We came in to refill our air tanks and the employee was really chill and helpful, helped haul our tanks over the back wall and bring them inside, then gave us a time estimate of half an hour. While we were relaxing in the car, they got off their shift but saw us and told us our air tanks were done. The guy at the register was also really friendly and chatted with us about today's rare visibility. overall really nice employees and fast service read more

My partner and I came to this location to complete our open water check out dive, and had a great experience. All staff members were kind and answered all questions we had. They set up the rental gear easily, and made sure that we had everything we needed. Mark led our dive, and was patient and charismatic! We were excited to learn from him, and hope to come along on future dives. We are very happy that we got certified with this shop! read more

BEWARE - DO NOT CHOOSE THIS DIVE SHOP if they want to take you to San Carlos Beach. This beach is great for certification dives, but not for those recreational dives where clients are looking for a great visibility dive. Choosing a dive location based upon the path of least resistance for the dive shop rather than the diver experience will put a dive shop out of business, fast. If a dive master or boat captain chooses a poor dive location, it should be reflected in the Tip and any chance of using that dive shop the next time. I've dove with Bamboo once before and they took me/us to a great shore dive location. It wasn't at San Carlos Beach! San Carlos will always have dozens, if not hundreds, of certification divers on a weekend morning. Great location for that, but not for those looking for good visibility. 4 feet of visibility and the 20 minute above water swim, each way, to get to the dive location. Oh, and they refused to refund my second dive money as I paid upfront and diving with 4 feet visibility and two more exhausting 20 minute above water swims. Not cool for the dive community. read more

My son and I decided to get scuba-certified through Bamboo Reef in Monterey. We went through the book portion and did the Zoom instruction, and the morning we were supposed to get in the pool, my son woke up with a sore throat, and we had to reschedule. The past two weekends, we went through the process and started in the pool. Our instructor was Sam; he was patient, calm, and helpful. He was great. I find it hard to convey how reassuring he was doing at times when I was struggling to equalize my ears. I was sick, but I didn't realize it then. My ears were congested. The next weekend we were in the ocean. I failed to complete my certification because of my cold, but my son did complete his. My son had a great time and we both really enjoyed having Sam as our instructor. I highly recommend Bamboo Reef Diving Center if you want to get certified. We had a great time, Sam was an incredible instructor and the entire experience (other than having a cold) was amazing. I will be going back to finish once my cold is done. read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - Sam is on the right instructing my son and his dive buddy in the water. - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

I came in with a simple request to purchase a snorkel mask for an upcoming vacation. Jack was helpful and attentive. His recommendations balanced both the requirements of my short trip and my budget which I appreciated. read more

it was my first time scuba diving in the cold and my dive instructor made my feel safe and comfortable and after there was a BBQ and so many cool figures along with a wide selection of gear read more

Having recently been certified as open-water divers, my wife and I were looking to explore Monterey Bay and chose Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Center to set up a two-dive tour. On the day of the dive, we met Sam, whom we found to be very friendly, personable, and, most of all, receptive, which alleviated any concerns we had being that these would be our first dives without being under the watchful scrutiny of a diving instructor. Both dives were great! Sam took us down to San Carlos Beach where we did our two shore dives and saw a plethora of ocean-going (and airborne) flora and fauna: rays, sea lions, blennies, crabs, sea nettles, sea cucumbers, anemone, starfish, a kelp forest, and even diving birds! It was a great experience, leaving us yearning for the next dive! I highly recommend Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Center! The staff were welcoming, professional, and friendly. read more

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Booked a guided 2 tank dive with Sam and he was so great to dive with!! This was my first time diving in cold water and he was so patient and understanding, quickly built trust I needed to just go for it. Took me a few tries to descend the first dive, but he just let me take my time so I could feel comfortable again. Second dive was amazing, way better visibility and we saw some cool stuff. He even has a a camera and snaps pictures throughout so you'll have some memories afterwards. Highly recommend diving with Sam!! read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

