I bought two preowned steel tanks here. Jon, the owner, was responsive to my questions over texts. He was friendly when I met him at the store. He even pointed out that my Octo was missing an exhaust cover, and offered to mail me the part as I live in the Bay Area. I got the part a week later in the mail, while other dive shops couldn't order one for me. I would definitely go back when I'm in the area or consider signing up a friend for a PADI course. read more

We bought our new masks and snorkels recently. Excellent service and expertise from John the owner. He took time to make sure we each selected what was best suited our needs. Two people were in pool taking a snorkel lesson. Great place! read more

Katherine, you are an absolute legend! I feel so much more confident coming out of our dive refresher thanks to you, and I had fun doing it!

Kathrine!!! Goddess of the water. Took me from flailing around, out of control (I was in totally wrong equipment) to well controlled trim and buoyancy. I walked in feeling defeated and like I was a bad Diver, and walked out feeling like I can do this! She really thinks about body type, where you're going, all the equipment that you're gonna be wearing . And makes a plan to work with your strengths. I will be definitely having more adventures with Kathrine!!! read more

I did my pool certification with Jonny and he did a wonderful job. He is very knowledgeable, professional, patient and funny. It was very comprehensive, and also fun. Even though it was serious stuff, I found myself laughing a lot. The staff at the Dive Shop, especially Katherine, were fantastic and very helpful. After the class today, I feel safe, comfortable and ready to do my open water certification. I would highly recommend! read more

I cannot say enough good things about Jon and his team at Marin Diving Center. I not only bought my gear here but I did my pool certification with their instructor Mel. The equipment here is top notch, although you can also get a basic snorkel setup if that's what you want. The pricing is carefully set to whatever the online prices are and Jon will generally match something you find online. In terms of the class, the communication was fantastic, with prompt emails at every step. The instructor Mel is fantastic. She is an ex-marine but also a great teacher. No one in the four person class moved forward until everyone had a skill. So many dive classes are geared towards getting you diving ASAP; one of my classmates was redoing training here because he had no confidence in his rubber-stamp certification from a resort. This class was safety, skills reinforcement, and more safety. Mel never lost her patience and never moved forward just to save time. If you want to dive, this is the place to start. read more

Recommend highly!!!! Would give this place 10 stars if that was a rating. My husband and 2 college age kids were certified through Marin. The instruction was professional, motivating, with always putting safety as a priority. Jon, the owner, takes a personal interest in their diving development and provides great advice and guidance to achieve their goals. A big shout out to Chris and Shamus for a great Advanced Diver Certification at Meeks Bay this weekend. Oh, and we can't forget about Catherine (sp?), she was really good at giving personalized attention for my daughter. Girl power read more

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Signed up for a course and was unable to attend, so requested a refund or store credit. They refused (quite rudely), citing their "no transfers or refunds" (aka we've got your money and we're not giving it back) policy. I wish I had checked out Yelp before going to the store as I would have seen the other negative reviews from people with similar experiences. Avoid. read more

Came here for pool training. I called ahead to make sure I didn't need to bring an equipment and was told no. I got there and was told I needed to buy goggles. I felt pressured because I was told I need to hurry because the class was startling. I ended up purchasing goggles that didn't fit my face essentially a waste of money. The pool is kind of small too and makes it difficult to do all the exercises needed, especially with multiple people in the pool. read more

