Highly recommend Beach Cities Scuba in Dana Point. Excellent service, great local knowledge, and…read morefair pricing. They stand behind their products. Skip the big online retailers and support a local dive shop that knows the area and can make recommendations based on what you're looking to do. Shop local!

Update after 11 months: It has now been 11 months since I…read moreposted this review, and we still have not received a single phone call, email, or any kind of follow-up from Beach Cities Scuba. At this point, I am not even talking about the refund anymore the fact that we could not even find someone willing to communicate with us is unacceptable. This entire experience has been extremely unprofessional. Selling courses, delaying them, failing to communicate, and then disappearing without any follow-up is not how a professional business should operate. I definitely would not recommend this place to anyone who values their time, money, or proper customer service.

I recently bought a pair of Dive'R fins and a Nice Cressi dive bag. The team at Lost Winds were a…read moregreat help helping me out with my choices of foot pockets, I decided to go with the Riffe's, which feel amazing on my feet. Thanks for your help guys. Best, Danny

The shop is clean, the staff is helpful and knowledgeable, and reasonably priced. I was a complete…read morebeginner walking into the shop, went through their course, and left feeling comfortable and prepared for ocean adventures. Eric, Zed, and Mateo have always been ready with any questions, shown in-depth knowledge, and never pressured me into buying or renting anything. I am throughly impressed and highly recommend Lost Winds.

We had an amazing morning out with Craig. He was great with both teenagers and was super motivated…read moreto help and instruct the whole 5 hours. The communication prior with Shane was great and provided all the needed info. The fish tacos and pan fried filets were delicious the next two days.

Took great care of my fish. With ice and all while we were on board the Reel Fun half day. I…read moreappreciated the extra care very much.

As the name implies, a good place to dive, swim, or just park your butt for the day. Parking is…read morewild, but it's worth the effort! :)

Diver's is probably my favorite spot in all of Laguna to go chill. It's... quiet, because it's…read morerelatively small compared to the Main Beach strand, but it's so special. It's usually clean and free of seaweed, and it just smells so good... no icky fish or seaweed decay odors; just clean ocean beach air. This beach only gets GOOD tanning sun during PEAK Summer hours, otherwise, it's kind of... a gamble on the tides and the time of day as to whether you can use the beach for tanning or not. It's a nice beach to NOT get tons of sun on, especially after about 5PM to sunset. It varies, of course, but that's TYPICALLY what you'll find happening. I do NOT believe this area has a lifeguard watching it (?) but correct me if wrong. I don't and haven't seen a lifeguard stand here. The next beach OVER, however does have a lifeguard watching post. This is the spot to go relax... and just sit with yourself and your thoughts. Let the tide rise a little, and then let it go out... and let your problems go with it. It's the best therapy for free you can get, I think... but, anyway... enjoy! :]

A big thank you to our dive guide, Dave, with Diving Catalina for giving my son and me an…read moreunforgettable first night dive at Catalina's Casino Point Dive Park. The rental gear, including the dive lights, was in excellent condition, and Dave's safety briefing was thorough and professional while keeping the experience relaxed and enjoyable. The highlight of the dive was a curious harbor seal that followed us for much of the dive, using our lights to spot and catch fish along the way. Seeing the dive park come alive after dark was a completely different experience from diving it during the day. I highly recommend Diving Catalina for anyone wanting to experience the magic of a Catalina night dive.

Thank you Dave and Cole for the great service and attention to detail!…read moreAbsolutely the best!

Went to Eco from my Open Water Certification and the entire experience was fantastic! Very…read moreknowledgeable and polite staff assisted with gear rental recommendations and my instructor Kendra was nothing short of a pleasure to work with! Training was very hands on and any questions regarding hypothetical scenarios and specific circumstances were answered with knowledge built from experience. She took initiative to make sure all of the students were tended to and accommodated, as the different students came into the class at different levels of comfort with being in the water. More importantly, the entire experience was FUN! You can tell everyone in the shop loves what they do and makes you feel very welcome. I will be pursuing my other certifications here and will definitely book more trips through them in the future!