Stole my money and ghosted. They have a quite bigoted policy around mental illness, and after trying to work it out w nick, was ultimately banned from diving for a medical condition totally irrelevant to diving. Nick was engaged and kind at first, but then after refusing a refund, deferred to Brian, who I was told would call me. No call. now no response from either for over a month. Pretty disgusting from my view. would recommend avoiding these folks and going elsewhere. read more

LOVE this scuba shop!! Everyone here is SO friendly and kind. Really appreciate down to earth folks who love talking about diving, they always make me feel super comfortable and welcome. Reasonable prices too and convenient location. read more

If you're wanting to get scuba certified, I HIGHLY recommend Bamboo! I had my pool training for Open Water with Rosy and absolutely loved her. For my ocean dives I was lucky enough to have the owner of the shop as my instructor, Marc. Both of them were very patient and made me feel at ease throughout the whole process, and made me even more excited to get more certifications with them in the future. The staff really know their stuff and made me feel welcome every time I walked in the shop. Great vibes all around! read more

I chose Bamboo Reef Scuba in Monterey, California to learn more about kelp restoration in Monterey Bay. Also to be Vertified in Kelp Restoration (NAUI). My instructor was Naniloa Casteel who was very organized and competent. Her editorializing from her own experience made the written part much more interesting and relevant than in other scuba courses I have taken, and she was very serious about every point (a good thing). Nani had a plan for finding us both parking near the sea on a crowded sunny spring morning; she warned me in advance about the shlep along the beach and subsequent 800-foot surface swim to the dive site; and she was very patient with me when I was slow (I am out of practice with the cold-water gear). I learned about how the native sea urchins (red and purple) have eaten the kelp such that what used to be a vertical wall of swaying kelp forest is now a kelp barren. I learned how to follow the grid laid down on the ocean floor, and Naniloa demonstrated how to terminally smash the urchins where they lay (I had been timidly tapping with the hammer) and accurately record the number and type and location of the urchins culled (I appreciated this part too). Nice, easy dive. Great instructor. Important project. Bamboo Reef gets bonus points for ample parking and for the two corgis who were present when I dropped in at the shop the night before to check out my gear. Super props for allowing me to use an unusual picture for my c-card photo. Recommend Bamboo Reef Scuba. Recommend Naniloa Casteel as an instructor. Recommend this course (please read more at G2K2). read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

My son and I were looking to learn and thoroughly enjoyed our training from Alyssa at Bamboo Reef. They are all very nice and super knowledgeable- great place to get certified, have a refresher, or take a tour with an expert. Great place to gear up too! read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - First days of Open Water training. - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

My family and I visited California for a summer vacation (from east coast). My son and I recently became certified in SCUBA diving and decided to go diving while on the west coast: Bamboo Reef SCUBA Diving Center(s) came highly recommended. Starting off we were able to easily make our appointments online, always a plus. I had to change my reservation and decided to call just to make sure there was no confusion. The gentleman that answered the phone was very helpful and covered all bases. We arrived at BRSDC about 20 minutes before our scheduled time and the staff was very welcoming and helpful. They did a great job helping cover whatever gear we needed and making sure we were properly equipped. Having never been diving in cold water I wasn't exactly sure what all was needed. After the gear up we went on a two minute drive to our dive spot. Kevin was our guide of four divers. We were all varying skill levels and Kevin made sure to accommodate us all. He took pictures and was clearly there to make sure we all had a great, safe dive. Later he sent us the pictures of our dive. BRSDC made this trip enjoyable. read more

We had the best experience diving with our guide, Devin. I hadn't dove in a while, so was a bit nervous, however she helped me every step of the way! When we arrived the gear was all set up and ready to go for us! Incredible experience, and felt very safe and taken care of the entire time. She even brought hot tea and cookies for a warm-up break between dives!! So knowledgeable and passionate about the marine life. Highly recommend! read more

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Love the team that you have in this shop. I'm here at least twice a weekend to fill up tanks and the staff is always professional. I'm very impressed with the two new hires. Can't think of their names, maybe one is Michelle or Mellisa (sorry if I'm wrong) but when I came in two weeks ago they were struggling with filling the tanks but was still able to deliver some outstanding customer service. Since then they have mastered tank filling and their service continues to be beyond my expectations! Keep up the great work! A very happy customer. read more

