I was in a super rush for an upcoming scuba trip, Scott and Bay Area Scuba was the only shop I contacted that agreed to make the time that would allow me to test for certification in time. I had a fantastic experience with Bay Area Scuba. I was started in the course immediately, and in the pool within 2 days. I was then scheduled with open water and done within a week. Scott and Denis did not take shortcuts. They were very patient, went over my test results thoroughly. When I had a mistake, they paid attention and made sure I understood my mistake. I felt very safe throughout the entire process. When my wife starts her lessons, I will suggest to her to use Bay Area Scuba. Along the way, every email and phone call was immediately followed up. Scott was on the ball to process my certification the moment I finished open water. I now have a certification, but more importantly, the confidence to go on my scuba adventure to Baja California in 3 days. read more

Paid for classes, due to the owners incompetence this company was unable to fulfill their end. When I asked for a refund, the owner then threatened to shoot me. I called my bank and was immediately refunded. The owner then harassed me and threatened me for a few weeks via email and phone. read more

Paid for my whole scuba certification (over $800) right before the pandemic/lockdown hit. Constant emails, calls, and now the number is no longer in service? I never started my scuba certification and lost $800 or more. Would not give money to this place and I hope it get's shut down. Go read the google reviews.... read more

Seems that Yelp took down my previous review. Perhaps I didn't write enough? Perhaps Scott filed a fictitious complaint to yelp? Who knows? In short, my friends and I were scammed by Scott and his company. I filed a credit card chargeback and my money was returned. Scott threw a fit and threatened to take me to court. I knew he had no case so I called his bluff - he never ended up doing so. Scott also tried to file a police report. I got a call from the San Mateo police department and the officer on the line laughed it off after learning about the situation. The officer explained to me that this guy files police reports all the time (probably to scare people) and the officers are required to make a phone call. You don't have to go through the trouble I did to get a scuba license. Don't give this place the benefit of the doubt. read more

Scott is psychotic. Avoid this place at all costs. I was headed to hawaii for a couples trip and my gf wanted me to get certified. This was last minute so I looked around to find a place that could certify me quickly. I came across this page and I saw the bad reviews, but I was desperate. I decided to give it a shot. I called them to ask if they'd be able to get me certified within a couple of weeks. My gf has a PADI license so on the call I asked for PADI as well. He said that's fine. I paid him and he gave me a time to come in and instructions to follow online. After following the online instructions I noticed that I was filling out a NASE form. I called and told him he had given me the wrong thing. He told me that NASE was the same thing. I insisted that I wanted the same thing as my gf, the thing he advertised on his website, and the thing that he had promised me on the phone. It didn't take long before he started yelling like a mad man on the phone and cussing me out. I told him I wanted a refund and cussed me out some more and hung up on me. I then sent him and email telling him that I would leave a message with the BBB and he called me back immediately. His tone changed. He was super nice on the phone. He offered to hook me up with one of his instructors in Hawaii that could certify me PADI. I told him that (a) I wouldn't feel safe going in the water with him or any of his friends after he went totally psycho on the phone and (b) I was in Hawaii for a limited time and didn't want to waste it doing my certification. I insisted on getting a refund. Then he snapped again screaming on the phone and cussing me out. He then started sending me threatening emails and text messages. It was pretty terrifying to be honest. I'd never met someone so mentally unstable. Hearing he also runs a shooting range is also a little unsettling. I found out later that he lost his PADI certification a while back, but still advertised it on his website. It looks like he's updated the site now. I eventually got my certification from Bamboo Reef in the city. They could only offer me SSI, but they were upfront about it and explained that it should be accepted in most places I want to dive. The staff there was amazing and was able to take care of me last minute. I cannot express how terrible Scott and Bay Area Scuba are. He is a liar and a crook. I hope no one else makes the same mistake I did. read more