Reposting this review we read from Mark D. in Mill Valley on 2/29/20 as we had virtually the same experience. Very poor communication on actual costs and equipment needed. Lied about class being full and required us to pay for private class that was full of instructors friends. Expressed concern on multiple occasions - final communication was with Kathrine who listened but we never received any compensation or response from the owner. Please get certified and shop elsewhere. Mark D. in Mill Valley on 2/29/20 WARNING DO NOT use this dive shop! My hope is that people will read these reviews before they spend time or money at this business, they do not deserve your money, they have horrible and dishonest customer service! My wife and I are avid divers with thirty years of experience all over the world. We were excited about our local dive shop because they seemed nice,  knowledgeable and we wanted our teenage son to have a great experience. However, as soon as we engaged with them we realized they were ONLY interested in how much money they could extract from us, not a long term customer relationship. We initially inquired about getting our son certified. The owner, John was helpful getting us signed up for the classroom training and arranging the pool dives. However, we quickly realized that his prime motivation was selling us more equipment. We absolutely wanted to outfit our son with  we equipment,  but did not want to spend thousands of dollars until he had a good experience. As soon as we indicated to John that we had the bulk of our equipment for our son to get certified already, he literally stopped talking to us on the spot (or even acknowledging us) in the store. It was just ridiculously rude and transparent. Next we arranged to do the certification dives and he said all the classes were full (10 people max), but if we wanted to pay an extra $200 we could skip the waiting list for the next dive opportunity. He would need to sign up an extra instructor, pay for extra hotel rooms etc. We signed up for a weekend of dives and agreed to pay the extra money if we never came off the waiting list because we wanted to keep motivation and momentum up for our son after the pool dives. On the days of the certification dive, we arrived for the weekend and realized that in fact the dive wasn't full (only six divers) and that he had charged us the money for no reason.  Not wanting to spoil the weekend, went through the weekend and completed the dives.  After the dives, we contacted John and requests the extra $200 back since there was no "waiting list" and no extra staff needed. Initially John said he would "look into it" and get back to us. Once we received our sons certification we went back to John again and let him know that we were not satisfied that he charged us extra money for no reason, He promised to get back to us and "look into the matter" so that we would get even a store credit. We made every effort to be good customers. NOTHING. NO FOLLOW UP!  He was dishonest and basically lied to our face. The bottom line was that John had the opportunity to make this a great experience for us and our son, Instead he went for the short-term and the cash. He treated us rudely, lied to us and in the end ripped us off. Honestly, I could care less about $200, we gave John every opportunity to make this right. SAD.  I could never recommend this business or this business owner.  He lost our long term business and everyone's else we know in Marin who would have been an easy referral. The Davis Family read more

Buyer Beware! If you are a novice diver, I strongly recommend against patronizing this business, which is all about the money, and they will steer you wrong to maximize their revenue. We got a hard sell on equipment we didn't need. We signed up for their Open Water certification course, opting to do our pool dives in Marin and complete our open water dives in Bonaire. When we arrived in Bonaire, our instructors (excellent) informed me that my fins were too large, but they were the size I was recommended at Marin Dive Center, where I can't return them due to their strict return policy. I had to rent fins for two weeks (and buy booties) on top of paying for fins that I couldn't use or return. In addition, the salesman knew we were going to Bonaire, where he had experience diving. Yet he steered me to fins and thin neoprene socks, which are totally inappropriate for Boniare, which is ringed by sharp coral dive entries, where booties are required to avoid cutting up your feet. I didn't know this, but he should have and should not have sold me the wrong gear, which I am stuck with. Although they very strictly (and rudely, as noted by others) adhered to their return policy, they refused to honor their written pricing policy pertaining to certification classes. Although we attended on a weekday, one of us was charged the higher weekend price, and they refused to refund the difference. So when it suits them, they point to their written return policy, but are happy to ignore their written pricing policy when they can extract more money from their customers. My partner purchased a $900 dive computer that she subsequently learned she could rent for far less than we were told at Marin Dive Center. Although she never took it out of the box and returned it a few days later, they refused to take it back, despite all the money we were spending on other items. I purchased a dive computer that they showed as On Sale, marked down significantly from the "retail" price. I learned later that their sale price was the normal retail price other sellers (including the manufacturer) were charging. Our friends also purchased equipment and the online certification course and pool dives, doing the open water dives with us in Bonaire. When we compared notes, we learned that we had been told very different information and strong recommendations. I won't delve into details because this is already too long, but the final word is AVOID MARIN DIVE CENTER! read more