I've been scuba diving since 1994. I've enjoyed many types of diving, but this was my first chance to dive in Sea Kelp. The staff at Bamboo are friendly, knowledgeable and fun. The gear is better than what you can rent generally. My only fault, and a minor one, if I turned over at depth and looked up ( highly recommend while in the kelp) my regulator would "breath wet". Our guide, Nicholas was tops. While we did not take any classes, Bamboo is an SSI school. In my opinion, SSI is far superior to the worlds largest scuba training organization. If I'm ever in the area again, I'm headed back to Bamboo. read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - Gear checked and ready to make a shore entry at Lovers Point. - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

Bamboo Reef is a good resource for dive equipment , rentals, and classes. Friendly staff, ready for action.

Great instructors. Got my open water cert through the shop in the city and in Monterrey. Great experience both weekends. Long pool days but the ocean dives made up for it. The snacks were an added bonus read more

Had a great experience with Bamboo Reef today. A dive buddy recommended their monthly "fun" dive. This month was a boat charter with Beachhopper. I ordered all my gear online and went to the dive shop at 7 am to pick it up and then headed a mile down the road to the dock by 7:30 am. I rented a semi-dry suit which it seems not all shops have that available to rent. There was a Bamboo Reef employee, Matt, who was on board and helped my dive buddy and I with navigation, weights and other things that came up. Would highly recommend both Bamboo Reef and Beachhopper! read more

Curiously, I stopped in not knowing a thing about diving. Rosie took the time and patience to explain to me what one might want to do to get started. I was educated about the equipment and needs, even steered away from sales just so I could be smart about my decisions. The next day I returned for a shore dive with her as the guide. Thanks for everything. I returned to the shop to talk about what to do next and chatted with (sorry I forgot your name) for a good amount of time on how to become further educated, how to get into a club/scene in my area, and what else to do with my weekend. Big thanks to all. read more

Stopped in to look at their Scuba gear. Nice people and the dogs that greet you are wonderful. I made a purchase, very happy

Absolutely the best dive shop in town. Everyone who works there is extremely helpful and knowledgeable and always takes care of anything I need. Alyssa was particularly helpful on my last couple visits, assisting me with all my gear rentals, making sure that I had everything I needed and also going above and beyond by helping me resolve an issue with my equipment by getting me in contact with the manufacturer. I was able to get my equipment fixed that day for free under warranty thanks to Alyssa's help and great advice. They also have great classes and expeditions with very skilled and knowledgeable divers. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone in need of anything diving related in the Monterey area. read more

Went in for some help with gear end they made time to fix it even though they were very busy and I got my dive in!!! Thanks for the help and nice chat! read more

I've been coming here for about 2 years now. Started with free diving and transitioned into scuba diving. The staff and DM's are amazing. It is hard to recommend any one specific person to get your feet with or to go on a tour. Diving is their passion and their love and it is easy to see that the moment you meet them. Throughout my certification the staff at Bamboo made me feel safe and walked me through everything I struggled with until I felt comfortable and ready for the ocean. Once in the ocean I was never scared or nervous because 1. I knew I had the skills and understanding to be safe and enjoy myself and 2. My DM has her eyes glued to me and my fellow classmates (we were a class of 3! Small numbers are the best) at any time any of us were having issues she would stop and watch us making sure we kept breathing and would calmly guide us through everything. I cannot recommend Bamboo enough for your diving needs or just anything Monterey Bay related. They have you covered! read more

Excellent customer service at both locations-Monterey and SF. Aqua Lung dealer with a wide variety of choices and competitive prices. read more

Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers - Aqua Lung - Dive with a brand that gives you the assurance when you're 150' under water you can depend on. - Diving Near Me - Monterey, California