AVOID!! This guy is a fraud, me and my friend paid him 500$ each to get an open water license. He claimed that he couldn't do a dive because his friend hurt himself. I asked for my money back and he said he wouldn't be able to honor that. He said he could only give me a partial refund. He then blocked me and I haven't heard from him. Our family counsel is in the process of serving him in small claims court. we urge the business owner to please reach out to us before we have to take this to court. I'm sure you know who we are. Owner has completely struck a low point in his business. He obviously has no customer service skills. Look how he attacks and ridicules all of the people that pay him money. Scroll down and look at all the horrible comments. That many people coming out can't be wrong. Don't believe the owner, I'm not with any form of competition. I was a broke college student scammed out of my money and never got to take a single lesson. I don't know why I wasted time posting this comment I'm just going to report you to the better business bureau. Please I advise everyone to go to the better business bureaus website for this company and you will see proof he charged someone's credit card over the phone and never reimbursed them after he cancelled on them. read more

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!! They rented me broken and unsafe gear. Seriously dangerous!!! When I complained about the gear Scott ranted at me like I did something wrong and tried to blame everyone he could think of instead of just replacing the gear. Scott teaches you the pool session then all the actual dives are done with Bamboo Reef in Monterey, CA. Go straight there and save yourself money! Bamboo Reef replaced all my gear rented from Scott because the regulator was cracked, the BC was 20 years out of date, the goggles didn't fit, the fins were poor quality, etc... You pay Scott upfront, have to pay Bamboo Reef AGAIN, then wait for a reimbursement from Scott. Super weird accounting that makes life more difficult for the customer. The check Scott wrote me to reimburse bounced and it was difficult to get the money I was owed. He skipped crucial steps in the pool class, the folks at Bamboo Reef had to redo all of his basic instruction. I don't know WTF Scott is doing but it certainly isn't safe and thorough dive training. He could seriously injure someone. Bottom line he is putting people at risk. Scott (the owner) is a real piece of work. He used multiple RACIAL SLURS and said the most hateful things I have ever heard about minorities in casual conversation. It was truly unbelievable. I am shocked and appalled by his behavior and the dangerous equipment. read more

Do not trust Scott with your safety. Took a free diving class with him last year and he sent me straight into the water alone with no safety instruction, testing, or guidance. Scott charged me over a hundred dollars for 30 minutes of pool laps - he wouldn't even get in himself. He ended up cutting my class short and I learned absolutely nothing. I've recently become certified through Bamboo Reef instead and it has been incredible! Not only have they treated me like family, but they also taught me skills to dive safely - something Scott had no interest in doing. Do not dive here. read more

I don't normally write Yelp reviews... but this is a special case. These guys are the worst. It's been a few years since my last dive so I booked one of their scuba refresher courses for Friday night. All excited to go do my scuba thing I rented a car (cuz I live in the city), left work early and headed down to their space in Burlingame. I get there, go to the front door and find that it's locked so I call their phone number to see what's up. The guy who answers the phone then proceeds to inform me that the class has been cancelled. I'm like, "hey, I'm in your parking lot and you're just telling me now?!". He says that the other members of the class weren't able to make it so he had to reschedule it for tomorrow morning. What?! So I ask him to just refund my card. He then tells me he doesn't have time to do a refund right now because he's busy. I need to call back tomorrow morning. WTF?! So... I call this guy the next morning and he says he can only refund it if I look up the exact date the card was billed. Does he not have these records?? So I look the information up and tell him the date and he refunds the card. Well, I guess I'll see, it won't post for a few days so fingers crossed. He then goes on to tell me the instructor was in a car crash and that's why the class was cancelled. Either way you look at it these guys completely don't have it together. Also, he gave me two different reasons the class was rescheduled so one of them is b.s. I suspect they had some class attendees reschedule so they rescheduled the class. They never took down my contact info so they had no way to contact me. And clearly they have a terrible billings system. The end result? I paid for a rental car, took off from work early and spent 2 hours in Bay Area rush hour traffic on a Friday evening all for the pleasure conversing w/ these jerks and hoping they refund my $150. read more