Truly truly such a wholesome experience becoming PADI certified here. Chris our lovely instructor was very patient and went above and beyond to assist us in completing our testing. After having a flat tire the night before heading to Monterrey for our certification in open water, we thought we would have to cancel due to finally arriving to our destination at 3:30 am the day of instruction that was to begin at 7 am. But John, the owner, called us and worked with us to have a later start time that day. This meant pulling an instructor from the original group to assist my boyfriend and I. Luckily a few divers did not show that morning and it was possible to do this. Regardless, it was such a huge gesture. On top of that, Chris introduced us to the best clam chowder in Monterey after a long day. Chris has beautiful energy and we were so glad to meet such a wonderful friend. Thank you to everyone! Including John's son who helped me unpack my gear from my car. It's the small things read more

I greatly appreciate the advice and excellent service provided by John, Johnny and Catherine. They are all knowledgeable and friendly.

Be aware, the moment they take your money, the customer service goes down the drain. Called us 2 days before the ocean session for a document that needs weeks to prepare. We scheduled the ocean session MONTHS in advance. Very unprofessional. They wasted so much time and energy from us. And no apology or anything. read more

My favorite dive shop in the world!!! I have been driving up here for years even though it is far from my house because the service is worth it. Jon and his team are outstanding. I have loved every piece of gear I have ever purchased here. I recently made a big upgrade on my BCD and Regulator. Jon gave me excellent advice on the purchase and gave me a great deal. I have also had excellent experiences with getting my gear serviced here. The technicians they use actually know what they are doing, so I can trust them with equipment that allows me to breathe underwater. Don't waste your time at any other dive shop in the Bay Area. read more

As an instructor with thousands of dives, this dive shop is excellent. Very knowledgeable staff, & they really work hard to inform & find what you need. Having worked in this industry I can identify a professional team easily. Whether you are buying dive training or the latest (& well priced) gear, these guys hit the mark. In addition I enjoy visiting the shop & updating my knowledge. My wife & I have been instructors & international dive travelers since 1985, so I can endorse John & team. Thanks - Nigel. read more

The team at the Marin dive center was amazing! I did my initial scuba training in the pool there this weekend. Everyone was super friendly, extremely helpful, and highly motivated to make sure that I had a great and safe experience. Andrew the dive trainer that helped me during my training, was superb. Great personality, very easy to follow, and shared some amazing experiences in his dive history that got me really excited about my new venture in scuba. Highly recommend this local shop for not only your scuba needs, but also any sort of advice or help you need with scuba. They were so easy to work with and gave great pricing on all my new equipment!! read more

Beware of this shop because once you buy their stuff and or equipment, they do not ALLOW RETURNS or REFUNDS on your items only for store credit and it is waste of money there. A wetsuit and a garment might total up to 600, but charge an extra 93 on some other shit. The old lady there pressures you into buying stuff, would rather go to Dolphin Scuba center in Sacramento for better service. Do not like the staff and pricing here. DO NOT GO TO THIS SHOP. It is a waste of time. They will rip you off. read more

Wish we could give more stars! After having a less than average experience at another shop, we were blown away by the attention and help we received at this Dive Shop. We are new to scuba diving and had TONS of questions. Lauren, was absolutely amazing. You can tell she has a real passion for diving. She put up with us for hours and didn't once make us feel like we were inconveniencing her. She stayed hours after close to help us finalize all our decisions and even showed us how to conveniently pack up our gear, was full of energy and wore a smile until we left, despite the fact that we were there so long after close. I can't say enough about how friendly and helpful she was - she's top notch. We ended the day buying everything except a tank and we are pumped to have awesome gear. The selection at this shop is leaps and bounds over what we saw at the other shops we stopped into in the Bay Area and the prices are extremely competitive with online shops as well (I price checked everything). So, save yourself the time and effort of trying to figure out sizing online and buy local. The people and shop are top-notch. Bummed we didn't get certified through them, but we'll definitely be bothering them about advanced courses. Lauren, thanks again for all your help!! read more

Not transparent about pricing. They give you a "total" cost, but it is not at all a total cost. You don't find out until you've booked a "non refundable" lesson. They are extremely expensive - two people to get certified is $4200!! Be very wary. You're better off getting certified while you are on vacation somewhere as the costs are actually less at a resort than they are at this place. read more

