hands down the best refresher course I have ever taken…read more My previous refresher experiences involved far too much classroom time, followed by the entire class swimming around a crowded pool with very little individual instruction or attention. Idonya's course was completely different. She is exceptionally knowledgeable about diving, patient, attentive, and an excellent instructor. She made sure each of us received the guidance and practice we needed to feel comfortable and confident in the water. I highly recommend Idonya to anyone who needs a scuba refresher--or simply wants to connect with a knowledgeable and supportive dive instructor in the East Bay. We could not have asked for a better experience! We will be diving with her again for sure!

My friend George and I joined Idonya's trip to Bonaire in 2026 and had a blast!! I feel very safe…read morediving with Idonya and she's very on top of things. I having been diving for 8 years and it's so nice to finally find a great instructor that I feel safe with and enjoy diving with on trips. She's great for beginners too and is always ready to help teach new divers.

PSD is an outstanding dive shop. Staff are super friendly and they supply you with a container that…read moreneatly packed all of their rental gears. It made it super convenient for me. I signed up for a refresh course and the pool is conveniently located with its own parking lot. I arrived and was promptly greeted by PSD staff and checked in. Jeremiah and Casey were our dive instructors. Both were patient and explained everything in great details. I had a fantastic time. Would highly recommend PSD to everyone.

The instructors are great however management leaves much to be desired and was quite an…read moreuncomfortable experience. Spent over $500 in certification and personal gear at this shop and yet such lack in service, felt treated like a cash cow with disregard to providing a positive experience. They forgot to include my wetsuit in my bin so during my ocean dives in Monterey I had to rent my own wetsuit on the day of my dives. Discussed this situation upon return of equipment and instead almost got charged with $55 for not capping the dust cap back on the regulator. Funny how they DO NOT stress or mention at all upon renting gear - you have to read it in the fine print. Which I feel the owner does on purpose for customers to pay out the extra $55. We ended up "breaking even" despite the huge inconvenience their mistake has brought upon me on my important certification days. Super disappointed with this shop and management. Please bring your business elsewhere.

I recently completed my open water PADI scuba certification with Gary Gardner of Scuba Bay Area and…read morehad an absolute blast! Gary is a fantastic educator and teacher both outside and in the water. He really wanted to make sure we understood the fundamentals of scuba so that we could be safe but also have fun! We completed our 3 pool dives at a dive center in the city which was super easy to get to. Our 4 open water dives were in Monterey where another instructor, Jennifer, was also there to help out. We saw sea lions, sea otters, starfish, a baby shark egg and all sorts of fish I don't even recognize! Contacting with Gary and his team was seamless both via text and email. For anyone in the Bay Area looking to get their certification, I'd strongly recommend Gary and his team at Scuba Bay Area!!! Little known fact: Gary also engineered and created a product called diver drops to help divers regulate the pressure in their ears during diver. I tried the drops during our open water dives and they worked great!!!

The best diving school! My husband and I got certified to dive here - it was a wonderful…read moreexperience. Gary (owner/instructor) and Jennifer (our instructor) were able to fit us in their class really last minute - I think it helped that we were comfortable in the water already being surfers etc. Jennifer was an excellent instructor. I was having trouble equalizing at first, and she was incredibly patient and came an extra day to the pool to help me. I figured it out (with the help of Gary's Diver Drops) and had a great time. Both Jennifer and Gary have a good sense of humor, but also know when to be serious and always focused on safety. I felt very comfortable diving with Jennifer and doing our test in Monterey even under difficult low visibility conditions - she was very good about checking on all the students underwater constantly and making sure we felt safe. We also had a beautiful, great visibility dive in Monterey on the Sunday I will never forget. Thank you, Jennifer & Gary :) ! We look forward to doing our Advanced course in the fall to learn more.

My husband joins me in giving this store and Trish in particular an enthusiastic two thumbs up…read morereview. We shopped at their beautiful and well equipped store and had a ball. Trish was so helpful and knowledgeable. No sales pressure at all. They have high quality merchandis. We took a refresher course in Walnut Creek today and it was EXCELLENT! My husband had some issues with his gear and, just like she was in the store, Trish was very patient. He had his breakthrough and completed his dive! The instruction team was very organized and available for help. Thanks to the store, thank you, Trish. What a great experience!

Ryan and his staff were extremely helpful and professional! I needed to rent some gear for a dive…read moreclass recently. They thought of everything, plus the were very organized and accommodating. Their gear was clean. worked perfect, and the staff support was terrific. I highly recommend Pacific Ocean Sports for your dive needs and I'll be using them again in the future.

