Awesome crew, well maintained vessel. Will definitely be returning in the future. Thank you!read more

Had a wonderful time with these guys diving for Megalodon teeth. This was my first time doing this…read morekind of diving and had a blast. Chris and Brett are professional, safe, and fun. Highly recommend.

Bewareeeee!!!!! Such…read morea gross and shady dive shop! My husband and I have spent thousands at this shop - recertification and AOW course, dive charters and buying regulators here. We will never be going back. First off, the AOW course was a joke. Padi might want to look into them because they did not take the course seriously. I used to work at a dive shop and was a TA for our OW course at my college and both put so much more work into teaching you than this place, they are just there to collect your money. But the shadiness is also them just trying to get every dollar out of you, doesn't matter if you are a returning customer. I called 7 days in advance to cancel a charter - we didn't want to cancel but I had just gotten a cancer diagnosis from our vet and our dog had to be scheduled for an operation which meant we needed to be home and watching her post-op. When I signed up for the charter it said $195 and that was the agreed upon price. They proceeded to charge my credit card after the charter .... $210! They said I called 3 days too late. We warned our friends after we called the shop and told us they charged an extra fuel charge (which was not told to us or emailed to us even though we'd booked in advance with a different price) and they tried to cancel too but was told they'd be charged as well. It doesn't matter if you are a returning customer. They will screw you over to make a buck. My friends and I have already found a new boat and will not be returning to this shop.... They're overpriced anyways. We only bought our regulators there because we wanted to support local even though that meant spend hundreds more than we could get online!!!

I came here twice to dive megladon ledge. Ever since then I fell in love with shark tooth hunting!…read moreThey have you meet at bridge tender marina. You cannot park where the dock is, but there are plenty of spots across the street. There are a couple good restaurant's waiting for you when you get off the boat. They being your tanks and load them for you. I also bought my new aqualung dive computer there. They do tend to overcrowd the boat in my opinion and for such a long ride, but they are very accommodating.

The helper girls did a great job but the owner tramautized my son who by flipping him on a surf…read moreboard into the water with no warning multiple times during two lessons. We went from an eager learner to a child who is fearful of the water 2 years later and recalls those days.

Very disappointed all around. When my daughter was 8 months I purchased 6 lessons for her. After…read moretwo of which she cries the entire lesson i decided we would call it quits and explained to him I didn't want her to get a bad feel for the water and we would just give up for now. Never even asked for a refund for the 4 other classes. Fast forward now my daughter is 3 1/2 and I have a 2 years old. Purchased 6 lessons for each for about $1200. When I asked about bringing their puddle jumpers he confidently said no you can throw them away as if they would never need them again after 6 lessons. That's a joke. The one instruction seems bored to tears and annoyed when my toddlers didn't follow exact Instructions and even said she couldn't wait to leave so she could go get drunk. Yesterday's lesson she had a face full of make up on and was annoyed her eye liner was running! Also the male instructor who I will say was incredibly sweet with my 2 year old was constantly being corrected by the other instructor as if he wasn't trained properly. Today was the last lesson and god forbid dad forgot a swim diaper for my toddler. He went to two stores and couldn't find any so she had to miss the lesson. The instructor said bc she peed through her diaper outside the pool the day before she had to have one on... swim diapers don't trap pee! So we lost an entire lesson bc of a swim diaper. The owner stated he had to pay the instructor so tough luck pretty much.. well if that's the case then that instructor should have stayed and helped with my older daughter instead she left! So now I've paid for a total of 5 classes I didn't use! Pretty poor way to do business in my opinion! And my older daughter who finished all 6 lessons certainly still needs her puddle jumper! Waist of alot of money!

Review is ONLY for summer camp. I don't know anything more about this business as we only used for…read more1 week during summer 2023. SUMMARY: It was not what we were expecting. I was hoping they kids would get more out of it. Especially from early interactions and enthusiastic communications with the instructors. However, kids not wanting to go back on day 2 imo is disappointing because i was really excited about this for them. As a parent to a young teen with ADHD, I was also proud he at least tried but based on feedback he felt it was an experience for maybe a younger audience of learners and he also didn't feel comfortable at times so on the last day I let him skip and he at the very least had a nice 4 days at the pool with his buddies and a couple of other kids he had met over the summer from other events (so I've updated my rating). As a parent, and as an aside, I was disappointed with some of the comments i learned were passed & about discussions related to politics. There's a time and place. I didn't address it because I learned about it after camp concluded. PRICE POINT: IMO, overpriced for what i understood it actually ended up being. No certification is included and that's important to know. Somewhere along the line that did not translate well and maybe I misunderstood the last day would offer an opportunity to sign up to continue for a certification that was optional. While we didn't opt in to this for those interested: If so, you must pay additional for this extra time and a test. Also- recommendation/tip: You need to buy stuff like fins, masks, snorkel etc and while they say they have these things they did recommend to get our own for sanitary reasons. I searched a few places including pro shop as suggested including getting a starter set for $60-79 at a larger sporting store chain. BUT- I'd recommend using the used items if you are uncertain if your child will enjoy this unless you don't mind. Send them with some sanitizer wipes if it brings comfort. LOCATION: Someone's Backyard pool. When I enrolled I was told by a guy referring to himself as a captain that they use a pool at a beach club in the Wrightsville surrounding area. I'm not as familiar with the area as at the time I was new to the area but when we got the location it was a private home/pool. This was a random location (though nice neighborhood) near Masonboro loop. While closer for us not for others we referred. For some kids this is probably more comfortable vs in front of others so to some this could be a pro. COMMUNICATING: I kept checking for updates. I enrolled very early on to be fair so there was quite a bit of stretch in time too. A lot of forms we had to complete including indemnification of injuries, medical disclosures etc. So please read thoroughly. We got ours when I inquired a few days before camp week started and was told they used wrong email for me. Meanwhile we only use one email so I'm unsure what happened. That said they didn't require a doctor form be signed etc so we lucked out there or we would've not been ready. PHOTOS: Was hoping for some photos to share here to give a sense of what they did. I was told they had so many photos but it's been several weeks now and we've recvd none. Ever though i was told they were included. I followed up again recently but instead of photos of my child, i received an invite to join a local business networking site to write a recommendation for them. So at this point assuming there aren't any photos included. If there are and i get some for us, I'll update this section, as applicable. Overall experience rating I must attribute to my not doing enough up front research and didn't take a big piece of advice I usually give many other families (especially having run one of the largest parenting networks in the northeast for years!!) so I'll close my review with that.... "Simply speak and ask other parents about what they or their kids thought of the entire experience before enrolling." Parents are WONDERFUL resources for honest feedback from interactions through participation.