I have a guy that wanted to dive with us that can't get his proper paperwork from jon because he is too busy , they gave me a half ass filled out file student paperwork but no temporary certification card.... Come on people do your job.....The poor guy traveled all the way to Hawaii and no one could be bothered to help there client ..... I'm pretty upset with the lack of follow though..... warning make sure you get your certification read more

Marin Dive Center is amazing. John and everyone are so knowledgeable and helpful. I can call and say i would like to go to this part of the world to dive and they have connections already there. Love being part of the scuba diving community. read more

Marin Diving Center - Free Diving Near Me - San Rafael, California

WARNING DO NOT use this dive shop! My hope is that people will read these reviews before they spend time or money at this business, they do not deserve your money, they have horrible and dishonest customer service! My wife and I are avid divers with thirty years of experience all over the world. We were excited about our local dive shop because they seemed nice, knowledgeable and we wanted our teenage son to have a great experience. However, as soon as we engaged with them we realized they were ONLY interested in how much money they could extract from us, not a long term customer relationship. We initially inquired about getting our son certified. The owner, John was helpful getting us signed up for the classroom training and arranging the pool dives. However, we quickly realized that his prime motivation was selling us more equipment. We absolutely wanted to outfit our son with we equipment, but did not want to spend thousands of dollars until he had a good experience. As soon as we indicated to John that we had the bulk of our equipment for our son to get certified already, he literally stopped talking to us on the spot (or even acknowledging us) in the store. It was just ridiculously rude and transparent. Next we arranged to do the certification dives and he said all the classes were full (10 people max), but if we wanted to pay an extra $200 we could skip the waiting list for the next dive opportunity. He would need to sign up an extra instructor, pay for extra hotel rooms etc. We signed up for a weekend of dives and agreed to pay the extra money if we never came off the waiting list because we wanted to keep motivation and momentum up for our son after the pool dives. On the days of the certification dive, we arrived for the weekend and realized that in fact the dive wasn't full (only six divers) and that he had charged us the money for no reason. Not wanting to spoil the weekend, went through the weekend and completed the dives. After the dives, we contacted John and requests the extra $200 back since there was no "waiting list" and no extra staff needed. Initially John said he would "look into it" and get back to us. Once we received our sons certification we went back to John again and let him know that we were not satisfied that he charged us extra money for no reason, He promised to get back to us and "look into the matter" so that we would get even a store credit. We made every effort to be good customers. NOTHING. NO FOLLOW UP! He was dishonest and basically lied to our face. The bottom line was that John had the opportunity to make this a great experience for us and our son, Instead he went for the short-term and the cash. He treated us rudely, lied to us and in the end ripped us off. Honestly, I could care less about $200, we gave John every opportunity to make this right. SAD. I could never recommend this business or this business owner. He lost our long term business and everyone's else we know in Marin who would have been an easy referral. The Davis Family read more

This place has been amazing for me! Jon advices and professionalism had been incredibly. He took so much time to make sure I will get the right equipment for my son and schedule a one on one time with him to try his equipment. He bend over backward with kindness, generosity of his time and knowledge! I feel so lucky to have find this place! read more

I signed up for the Nitrox course. The course description promises practical instruction at the dive center for analyzing PO2 in cylinders, filling out dive logs, and setting dive computer for Nitrox. Only the first two were provided, and the instructor rushed us out in less than an hour. Definitely not ideal training for anyone learning to use their dive computers for enriched air diving. read more

excellent operation all around. Daniel, the scuba instructor (for the pool course) is incredible. Very knowledgable, patient and accurate. Its clear the entire shop really just loves diving, and wants the best of their customers. I would recommend this shop for anything. Super cool they offer tahoe as an option fo the open water dive! read more

The staff here are so welcoming and helpful. My boyfriend and I were new to diving and everything was smooth and very comprehensible thanks to John and his team! They allowed us to ask all the questions we had and had knowledgeable answers for everything! Thanks to Marin diving center for helping us get PADI open water certified, definitely go check them out! read more