I did my open water, refresher, and advanced scuba courses with Harbor Dive and it was fantastic…read more SHOP The staff at the shop are very knowledgeable and can literally answer any question you have. They also have high end equipment for sale and rent. I ended up buying my Suunto D5 dive watch here that I can't stop wearing! I bought all my personal gear here and very happy with it. I have always rented the rest of the gear and they have worked great for me. You can tell that their equipment is well taken care of hence why I keep getting my gear from here. COURSES Michael was the instructor for all my courses and always went above and beyond to make sure you were confident and SAFE in the water. He answers any questions you have and you can tell he has a lot of knowledge and experience about diving that he shares. It was also nice to know that you were diving with a PRO/S. ADVANCED OPEN WATER The courses were always well organized from start to finish. You knew what you were doing for each hour of the day give and take some delays. This information was provided to you prior to the course as PDF. I did my advanced course at San Carlos Beach, Monterey. The day starts at 7 AM and by the time you get there, Michael and staff have already began setting up a big green tent that you cannot miss from the water. They even brought coolers full of food, snacks, and drinks! There are also scuba shops and restaurants within walking distance that you can get to. By 8 AM you are expected to be suited up and have already come up with a dive plan, which the instructor goes over with the group. This dive plan happened every time before every dive ensuring that everyone was in sync. When everyone is in the water, you gather at one spot on the surface and then we all descend together keeping the group together. This was the same when we were in the water, we were a school of divers following the instructors until we ascended. Of course during the navigation dive we were expected to navigate a square leading us back to our starting point with our dive buddy. This was a great learning experience. There was also an extra instructor that hovered around us which was nice. 2 instructors for 6 people. The five dives that we did were the performance buoyancy, deep dive, multi level, navigation, and fish identification dive. Overall it's always enjoyable diving with Michael and Harbor Dive staff and look forward to doing more dives with them. I would highly recommend to anyone!

I received my Open Water certification in 2012 with Harbor Dive in Monterey. In January, I decided…read moreto do a Refresher after a period not diving. My experience was even better the second time around! The assistance from Michael and Nina was great. They were knowledgeable and courteous. At the pool, the instructor was polite and proficient and helped me to get reacquainted with the gear and the basic skills that are necessary to know in order to dive safely. I enjoyed being in the water again so much, that after the class I went back to the shop and ask about fun dives and other possible classes. I spoke with Michael, and his passion for diving reminded me just how much I have missed it! I decided to sign up for the Advanced Open Water class for the following weekend before I left. In Monterey, conditions can be challenging but for me that is part of the fun. Michael was the Instructor for my Advanced class. It had been several years since I dove Monterey, so I was a little nervous. He was helpful, totally professional and patient. Monterey is not warm water diving like Mexico or the Bahamas, or even Hawaii. Safety is his Number 1 priority, so it is absolutely necessary to listen and follow all instructions and to ask for help if you need it. And... IT WAS AMAZING!!! Up next, Dry Suit certification!

I did my pool sessions for my open water class here. Anthony, the instructor, was amazing! He was…read moreso patient and encouraging. He is extremely knowledgeable and put a major focus on safety. I highly recommend Anthony at SF Scuba Schools!!

On a whim in November during Covid, we decided to get open water scuba certified. We were hoping…read moreto travel to French Polynesia for a milestone birthday in 2021, so we thought it would be a good idea to be certified for that trip, and it would also give us something to do for a bit while still sheltering in place at home. We did a bit of research online, and came across San Francisco Scuba School. We called a few other schools, but some were busy or not open during Covid, and some of the class schedules didn't work for us. We contacted SF Scuba School and the owner Anthony was quick to respond that he had space in an upcoming accelerated class. It met on the weekends, which worked very well for us. The course includes e-learning modules, a pool day in Pacifica, and four open water dives over one weekend in Monterey, if conditions allow. We confirmed for the course and within a day had access to the e-learning modules we needed to complete before the Saturday pool portion. For the Saturday course, we were at Andersons Swim School in Pacifica. We arrived a bit early, which I would recommend, as you can purchase your own mask and snorkel before the course starts if you don't already have a nice one. The class started at 2pm, and we were told to be prepared to stay until 9 or 10pm. So, eat a nice big lunch before you arrive. Anthony was a great instructor. With an excellent background in both diving and the medical field, I felt very safe. This was important to me, as I was quite nervous and wasn't sure I was going to enjoy diving. Anthony is focused on safety and provides great instruction to ensure you feel comfortable. The next weekend, we headed to Monterey for the open water portion of the training. Since the course started at 7am, and we didn't want to drive down from San Jose early, we made a weekend of it and got a hotel for Friday and Saturday night. I recommend doing this if you can. Anthony told us we could get our wetsuits and BCD's fitted on Friday afternoon if we wanted, which we did. I was again super nervous for the open water portion, and Anthony was incredible at making me feel at ease. I am proud to say I completed all 4 dives over the two days and am certified! In January we also completed the Nitrox air certification with Anthony, which is a quick and easy e-learning module plus a trip up to Pacifica to meet with Anthony and review the material and take the test. Tip, don't buy modules from PADI directly, allow Anthony to schedule any trainings, modules for you, as it is more affordable that way. I HIGHLY recommend using Anthony and San Francisco Scuba School.