I would NOT recommend this shop to anyone. I chose this shop because I wanted to complete my rescue diver certification asap and they offered the most flexible schedule. What they meant by flexible was that I should be ready to waste a lot of time! When I asked for a refund they instead charged me a second time. I have had to go through my credit card dispute center to get this money refunded. Don't waste your time with this place! After registering for the course a month in advance via phone, my credit card was immediately charged while i received no receipt or instructions for the class. I called a week before the class and confirmed the time and location. Showed up and was told by Scott, the owner, to wait in the back room. Scott then left the premise and after wasting 2 hours of my Saturday I left my email and phone number with a clueless employee so that we could reschedule. Over a week later I had received no call or email so I called the shop myself and set up a time to begin the course. I then received a call not 6 hours before the new scheduled time asking me to reschedule so that the shop could make a larger profit with a higher student/instructor ratio. Unfortunately I agreed to this and was told to meet at the shop at a new date a week later. I show up at the shop now after the second reschedule only to have it vacant, dark, and locked. Calling a few days later to get a refund I was bounced back and forth between Scott, the owner, and an employee as they tried to get out of a refund and blame other people. INSTEAD OF A REFUND I WAS RECHARGED! I called again to now get both charges refunded and I am still waiting for the call back. Eventually I did get a call back to let me know that the refund had gone through but I would be sued for posting a negative Yelp review. Wow read more

It's taken me a LONG while to get up the nerve to write a review, after reading the threats Scott has posted on others' reviews of his business. I did my scuba certification with Bay Area Scuba in July 2010. My pool dives were at the end of July, with divemaster Tony. Tony was a good teacher and I never felt unsafe, as others have said they felt. My open-water cert was in August 2010 in Monterey. I did this through Bamboo Reef (as a referral since Bay Area Scuba had no open-water certs available when I needed it). BAMBOO REEF WAS AWESOME AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM - KEITH IS THE BEST. Moving on... I received a temp card from Bamboo Reef following my open-water cert in Monterey. I went diving in Maui a couple weeks later. Came home. Waited for my hard card, for which Scott at Bay Area Scuba was responsible for getting the paperwork together and sending the card to me. I didn't get the hard card. Got ANOTHER temp card and dove Kona in November 2010. Still no hard card. Kept calling about my hard card. "Did you lose the paperwork, Scott?" "No, NASE lost it." Okay... February, SIX months later: no hard card. Scott said he'd been in the hospital. I ask if he'd been in the hospital for the last SIX MONTHS? I mean, I'm a compassionate person but come on, dude. I called Awesome Keith at Bamboo Reef asking for guidance. I just wanted the card. He suggested I get the paperwork from Scott and send it to NASE myself, even though that's not the way things are supposed to work. So that's what I did in April, as it had become abundantly clear that Scott completely lost my paperwork and gave me the run-around for half a year. In order to get the proper paperwork, I had to drive to Burlingame TWICE more. I live in Berkeley, which is not close to Burlingame. June 2011: I had to get ANOTHER temp card to dive San Diego. July 2011: I finally received my hard card, ELEVEN MONTHS AFTER BEING CERTIFIED. Two weeks later I dove Kauai, got my Advanced Open Water Cert (through PADI - the way to go) and received THAT hard card three weeks later. So I used my NASE hard card for a total of two weeks, even though I had been diving for almost a year. In short: Customer service here sucks ass. Go to Bamboo Reef. The ratings here should be a dead giveaway, and I only wish I had checked Yelp before booking my certification through Bay Area Scuba. read more

Bay Area Scuba was a great experience for me! I attended their class instruction + pool dives and followed up with my open water dives in Belize. Scott & his team were so helpful and informative - I felt very prepared to tackle my open water dives after their training. Scott was very attentive and quick to respond with any questions I had which made me feel at ease. When I finished my referral dives, he made sure I was certified in no time. Highly recommend! read more