I cannot recommend Marine diving center as the quality of instruction and attention to students were below my expectations. I was not able to complete the classroom pool certification course, as two of the instructors were not supportive and helpful (granted I maybe a slow learning student but I would expect some helpful tips from the instructors). For example, I had an issue with a mask leaking water (which I purchased from the same diving center), so I kept focusing on clearing it instead of the course activities. However, both of the instructors didn't try to address this and help out. Later on, when I started reading dive forums, there were plenty of tips and tricks on how to adjust the mask. I was also having problems with certain course drills and again, no help from instructors to work on the issues or providing some tips that probably experienced divers have. Instead, they pretty much told me a couple hours in that you are not going to pass certification anyways today (apparently, I can't swim or snorkel per them, even though I have no issues with snorkeling or swimming in the open ocean). Also, the owner of the business is extremely pushy about selling the merchandise at the shop (instead of focusing on customer experience). Before starting the class, he spent almost an hour walking us through all the diving equipment (including expensive dive computers) and picking right sizes, which at first we assumed was great as it gave us more options for rental. However, turned that it was not rental equipment but for purchase, which he didn't inform us. He ended up ringing up at the register a couple thousand worth of diving equipment, when we finally realized that it was all a sales pitch. Of course, we requested to cancel that and went with a rental since it was my first class. I think this diving center needs to focus more on students' success and experience than on selling and instructors' just getting through the flashcards. I communicated this to the owner as well verbally on the phone, after which he offered additional training session. However, the initial experience doesn't give me much trust in this business. I decided to take a certification course in a different location during my next vacation. read more

Last summer I took my Aqua Lung regulator in to be SERVICED. THEY DID IT INCORRECTLY, and I found out when I was 110 feet deep in the Red Sea in Egypt in August. Long story short, I was diving, and it started breathing really choppy. I cut my dive short, went up with my buddy, and got to the boat. Fortunately there was a SCUBA tech on the trip who's been servicing for 10+ years. He kindly took it apart, and it turns out they DID NOT REPLACE ALL THE O RINGS in my first stage. He didn't have the correct parts, so I dove on a backup the rest of the trip. I'm sure you can understand why I'm pissed, but I'll lay it out. 1) You played with my life 110 feet below in a foreign country. 2) I paid money for you to play with my life. 3) I just had it redone, and it was confirmed it was incorrectly serviced previously costing me an additional $135. Every time I was in there it was all about the cash money. Sell me, sell me, sell me. I live in NYC now, but I think you need to know that they could have made a potentially fatal mistake servicing what is suppose to allow me to breathe. read more

Great shop. Very cool people and I very much trust doing business with them. I'm super comfortable recommending them. John, the owner is fantastic. read more

Being new to Marin, my husband and I had no idea of dive shops in the area. We found Marin Diving Center by driving by it off highway 101. What a great find!!!!!! We went by yesterday to have our equipment serviced before an upcoming dive trip. By chance, the owner John helped us (they were very well staffed). He was very insightful and provided us amazing customer service. Prices are phenomenal - our experience was about 25% less than other places. Really? How often does that happen in Marin? NEVER!!!! John made us feel comfortable that he new what he was doing in regards to servicing our equipment and even installing the new equipment we purchased yesterday. We were also offered to use their pool for free to try out the new equipment and to ensure we are comfortable with our gear before our trip. DEFINATELY RECOMMENDED!!!!!! Keep up the good work guys! read more

I think these guys are first class. I've dealt with Pinnacles (which is owned by the same people) for a while, mostly because they were so generous to our club. The owner presented to our club a number of times. They have also been a big supporter of our annual charity event donating gear. They serviced my reg a few years ago and things were great. Time to get a new reg, so I spoke with Silas and he was really patient explaining the pros and cons of having my current reg serviced again (it's old, the kits are expensive) and getting a new one. He then explained the differences in the new ones I was looking at. He was really patient with me, no matter how many dumb questions I asked. Said he would match any on line price, which I thought was ridiculous considering the service they gave me. Not only in their time, their support of the local dive community, but they also moved my computer and console over. Plus it's nice to have a real person when dealing with something as important as your dive gear. I didn't bother to price shop because of all the above. I live in San Francisco, and it's definitely worth the drive for me. Several other members of my club have been using them for years and have always been happy. read more

