I've only started getting back into diving again this year, which meant that it was time to slowly…read morebegin the process of acquiring my own gear (like most sports things, it's not cheap!) My first visit out to Sea to Sky Scuba came when I arrived at the store one day in search of under layers to help stay warmer in a wetsuit as I am not a fan of being cold. Travis, the owner, was super helpful in helping me find what I need, but is also really cool and has a great sense of humour. As a bonus, his two very cuddly dogs often hang out at the shop. I probably spent at least an hour chatting and trying on stuff, but not once did I feel pressured into buying anything at all. The store is definitely small compared to most of the other dive shops I've been to, but the whole place is very well organized with no clutter at all. Due to the space limitations, stock can be a bit limited in terms of sizes and whatnot, but they are happy to bring anything from a particular brand they carry's catalogue in on special order. With West Van not being my area, it is a bit out of the way, but I definitely have no problem making the trip out just for the service and expertise. I wouldn't mind taking a Scuba course with them if only I lived closer by. They organize free local dives every Sunday where you just pay for gear rental if needed, which sound pretty awesome, though I think I will wait until I get my PADI Advanced Open Water first and the weather warms up a bit.

Great dive shop on the North Shore. The owner and staff are all very friendly and quick to help.read more

Of all the dive stores is the Greater Vancouver, this is one of the two that we use the most (the…read moreother one being much closer to home). The reason is the EXCELLENT customer service. We deal primarily with George and, if we have had any problems (eg a camera malfunctioning or a travel bag's wheels breaking) he has taken the item back immediately. Often they will replace the item or offer a store credit even before checking with the manufacturer if the return is ok. For this reason, we return again and again to purchase more equipment. They have a good selection of everything: wetsuits, drysuits with undergarments, and some novelty sale items from time to time including wetsuits or lightweight neon tropical BCDs. Their regular selection is standard-priced. They sell Mares rather than Scubapro and we bought some new fins, Volo Power, which are lightweight and easy to use at the suggestion of George, and have been pleased with them. Good selection of accessories as well. Dive and Sea also offers instruction, with open-water dives at Whytecliff in West Van, EFR training etc. Although the staff will make suggestions, I have never felt here as if I'm getting a "hard sell". It's a comfortable store and we always look forward to going there, even just to have a look around. (Dive stores are like candy stores, hard to leave without buying something!) To get to this place, you must be heading North on McBride as it's impossible to make a left turn heading south.

We recently visited Dive and Sea, to look it to purchasing our own gear. We met George, well I…read moredon't think I will ever buy dive equipment anywhere else. He was friendly, knowledgeable, so informative. He would never sell you anything you didn't need. He set us up with some great gear to travel with. Never did we ever feel pressured to buy. He listens your diving experiences and recommends appropriate equipment. Don't buy anywhere else, they are the best.

Had a terrific day paddling and swimming near seals. beautiful area and their large boat is…read morecomfortable in any weather

Awesome dive shop! Great crew and boat! What a pleasure to…read morego diving with these folks! It's always nice to see a dive shop able to cater to tech divers as well as the new divers. Let's me know they are watching and know what divers need when they teach to the pro level of divers. Up visiting for the weekend and we're looking forward to some BC diving. We were looked after from the moment we booked till we stepped off the boat. They had steel 100's which is what I have and that made diving with their tanks seem less with what I was use to. Even better they have fills available On the boat, so you only need to pop off your 1st stage and let the fill begin!! We enjoyed a dive in the Annapolis! What a great dive sight. Looking forward to coming back already. Thanks Sea Dragon! See you all next time!

Instructors for the dive lessons were good, but the retail staff in the store were not helpful,…read moresold me the wrong product, and didn't really know what they were doing.

Super friendly and chill dive shop. I haven't dove in close to 10 years so went in and talked to…read morethem about refresher courses, good options there. Also talked to Phillip regarding free diving who is a great wealth of information on this topic.

Came in for freediving wet suit and equipment. Staff were very knowledgeable and helpful. Explained…read morehow to properly care for the equipment. Took time to assist in trying on sizes in the trial suits to find the proper fit (stick to the smaller size, if you are in between or unsure). Overall, great experience and good products.

We had an amazing welcome in the store. My husband an I were looking for different wetsuits and new…read morespearguns. The staff was very professional, dynamic and know their products! We found everything we needed. Will come back.