Placed an order for a pair of freediving fins that the shop didn't have the size for my partner on Dec 16th 2023 and paid in full. Called them around mid Jan to check the status and all we got was they had no idea when the fins would get sent. I tried to give them some more time to see if the shop would sort it out and actually follow up. Called them again just a couple of days ago (Sunday) and was told the same thing that they didn't know when the fins would get sent and couldn't contact the supplier as it's on Sunday and Monday the shop was closed so the staff who answered the phone promised me that someone would give me a call on Tuesday. Of course, no one called. In my opinion, if you have taken my money and confidently told me that the fins could be ordered then I would expect a follow-up call to the supplier regarding the shipping date would be part of the customer service when the order didn't turn up after a month and a half. I appreciated the refund but if you want to place an order for the customer and ask for the money upfront, then do the job right. read more

Nick was our open water scuba diving instructor. He took the time to explain everything until we were completely comfortable moving forward, very knowledgeable, and willing to answer any questions we had. I would highly recommend him to anyone! All the other employees were great too! read more

They are the best! Did my open water cert here. The instructors are amazing, very knowledgeable and helpful! And the shop staff are equally so. My main instructor was Kevin Siring along with Adam and Mark Stanley (shop owner). Thanks again Kevin for the awesome training! The equipment is great and they really work with you to make you as comfortable in the water as possible. They have most of the gear they sell for rent so you can try it before purchasing, which is super helpful as comfort changes in the water. They helped prepare me for my cold water dives AND got me geared up for my warm water diving vacation. Couldn't have asked for a better experience!!! Highly recommend. read more

We had an amazing experience here. Even though the dive conditions weren't ideal we had a great time. Adam was super fun and knowledgeable. He also gave us some great suggestions of what to do in the area (e.g., restaurants). You can tell he really cares about giving the best possible experience. Thanks so much! read more

This place has a well stocked, clean, and comfy bathroom. Stocked with loud fans and triple ply soft toilet paper. The bathroom has a wildly entertaining poster of sharks and polynesian reefs while you do your maneuver. They understand the stomach complications of waking up at 6 and downing a bunch of coffee and whatever you had for breakfast. Oh yeah they have great diving services too. read more

Definitely one of the best places to get trained and go for tours. The staff are friendly, patient, explain things in detail and with a genuine interest in scuba and your education or scuba needs. I cannot stress how friendly they are, and how they make you want to join, and be a part of, the scuba community. Writing this review from Thailand and I have them to thank for getting me ready for this trip! read more

This place is solid. Great service and super friendly staff Very reasonable prices too. read more

A bunch of us went to Monterey last weekend to complete our NASE cert with Keith. We had a very good experience despite being a little ill prepared at first. We had our pool sessions with another scuba diving shop a month ago and due to the lax attitude of that diving shop, our skills were a little shaky to start with. But Keith was very patient and responsible. He helped us get better with our skills. He also recruited his wife on our second dive to make sure we each get enough attention and help. Their equipment are much more up to date than the other dive shop that we took our pool sessions in as well. Keith is a very funny, organized and responsible instructor. I would highly recommend anyone who would like to learn how to dive correctly to take a class with him. read more

I got certified at the Bamboo Reef up in San Francisco in 2014 and have taken both my Advanced Open Water and my Nitrox classes at the Monterey store. 50+ dives later, they are still hands-down my favorite dive shop and I even recommended that my roommate get certified with them a couple weeks ago. I have bought most, if not all, of my equipment from Bamboo Reef and the entire staff is always incredibly helpful, friendly, and professional. Keith and the rest of the crew are always willing to go the extra mile to make sure that their customers are taken care of. My girlfriend and I showed up one morning looking to rent equipment for a Saturday morning dive. We had forgotten to call ahead and reserve gear, and they were out of BC's in her size. Keith went through his inventory and studied his reservation schedule and managed to put her into a BC so we could enjoy a morning of diving. Furthermore, the community at Bamboo Reef is great. They host fun dives monthly and I will frequently see Keith or other instructors out on the beach. They always greet me with a friendly word or wave and are genuinely good people. If you are looking to get certified, rent gear for a weekend, buy your own gear, or just get info on the dive conditions, Bamboo Reef is the place for you!!! read more