I highly recommend Diver Dan's for getting your open-water scuba certification. Matt V was our…read moreinstructor, and he had the help of Rob another instructor. Both we fabulous taken care of my daughter and I, with the rest of the class. The staff is so attentive and helpful every time we are in the store and is excellent at providing information about scuba and equipment in a way a new diver can understand. Matt V the instructor for the course was so calming, knowledgeable and fun, but most importantly, he was so incredibly supportive. I was very anxious about the mask removal and replace and they provided encouragement, strategies, and extra praise when I was able to complete this skill. I wish I would have done this years ago but it didn't happen and for my daughter's high school graduation my husband treated us both the getting certified so we could all dive with the manta ray's on the Big Island for her Grad Trip. I can't thank Matt enough for being so patient with me as I am 58 and my daughter is 18....this will make years of memories for both of us! Thank you Matt and Rob & Diver Dan's!!

The customer service here is great. They're not trying to just squeeze money out of you, they know…read morediving really well. You can tell they love it and the enthusiasm is contagious. I had to repair my open cell wetsuit and Jeremy was able to tell me what I needed and how to do it. I typically come here for my diving needs here in San Jose. Highly recommend!

I've been diving with The Deep Ocean Explore Store for the last two months, and I can honestly say…read morethis shop has completely changed my diving journey. From the very beginning, the team here helped me with everything -- gear rentals, certifications, dive planning, skill progression, and even opportunities to join dives purely to gain more knowledge and experience in Monterey's challenging conditions. They even organized an expedition to Catalina, which turned out to be one of the most beneficial and unforgettable diving experiences I've had so far. What really sets this place apart is the dive masters. No matter what question you have -- even if you accidentally ask the same one a few times -- they walk you through it with patience, clarity, and zero judgment. Their goal isn't just to get you certified; it's to help you become a confident, capable, and safe diver. The environment here is incredibly welcoming and community-driven. In just two months, I've seen everything from 10-year-olds getting their first certification to 30-year veteran divers calling this shop their home base. It's rare to find a place where beginners and seasoned divers feel equally supported, but this shop nails it. Whether you're looking to get certified, expand your knowledge, rent reliable gear, or join a safe and genuine dive community, this is the shop you want behind you. They care, they teach well, and they make every dive count. If you're on the fence, take this as your sign--go with The Deep Ocean Explore Store. Your future dives will thank you.

Completely inattentive sales(?)person. Would have purchased something but we were totally ignored…read more We were looking for two snorkeling sets and a wet suit and reef safe sunscreen. Could have been a decent transaction if anyone had even greeted us.

Truly insane collection of scuba and dive gear. Came here to service my regs as they offered rush…read moreservice and bamboo reef in sf is now closed, and was blown away by the store, service, employees and knowledge of everyone here. One thing that really surprised me was that they helped me remove the dive computer connected to my spg. I hated that thing but it had a clip on it that was attached to a reel. They reattached it without me even asking and it was so kind of them. They also had an amazing selection of fins and had them in the exact color and size i was looking for

A friendly, efficient service, highly recommended for all!…read more (Some shops are not so helpful, only for regular customers, but this shop is always great!)

The quality of the instruction and the availability of the certification classes were very good…read more However, my experience with the staff over the phone was disconcerting. Instead of explaining policy to answer my question, the employee spoke with a belligerent tone, interrupted me, and hung up on me. I can't think of a time when I have been treated so disrespectfully by someone theoretically in a service position.

Excellent service on snorkel mask with prescription lenses. Todd was super helpful explaining the…read moreoptions and helped to calculate the prescription magnification I needed. Highly recommend this shop.