It's not just about refund.. I got the Nautilus is really not good in returning money/giving…read morerefunds.. but I had the feeling they are indeed not truthful. I want to be as accurate and fair as possible. Me and my wife booked the trip Whales, Mobulas, Orcas and More to the end of July, beginning of August (25th July to 1st August). We saw a lot of marine life and it was precious: sea lions (lots of them), risso dolphins, bottle nose dolphins, common dolphins, pilot whales, a couple mobulas, one silky shark, all above we could swim with them, mobulas once or twice but could not get much closer, bottle nose dolphins and pilot whales we could get really close and they were pretty interactive and curious about us. We also got to see one fin whale. No orcas or mobula pods. I got a bit disappointed but maybe I was getting it wrong, because I felt we had a pretty good chance of spotting them. But then I went on reading again the informative notes of the trip that is Called "Whales, Mobulas, Orcas and more!" It states that there is no guarantee that orcas will be seen but they sell it as very likely " Orcas are actually present year-round, but their numbers become more noticeable starting in January, with peak activity in July and August, when they are frequently encountered for up to 20 days each month. " I made my own research online and by other sites and more straightforward companies they do say Orcas encounters are considered rare sightings. So I thought the brochure and texts misleading even thought they say orcas are not guaranteed they make you think of it a lot. For instance, the picture of the trip on the site is a couple orcas.. In the material they also say: "You might have heard that the best place to see the mobulas is in the triangle between Espiritu Santo, Carpenter Rock on the west side of Cerralvo, and Las Ventanas on Baja. We are seeing animals like never before and will take you to where a mama blue whale and calf might be waiting for you, or humpback whales, whale sharks, cow nose rays, and hundreds of dolphins. Be patient, as it might take ten splashes for the mobulas to allow snorkelers and freedivers into the middle of the pack, but you'll be rewarded with truly spectacular encounters." I do not know if the end of July is really less bright with the marine life they say, but we could barely see one mobula each time..just one splash every hour or so on our safaris that we could not try do dive along with them. One thing is for sure, they do oversell a lot what you will see, and confuse deliberately the terms "might see" and "will see". They also go on saying "We are confident that you will have great encounters with schools of mobula rays..." should be more controlled here since we saw a couple of mobulas and not in schools, I guess the students were on vacation already. And they also say "Whale sharks are spotted on almost every trip. " also not an animal we saw in this trip. They also include safety of the guests as one of the top priorities, and say "With extensive knowledge of the region, our crew specializes in observing and understanding marine life, ensuring you make the most of your time on the water". Well, there was a fortunate that became unfortunate encounter with a silky shark. We were in a party of 10 people, some of us, I believe 4, got the chance to swim down and get a closer look at the female shark, but we were indeed respectful, not chasing her around and letting her be. Our guide was excited by that and he wanted to get a closer look at the shark too, however we could see he was approaching her and chasing her too aggressively, swimming directly toward her, swimming rapidly. She was clearly distressed and at some point started making sudden sharp curves and moves, I later discovered it was a display of aggressive behaviour, at some point she even on swimming towards my wife that extended her arm and touched the top of the shark's head as she had seen some divers do to redirect sharks. That could have been an awful accident and mostly due to lack of knowledge of our guide. I think the company should have better animal behaviour training with the staff, specially the guide, who was there to guarantee our safety. For last, this maybe my fault but I had a bad experience with it. I am from Brazil and we do not usually tip for anything except in restaurants and it already comes in the bill. So, for a trip in dollars, that was a little out of our budget (but since it was a dream to see orcas in the wild we did the effort) it was hard to only find at the last they the crew was expecting a 300 to 400 dollars tip per person it was embarrassing and awkward. We did not have that kind of money, and clearly the crew was unsatisfied with our tipping.

