signal to every boat within range for quick recovery. Go see them...and tell them Trish says hi. read more

Finally crossed an item off my bucket list and got my PADI open water certification with Jim. He was super helpful in choosing the necessary equipment, answering any random questions related to diving, and a very patient teacher. To be honest, I did have some fears before completing the certification (not going to lie I am scared of drowning!) but through Jim's tutelage I feel that I now have the knowledge and skills that those fears have evaporated. The shop's location is also very ideal as it is in the loop. It's a one-stop shop for professional diving equipment. I was also able to schedule my class immediately. The open water certification process involves classroom teaching and written exam on Monday, then 2 pool confined training on Tuesday & Thursday, and finally on Saturday and Sunday open water diving at the lake and your certification. I completed my dive on 3/17 and the lake water was 59F, which was pretty cold, so it's something to keep in mind if you're looking to get certified around the winter/spring time. read more

Wonderful customer service with a great selection of gear and services. Gulf Coast Scuba is a trustworthy source for all of your scuba needs, highly recommend! read more

Aiar was super helpful! I took my Cressi gear in to have it serviced as it hasn't been used since COVID. Aiar was very professional and knowledgeable, and took great care of me! Will definitely be going here for all my diving needs. I will definitely be going back here for some new gear soon. Would recommend these guys any day of the week! read more

We had a really excellent experience renting equipment from this extremely professional and very nice company. All of the equipment was top notch and extremely well-maintained. They went out of their way to accommodate us when we needed to drop off early before they opened their shop. We will definitely not be using anybody but this company in the future for our gulf coast scuba needs. read more

Gulf Coast Scuba - Scuba Diving Near Me - Houston, Texas

I just had my first experience at a real dive shop buying real gear and not at Academy and it was the best experience I could've asked for.Carl helped me out with picking a mask, a snorkel, fins, booties, and all the accessories that I needed. He gave me real recommendations that were applicable to how I would be using the gear and he knew everything there is to know about diving and snorkel gear. He was so nice and made sure that I felt comfortable taking my time trying things on and looking at everything to make sure I was getting exactly what I wanted. He helped me out for about an hour and was so patient and kind the entire time and you could really tell that he loves what he does. I would recommend this place to anyone getting snorkel and dive gear whether they are new to the world or a veteran. This place was great and I will definitely be going back to them for all of my diving needs! read more

Top quality shop and staff at gulf coast scuba. Highly recommended their open water diving class. It's 4 sessions in total with a manual you need to review with test before starting. read more

Gulf Coast Scuba - Open water dive at mammoth lake. Top quality staff at Gulf Coast Scuba. Highly recommend their open water diving course. - Scuba Diving Near Me - Houston, Texas

I did my scuba certification (open water diver) through Gulf Coast Scuba. I also purchased some quality snorkel equipment here. The instructors and dive masters are amazing. We spent multiple days together getting confident and acquainted with the equipment in a pool first and then graduated to the open water. I feel prepped and confident for my next underwater adventure. I made a great choice picking Gulf Coast for my cert. They never pressured me to buy equipment or sign up for further courses, they legit just wanted to ensure we had fun and felt safe and secure the whole time. Carl, Jeff, Jim, Chris, and Aiare (think I got everyone) are great and I wish them success in the future. Find your buddy and your zen! read more

Jim and Aiar are AMAZING! Got my first open water with scuba certification with them. They were very friendly, funny, and engaging as well as informative. The classes flew by and I feel very prepared to go scuba diving now. Super great gear advice and best scuba locations as I was going through the process as well. Im planning on getting advanced open water scuba with them and going on a trip in the spring. Would highly recommend for any scuba gear and/or activities!!!! read more

I went in for some gear before my first dive trip to Puerto Rico--didn't want to rent during covid and wanted to have my own flyers that I know in and out to feel safe and confident. Jim the owner helped me and he was such a gem! I have recommended him to several friends. He is friendly and so, so knowledgeable. He listened to what I was looking for and made suggestions at a variety of price points and discussed their pros and cons. I never felt like he was trying to sell me anything and I really appreciated his time and patience. Excellent scuba store--I've been to others in town and this one has them beat! read more

Really knowledgable owners and instructors. Excellent selection of gear and stellar customer service. If 6 Stars were available, they would have received it! This PADI Instructor highly recommends Gulf Coast Scuba! read more

I took my advanced open water with Aiar. He really knows how to get people confident, comfortable, and safe underwater. read more

Gulf Coast Scuba - Diving with Gulf Coast Scuba! - Scuba Diving Near Me - Houston, Texas