John, Lauren, Catherine and Dave are the best around! As a brand new diver they never tried to oversell me on anything, were extremely patient with all my questions, and continually go above and beyond to make sure I'm making the best decision possible for myself. I communicated mostly with John and I can't say enough about his expertise, honesty, and patience. If you get a chance, shoot the shit with Dave. He's awesome! Even though this shop is 45 minutes away and I have to pay bridge toll I always look forward to every visit. read more

Just got done trying out our new scuba gear in their pool. Jocelyn went above and beyond helping us adjust gear and giving us helpful tips. As a diver herself, she had a lot of practical knowledge on the products. Best dive shop we've been to in Sonoma,Marin, or Monterey. read more

Thank you, Thank you so much for today's refresher class with Katrina! She helped us out so much to feel comfortable to go diving again!!! All the staff members were amazing and very helpful! Thank you also to John to helping me SO MUCH!! I will definitely come back again to do my advance class. read more

Just want to say a BIG thank you to John and Silas, my son got walked through the entire process with both of them. He wanted to get scuba certified so we did all the book and pool work with Marin Dive and did the actual dives in Hawaii! The walked him all through what he needed, didn't need, and even told us to call if needed while we were in Hawaii if we needed anything! Thank you so much! Highly recommend! read more

I love this shop. Apart from the fact that they're knowledgable and passionate divers, they're generous and kind to work with as well. While I've been diving for over 20 yrs and am now a dive master, I'm new to diving in a dry suit, and the staff (up to 4 and counting who have helped me) are patient and knowledgable about diving in a dry suit and have been going out of their way to help me learn these new skills. I really appreciate how many trips and fun dives they coordinate. When I first got into diving in New England I had a shop I loved; the owner became a good friend and we all dove as a group. This shop has the same vibe and it's a rare thing. I buy my gear here for this reason as well; I want to have the support as I maintain it to ensure my own safety and the longevity of the gear. They're really a gem. read more

Jon (owner) and Silas are both very helpful, regarding equipment and all of the certification details. There is a lot to know about equipment alone, they don't mind going over details more than once. We visited to get our Open Water Diver Certification: - On the confined Water (pool) training day, our instructor was Jim. After all of that book studying and DVD watching, we had to go over the important info again in the classroom. We go over a lot of information, it's a pretty long day, but well worth it to be ready for the actual dives. - Open Dive days in Monterey: We met our instructor Bob, and the Advance Open Diver instructor Catherine. The both were amazing, going above and beyond our expectations. One of our snorkel broke on the first day, right before we stepped into the water! We thought that we wouldn't be able to participate for the day. But Catherine was still around and when she saw, with no hesitation, she handed us her snorkel and told us to buy a new one for the next day. It was so nice of her, she didn't think twice about it. Bob's instructions before each dive were very thorough. At no point did we feel worried for our safety. He was great. Along with another couple, we all met up for dinner. It was great listening to their diving experiences, and how much there is to learn in this field. We are very happy we experienced diving in the cold, low-visibility water off the shore in Northern California. It will make us appreciate our warm water dives even more! They offer fun dives every month, which sounds very appealing to get some dives in and see more of the California coast. They also do boat diving in the Channel Islands. We're looking forward to doing some of those with them. Thank you all for the great learning experience, and exposure to the world of Scuba Diving! read more

Very solid. If you're interested in snorkeling or scuba you should probably go to a bricks-and-mortar store to get actual good human advice. This place will provide it. They've got a a swimming pool and can teach you a lot of what you need to know. read more

Great shop with highly trained professionals ready to assist with training or equipment needs. They haves wide selection of merchandise too. There are scheduled overnight dives, travel dives, and monthly fun dives. Great shop that is building a local community of divers. read more