Did someone say Orca ? WHAT A CHANCE OF A LIFETIME THAT…read moreWAS. An opportunity came up with some friends to go snorkeling and swim with Mobulas and Orcas in the open ocean of the Sea of Cortez. After doing some diligent homework, the trip was set up with the, Nautilus Gallant Lady based on safety and the generous accommodations amongst their staff and crew on board. Never seeing an Orca ever in my life, I wasn't sure what to expect. Spotting them was a 50/50 chance during our 7 night and 8 day expedition. Knowing that going in, there was a possibility we might not see them and accepted that. I was really hoping that we were able to see them. Looking for them in such a vast open ocean can be looking for a needle in a haystack. I remained optimistic. After 2 wonderful days of swimming with Mobulas for hours, watching Humpbacks, Sea Turtles, Fin Whales, pods of dolphins, dolphins every day, dolphins every where, even a pod of several hundreds of dolphins, Bio Luminescense, not to mention the gazillion stars above the Lady and so much more. On day #3 we were fortunate enough to be greeted by the Orcas. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Was this really happening? Yes, yes it was! Although I feel very comfortable in the water, I was nervous on my first jump. I'm not going to lie, my first jump sent a feeling of vulnerability throughout my body. That feeling was valid because feeling nervous comes from the unknown. Until you do it for the first time, then you will want to do it again and again. Then there is no turning back. I guarantee it. I was like, "OMG! I am in the middle of the freaking ocean with an Orca and her baby."  Seeing a baby swimming with their mother in clear open water was out of this world. Juan and Celina are very safe and extremely respectful of the Orcas space. We spent hours observing them. About 6 hours in fact. Watching the babies tail slap, breech and spy hop. We watched them feed each other sea turtles while the babies still continued to splash the water with their little tails. We watched them well into the sunset with the most ultimate ideal conditions. It couldn't of been more perfect. The next day, on day #4, we woke up at daylight and headed out on the zodiac. Again, at 9am, they showed up and observed them for 11 hours this time. For 2 consecutive days straight, we had Orcas. This was the same pod of 6 from the previous day. 4 adult females with 2 babies. Not only did we watched them for 11 hours, we yet again, watched them well into the sunset. What set aside day #3 and day #4 was, day #4 we watched them hunt a dolphin. Watched them hunt, watched how they all worked together, watched the whole event from the start to the end. All of this took place about 50 yards at most in front of the Gallant Lady. As some guests wanted to hop right in the zodiac and "Go....Go...Go." Juan and Celina said, " no guys, we need to let them eat just like you ate your lunch. We need to remain respectful." I found that to be highly respectful as these wild animals have their own lives too. The crew on the Nautilus Gallant Lady, all work really well together as a team. Their communication amongst themselves is great. Safety is ALWAYS the #1 priority. I love how there are 2 female crew members and liked the extra estrogen on board. The boat is very clean and sanitized. Trust me, I was paying very close attention to that. The food is exquisite. Truly out if this world. Poncho works very hard in the kitchen. The portions are larger than what I am used to. The flavor is, "poppin". Everything is made fresh. You will not go hungry. Especially with Silvia's daily fresh made cookies. This trip has above and beyond exceeded my expectations. When I book my next Liveaboard, it will definitely be with Nautilus. I will truly miss everyone because everyone feels like family now.

Great computer. Lousiest customer service in the industry... and that takes some doing! Actually,…read morethey don't view the end user as their customer. At all. I should know, I spent the better part of 15 minutes on the phone with them trying to get a straight, honest answer out of them. Mission not accomplished. Even the easiest, conversational questions were deflected to "your local shop". Nice that you folks don't have to deal with the people who actually USE your products! Actually, I want that job. You can be dismissive AF to your caller and you only get... promoted? When companies forget who their customers are and instead fawn over only the "middle man", well, they're making the biggest mistake possible. Sad.

As someone who often visits a handful of shops around Vancouver, I can confidently say that IDC is…read more- without a doubt - one of the best run shops in town thanks to Royse's decades of experience in the business. Their shop is extremely well-kept, clean, inviting, and always well-stocked full of both common recreational gear as well as an awesome selection of advanced/tech gear. It's been just over a decade since I was certified through IDC and to this day, they've been my primary go-to shop for new gear (because you can just never stop buying dive gear), and they'll continue to be my primary go-to recommendation for years to come for anyone looking to get their Open Water certification and beyond. If you're considering giving scuba diving a shot (even if its for an upcoming trip to warmer waters), seriously, give IDC a call and you'll be glad you went through a professional local shop that does a thorough job in tougher cold water conditions to get you prepared for anything!

Hard to find Tribolube-71. IDC had it in stock and shipped within 2 hours. Can't do better than…read morethat. Thanks