I found the Gulf Coast Scuba Open Water Dive course from the glowing yelp reviews and was not disappointed. I had been wanting to get PADI-certified since before COVID and was glad I bit the bullet and chose GCS. Gulf Coast Scuba was flexible and adaptive when faced with Tropical Storm Nicholas. They already had a back-up pool day planned, which we had to use, and we were able to switch the instruction class quickly to Zoom. Knowing that Zoom wasn't a great mechanism for covering gear setup, we were provided with an easy-to-follow video Jim filmed on preparing our gear before the first class. I felt very prepared for my first pool day and was glad we didn't have to cancel or reschedule the class. James was my instructor and also helped me with my gear purchase and rental. He was informative and patient, giving me tips on how to select the best gear for my size and comfort. James and our dive masters, Rachel and Mike, were professional, friendly, incredibly knowledgeable, and fun. They managed to teach a class of 10 people with varying degrees of comfort in the water all of the same skills with a lot of personal attention for each to work on the specific skills we had trouble with. I appreciated their dedication to helping us overcome any trepidation we had underwater and getting us comfortable and confident in our abilities to problem-solve and have fun in the water. I couldn't get enough, so I am already signing up for another class. If you are looking to get PADI-certified, look no further! read more

Exploring the underwater world has always been something Ive wanted to do. Finally made the plunge and decided to do it. Stumbled upon this shop and could not have been any happier. Jim and the rest of the instructors always made me and my husband feel safe. Due to unforeseen circumstances i had to postpone the last of my training. However, Jim was understanding with everything and finally completed it once I was ready. Thanks Gulf Coast Scuba for the training, making it fun and safe. Definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to get gear and training! read more

Great shop, super friendly owners, superb instruction!

Great place with friendly, knowledgeable staff. They have a wide range of equipment and if they don't have what you need they were happy to order it. I would highly recommend them for getting certified, getting your gear serviced or getting new gear. read more

Phenomenal experience attaining my open water certification. The process was incredibly straight-forward: 1.) register for the course, 2.) speak with Jim to get the required gear (which he fit for me on the spot in the shop and recommended gear based on comfort), 3.) complete an online and at-your-pace course, and 4.) start the fun of open water skill training across two weekends. Even though I expected to breeze through the open water skills at the pool sessions, I ended up struggling substantially with mask removals. James and Alex demonstrated the patience and understanding of buddhist monks. James set aside numerous one-on-one's to work on my comfort in the water by practicing the skill above water, in shallow water, and eventually in depth. Alex constantly worked with me and others experiencing discomfort to ensure we never felt pressure nor rushed to complete a skill. The amount of individual attention dive masters and the instructors are able to provide is why I am recommending this location to anyone I run into. Gulf Coast Scuba is in the business of sharing their love and passion for scuba to anyone willing to learn. Completing the course feels like picking up a life-long hobby with friends eager to embark on new adventures. 10/10 read more

Aiar, Gulf coast scuba & other dive masters were fantastic! This is something that my husband and I have always wanted to do together. They made the experience easy and painless. They were great instructors, patient and made sure you really understood what you were doing! Great experience! Thank you so much! read more

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Highly recommended!!! It won't be wrong to choose GCS if you r looking for professional trainings and want to meet great people. My rescue diver class with Gulf Coast Scuba was awesome! My instructor Jim and Aiar are fabulous people who gave us a professional and profound class of emergency rescue with joy and fun all along the way. Dive masters James, Matt and Mike were such great actors being our victims lol, and gave us a lot of informative supplements. Love this experience, and will continue my training with them. read more

Came here for my Padi Open Water Certification and the instructor, Jim, was fantastic! Picked Gulf Coast Scuba at first, primarily because they don't require you to purchase your own mask/snorkel/fins. They'll have ones for you to borrow if you don't want to make that commitment right away. But ended up extremely happy with my decision going with Gulf Coast Scuba because of everything else. Jim is friendly and gets your certification done efficiently while making sure you understand and are relaxed/comfortable with scuba. I had a fantastic experience and would highly recommend coming here for all your scuba needs. read more

I am so excited to finally be able check off getting scuba certified from my bucket list and using my SSI dive training on my next vacation. As a first timer, learning all these new skills to implement in the water, can be very intimidating. Not from Aiar and his friendly and knowledgeable team. They made the whole experience welcoming. They took their time with every individually to patiently teach us the proper way to dive. Gulf Coast Scuba has made what was a thought into a reality. I'm so excited to using my new skill to explore the open water. I recommend Gulf Coast Scuba to anyone looking to get certified. read more

I just finished my Open Water Cert with Jim. He does a fantastic job teaching the class and explaining the necessary concepts of SCUBA. You can tell the people who run this SCUBA shop are in the business for their love of the sport. I had a blast through the whole experience and will be returning for my advanced certification when the need comes. If you're shopping around for a class to take or need to buy scuba equipment, I can't recommend these guys enough. They know what their doing, they don't over charge, and simply want to spread the love of SCUBA. read more

Aiar is the best. He took our family on both day and night dives in the US Virgin Islands and his knowledge, expertise and high level of safety made our experience truly exceptional. We are so happy he is now operating a dive shop in Houston. Gulf Coast SCUBA has everything any diver would want. Great brands and selection. I encourage anyone wanting to get certified to use Gulf Coast SCUBA. read more