Great dive shop with a gut selection of items. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff.read more

Stop wasting your time calling shops looking for scuba instruction and comparing. I have already…read moredone it. This little shop in costa mesa right with super easy location access and their people are the best. I called Dive & Photo last minute wanting to have accelerated private open water PADI instruction/certification for myself and a son and daughter both in their 20s. 3 days of instruction later. Done. Dive & Photo one of their instructors, Allen Gibson in touch with me and he made it happen. Of course an older retired marine veteran would be effecient and organized. Allen was everything you could ask for in an instructor. Expert. Efficient. Prepared. Patient. Flexible. Fantastic teacher and communicator with our varied learning styles and backgrounds. He made sure each one of us mastered the material. The gear provided was great. We bought dive fins at the shop and Allen walked us through the options and pricing was good. Everything from first call to gear to instruction was Five Star. Allen had the beach conditions and reef area for our dives in laguna wired (and I have lived in laguna all my life) even the parking set-up. Honestly there were a couple other shops that were doing their dives just arriving after we had gotten started and I felt sorry for them. They looked so disorganized. Allen had us ready to go and confident in our set up and knowledge before we entered stepped in the ocean. None of us can wait to do a dive trip with him and the shop. Stop calling around

If I could give them 100 stars, I would! Andy, Sophia and…read moreAllen are so awesome! This shop has gone above and beyond for us and we will continue to shop here and take classes. This shop is fantastic!

Knowledgable. Great prices. Top notch service. Can't ask for more! I was really impressed with…read moreJames. Helped us get fitted. Going to come back for a diving certification class soon.

I live in San Diego and have always wanted to take up snorkeling but had frustrating experiences…read morewith cheap/rented masks in the past so I did some research to find something better. I found a mask/snorkel set that I thought I wanted online and Lost Winds was the only nearby place that had it available for pickup so I decided to make the hour long drive. When I got there, I received the most amazing customer service from Eric who I later realized was the owner. He had me make sure the mask fit but let me know he would've suggested another one for me based on my needs. He took the time to let me try something else and explained in detail why he made the suggestions he did. He was happy to refund my original online order and exchange it for his suggestions (not an upsell, they were roughly the same price). He also offered a mask treatment for $10 and I wound up picking up a case and anti-fog spray as well. He did suggest fins but wasn't pushy at all when I said I'd save those for another day. I was so impressed with the level of knowledge, attentiveness, and customer service at Lost Winds. Eric thanked me repeatedly for the support and even suggested a nearby beach where I could try out my new gear. I went directly there for an awesome snorkeling experience with zero fogging, amazing clarity, and easy breathing. I ended up with the Cressi ZS1 Mask and a Riffe Stable Snorkel. Maybe I'll get into some real diving next and if I do I'll be back for more gear. If you want to be sure you're getting the best customer experience and expertise, I'd say this place was more than worth the drive for me.

The gear was in top shape and our Divemaster, Gus , was great! Gus was patient and helpful. He…read moregave us all the time we needed while submerged to dive safely to the limit of our tanks (1000lbs left) and helped us find lots of fish and other sea creatures (Morey eel). I would definitely come back to Cataline Scuba the next time I am on the island.

I just came back from a second dive with Catalina Scuba. Both experiences have been stellar. I've…read morehad two different guides, and each has been warm, welcoming, and informative. They're relaxed but knowledgeable and attentive. They also have, as some have noted, the best gear--the bcd's in particular make me want to get my own. I can't recommend them highly enough, and if I make it back to the island, which I certainly hope to, I'll certainly be signing up with them again.

Jeff was very helpful. From original information so I could make a informed decision of which trip…read moreI wanted, to use detailed directions of where to meet him. He explained so many things when we were on the boat. What he was doing. what we were seeing. he encouraged us to help steer the boat or anything else we wanted to do. Our three hour sale was so relaxing. I highly recommend him.

August 10 sailing day. Weather was great, wind pretty calm, but made for a very relaxing day…read more Captain Bryan is an excellent people person and a very patient, calm teacher! Would absolutely recommend him and hope someday to sail with him again!