I am an experienced diver who've been around the world with my dive kit... I am confident to say Bamboo Reef is amongst the best shop I've been to. I chose to dive with a Bamboo Reef guide last weekend b/c 1) I'm new on the NorCal dive scene and don't have a buddy, 2) am unfamiliar with the sites and conditions of Monterey and 3) convinced my BF to do his OW certification, and Bamboo Reef (SF store) was who he chose to go with I did not experience the disorganised-ness experienced by Mitch M... it's about the same as any other place I've been to! But to be fair, I knew exactly what I needed - which was no more than 2 cylinders, a thick hood and weights - and was quick to get out of the gear rental madness. Roland G was my guide for the weekend - him alone gets 3.5 stars!!! He has a genuine enthusiasm for diving and is a great people's person (as oppose to another guide I have experienced in Monterey). Roland was very thorough in his approach - we sat aside and he asked me in detail how much diving I've done, what conditions and what I'd like to see at Monterey. The thoroughness continued at the dive site with him taking time to give a detailed site briefing (I have dived with guides who don't do that!!) So what about the remaining stars? Keith and the staff in the shop were great, so are the instructors from SF who gave me plenty of local advise. I was very impressed with this operation and will go back. read more

In terms of quality of rental gear, I can't imagine it getting any worse. Well, I came back alive and without the bends, so I guess that's something, but I think dive shops should set the bar just a little higher than that. Here's the skinny: depth gauge didn't work. At all. Snap on integrated weight system broke so weights started to fall out. Zipper on BC pocket broke. Nylon cord on BC purge valve snapped. My god this equipment was old and abused. I feel lucky nothing more serious went wrong. The worst part: when I returned the gear and let them know what had happened, the woman helping me scratched her chin and said she'd personally had the same problem with Bamboo Reef depth gauges. Amazingly, after they made me dunk my own gear out back, she took the reg with the faulty depth gauge and put it right back on the shelf with the other rental gear. (Sorry to the poor SOB who got it after me.) On the upside, she didn't charge me for the reg and in general she was pretty nice, if nonchalant, about the whole thing. The upshot: I would rent gear from them ONLY out of desperation. And I'd be worried about it the entire time I was under water. read more

I wish I could give a rating of more than just five stars. And I wish I could spend more money at the shop...unfortunately, I bought all my gear before I discovered Bamboo Reef. I can't think of an experience I've had with any other service provider/retailer in my life that's more positive than my experience with Bamboo Reef. I have every confidence that if I have a diving need (question, gear recommendation, dive spots, etc), they will be happy to help me in any way they can. Adam consistently impresses me with his willingness to answer all of my questions, and I can't remember her name, but the woman who works in the shop is also a wealth of information and an absolute joy to speak with. read more

Came here to rent some gear for the day. The BCDs we got looked in fairly new condition. The guy working in the shop at the time was really helpful and friendly. We were on the fence about getting one or two tanks, and he let us take two tanks with us anyway and wouldn't charge for the second one if we decide not to use it. When we got back, he even gave us student discounts.Cool guy. Neat fact: Allegedly, the GoPro CEO got certified here. read more

I have used Bamboo Reef twice. Late last summer I knew I was traveling to Monterey and wanted to dive. Being a warm, water wimp I was looking for dry suit class. I called several shops in town. Kieth set up a private class for substantially less than most of the other shops. Their was no pressure to buy a book that would be read once. Roland was my instructor. He was awesome. We had a class room session followed by 2 dives at the Coast Guard pier. After the exercises we did a nice tour. Roland was great at pointing out critters. I recently went back to do a guided dive. This time I went out with Preston. We did two dives of about 40-45 minutes each. I brought my camera along and Preston was great about pointing out items to shoot. I can highly recommend both of them. I will definitely call Bamboo Reef when I am back in Monterey. Both trips have been on Saturday morning and they had classes filing in and out. It can be a little crowded but they do a great job of getting everyone geared up and out of the shop. For those of you new to cold water diving be aware that this is not concierge diving, you have to carry your own gear and generally have a pretty good hike to the water. read more