This place is awesome! I was very nervous about scuba, but Aiar is such a patient and knowledgeable teacher that I was soon able to relax. Working with Jim was a pleasure as well. We will definitely come back here to get our advanced certification later on, and they also have a good selection of equipment if you're looking to purchase instead of rent. Thanks guys! read more

My PADI certification training was fantastic. The pace and the teaching methodology helped me out to overcome my fears of diving. Pricing is also a plus here. Besides, safety was always reinforced at all times. Jim is very knowledgeable and practical with all the training material but specially during the dives. He was even wearing a special neoprene hat to make himself visible, since the lake had very limited visibility. Also, while purchasing my gear, he would be spending time explaining to me the important things to consider and he was right, I felt very comfy in the water. I just wish I can give them 10 stars since this class was 10x more fun than what I expected it read more

We were looking for someplace to do our AOW and went into the shop one Saturday. Aiar was working and we spent about an hour chatting with him. He knows his stuff and is fun to talk to and a very interesting guy. We felt really comfortable and signed up for the class on the spot. We came in a second time to buy gear for the class and got to meet Jim. Great guy. He stayed after closing time to make sure we got fitted with all of our new gear properly and even let me borrow his fins to see if I wanted to buy the same ones. And he gave us a bag to borrow for all of our new stuff. He was really helpful and didn't push us to buy anything we weren't looking for, We just finished the class last weekend it was great as expected. Aiar is a fantastic instructor and I really appreciate his approach. He focuses on building up your skills so you can be a self sufficient diver. The divemaster, William was helpful too. I would definitely recommend these guys! read more

Excellent instruction from Alex! The gear provided was first class, leaving me feeling very comfortable and in control. Alex made the material interesting and easy to learn. A first class instructor!!! read more

They took great care of my husband and I when we got our open water certification. I needed extra help and they were very accommodating. They made sure I had the skills I needed to be a safe diver. Highly recommend! read more

Gulf Coast Scuba is a great place to get open water certified. Welcoming staff and my instructor Alex was wonderful!

I've been to a lot of dive shops in my life. Many shops appear annoyed at the uninitiated. It was beyond surprise to come in and meet Jim one day when I said I was interested putting together a BP/W. I had to piece meal the system and purchased a single strap harness kit and a crotch strap. I felt bad I couldn't buy more items from him and I explained that. He said no worries and keep coming back. Days later I received all the pieces for my BP/W from the various dive shops I queried and started to assemble it at home and quickly realized all the instructions online are for people much shorter than I so I gave up and called Jim who said bring your kit in and we'll get it sorted. Enter Aiar...Jim's business partner and an experienced diver who uses a BP/W system like what I was wanting to transition to. Aiar met me outside when I pulled up and brought me into their classroom and we started a 2 hour fit with a $70 single length of 2" webbing and D-rings. He had no reason to spend so much time with me and you could tell he actually enjoyed the process and that, my friends, is what sets the best businesses apart. Customer service transforms into customer intimacy and that is what occurred during my visit. This is an immediate signal to me that this is a shop I will routinely patronize and so should you. Don't go anywhere else in Houston for your scuba needs and be open to learn more than what you think you know. You'll be a safe diver for a long long time and Gulf Coast Scuba will be a great partner along the way. read more

Phenomenal! We had the most wonderful experience with Gulf Coast Scuba! Carl and the rest of the instructors gave everyone their undivided attention. They were extremely caring, patient, and thorough. I was really nervous about taking this class but everyone at Gulf Coast made me absolutely safe, comfortable, and secure! I highly recommend this fantastic company for all of your scuba diving class and gear needs :) read more

If you are even remotely thinking about scuba certification, Gulf Coast Scuba is the place to go. I was nervous first starting my certification and wasn't even sure if the sport would be for me, and now I can't get enough! Every single person we interacted with was extremely nice, helpful, and so fun to learn from. Cannot recommend this place enough! read more

Aiar, Jim, and Andrea were all fantastic! We did a PADI open water certification course with them last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. They're full of knowledge, experience, and patience, which makes for a great learning experience. We'll definitely return to Gulf Coast Scuba for any of our future scuba needs, whether it be for another class or for equipment. Highly recommended! read more

Thanks for this positive experience. My family had great time learning how to dive. Thank you AR and Jim! Definitely recommend!

I cannot say enough great things about Aiar and his team. I was given the open water course as a gift by a friend who did extensive research before purchasing. I couldn't be happier with my experience. The guys at GCS have a passion for the sport and it shows in every aspect of their business from teaching to how they run their shop. The class was fun and they kept even the dry parts interesting (no pun intended). I truly had an awesome time. They not only taught me the skills, but created in me an excitement for all the things scuba has to offer. Their class times were great for those that work as well. I cannot wait to use my certification, and I will be back for more. I highly recommend GCS if you're looking for gear, certifications or just to speak to someone extremely knowledgeable about the sport. read more

I completed a Buoyancy dive with Ayar to get one step closer to completing my advanced open water cert. Ayar is a great instructor who has tons of experience with many types of dives. His past experiences he shares helps to reiterate the importance of safe diving by following the basic fundamentals. I will be back soon for my next dive! read more