WARNING: Owner is highly unorganized, irresponsible, and unprofessional. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME…read moreHERE. I was previously employed and the owner Brian ghosted me after I had completed a boat detail job. Not to mention the scuba cylinders were not functioning properly and tasted like chemicals!! NOT SAFE AT ALL. I'm still owed hundreds of dollars for my work!!

Evolve Freediving gets Five Bubbles …read more As a PADI certified Mermaid, I'm comfortable underwater, but that doesn't mean I'm not intimidated by Freediving. Lots to be intimidated by: Ashley's WRs, NRs, Evolve's reviews, the depths, the breathholds. Prior to this, the deepest I had been was 4m ... not very mermaid. I'm afraid, but use the fear to my advantage. I'm more afraid of drowning -- I sign up for the class. Ashley wants us perfectionists to get a good start so she assigns two online courses ahead of time. * A safety course * An equalization course I used the 4m pool I had access to to practice the Frenzel. I didn't know how bad I was at equalizing. Our Aug-8-10-2025 course was 16 people, three instructors (Ashley, Ren, Talita) going over the PFI slides, four instructors (Ren joined us Day-3) for the dives. I had a lot of anxiety about how the day-3 dive groups would be assigned. I learned afterwards the instructors picked their students based on temperament. Beautiful moments: Day-2, floating in the water before doing our breath-holds. I've been doing these wrong. It really helps when others around you are CHANTING how do do a proper breath-up. First freediving trance which extended my personal best from 2:30 to 3:40. Day-3, waiting my turn to dive. We were told "when waiting, breath this exact way" Alright. Second freediving trance, much longer. Quickly realized a lot of freedivers experience their dives this way. Keep my breathing s l o w, maintaining my trance, ‍. Nice. We're told underwater it's easiest to "just do whatever your instructor does" ... copying someone takes a lot less oxygen and no thought. Talita's form (my day-3 dive instructor) is perfect. I speed up and slow down to match her pace. I forget where to put my arms and when to breath out, but as the dives progress my form gets closer to hers. I go from trance to flow ... my form is much closer ... I float effortlessly to the surface. The rapture is intoxicating and addictive. One moment of raw horror: Ashley warned us, at depth, our diaphragms would be pushed into a position our brains would perceive as "Out of Air." I did my exhale stretches as recommended, so when this happened underwater instead of raw panic I just had horror. Ashley said she'd push us all as far as we could be safely pushed, and it felt directly adjacent to Death. (which somehow makes it better???) Obviously I'm going to practice a lot with depth. Talita gives me this look like "what did you expect?" and I was like "Oh yeah, nevermind, fear costs too much oxygen anyway." A lot of our class didn't get their cert -- I'm told it happens. Evolve is chill about it, people who missed their skills check can get a redo during a different class for about $45 ($25 for a line, $20 to access the quarry) Some people-in-the-real-world stuff: * Our class had a shortened schedule, it would have been nice to have more class time. * One of the instructors, Ren, only joined us on Day-3. He had an all dude-bro group, idk if they cared. * There is kind of a muted/restrained/conservative vibe (meeting at a church, spear fishing is hunting), but everyone did their best to keep their beliefs in check. I'm so gay I brought my girlfriend. I'm also Buddhist -- the killing stuff parts are difficult for me. Other real world stuff I spoke with Ashley privately about. She's exceptionally concerned about the vibe, and responsive to feedback. I've been building out my buoy to do my line dives and the instructors have been very helpful after the course with selecting gear and helping to keep my dyad safe. I'm looking forward to taking more courses with Evolve.

Ashley and Ren offer an amazing freediving class. I recommend training specifically with the…read moreChapman team. Ashley is able to explain the psychology of freediving in a way that helps dealing with the fears of breath holding and diving under pressure. Ren brings world class safety, which is very important when participating in a sport of this nature. Do not short yourself with a different school or instructors!