Scott is a super nice guy however he has a lot on his plate. I got my pool stuff out of the way right away with Dennis. Which was great. Getting my open water done took some time to figure out. The first time, I scheduled my open water dive Scott must have forgotten to write it down. I had to wait a month to work it into my work schedule. Once I get my gear from him and he sends you down to Bamboo Reef Enterprises which they do the open water dive with you. They were great. My over all experience with Scott was okay. Once again, he is managing two businesses and I think by himself. If he had someone helping him organized all the paper work and times. It would have been a better experience. read more

Satisfied customer! I got SDI certified in 2 weekends! I sent an email to the website at 10PM and got an immediate response! Now, that is service. WOW! Scott was very responsive and I was able to get my needed pool dives in on that same weekend and schedule open water dives in Monterey the following weekend. I did my online course with through there SDI link in one night and one day...passed the next day and was able to get baseline knowledge before the pool work. Tony was the instructor for the both the pool work and the Monterey open water dives. I will have to say that he made me feel very comfortable in the water and he is a great instructor. Things to expect for the pool dives: 1) Shop is in Burlingame and the Pool is in San Mateo, so you need to drive to the pool, not a big deal just don't expect to jump in the water them minute you show up at the shop. 2) You need to hall all your gear back and forth to and from the shop to the car, then from the car to the Pool once you get there....that means, 20lbs weight belt, 30lbs of tank x 2, BCD, regulator and all that other gear..Fins, boots, etc. walk up from the parking lot in the pool area; it's a bit of hill climb. Not bad, but you need help ask Tony or whoever else is there and they will assist you. 3) Tony was our instructor, really great, really laid back...made you very comfortable in the pool and in Monterey. Things to expect for Open water in Monterey: 1) We were late 2) The instructor was late 3) The other team members were late 4) Try and show up early for parking!! 5) With a group getting into the water and a very technical sport expect delays. 6) Don't schedule dinner plans on Sunday night thinking you can make it back to San Francisco in time.....just too much to fit in and you don't want to be rushing. 6) The other folks were there but were not really coordinated on our EXACT times for getting in the water and being at the shore 7) We waited 30 minutes or more for one person, I found this frustrating. I even let Scott know when I got back that it would be nice to have ground rules for those that are late so they don't hold up the team. Not sure if they will do this but it is worth asking about if you go. Overall rating is four stars **** *****Great service ****Good instruction, *****Good people Areas for improvement: They could improve on having better estimations for times it will take for the Open Water part. They are a smaller shop but you will be able to get your dives in "last minute" if you need to Great Flexibility to your schedule. As a side note, they also teach firearms instruction, I thought this was a fun combination. read more

I have to change my original review because I just now got my certification. Here are the facts: 1. Scott is an excellent instructor 2. I finally received my certification 10-11 months after I completed my open water certification. I called Scott multiple times and he blamed NASE for being understaffed and slow. My girlfriend called NASE and they blamed Scott citing that "they have had problems before". We also had to send Scott our pictures multiple times which made me lose faith in Scott's claims that it was NASE's problem. Scott and the NASE can blame each other all they want for the delay, but the fact remains that it took almost a year to finally get my card. Placing blame helps nobody. Receiving our actual Open Water Diver certification cards was an unexpected hassle that I would not like to go through again. My final observation was that Scott was an excellent instructor and the time spent in the pool and the classroom was fantastic. The hassle of trying to get my actual certification card definitely diminished the excellent experience that I had with Bay Area Scuba early on. My hope is that this review will prompt Scott to work out his issues with the NASE in order to provide a better service. Again... I want to reiterate that up until the hassle of trying to get my certification, I had an excellent experience. read more

Me and three friends were planning our trip to Belize and we wanted to scuba dive. I found bay area scuba from searching online and emailed Scott for more information. He was very direct about the process, and I scheduled the classes for our open water certification. Scott for certain is a very interactive instructor, many of his lessons were running through my mind as we were doing our final training days in beautiful Belize. If you want to learn to Scuba, I highly recommend Scott and his team to get the job done. BTW, Robert who does the pool instruction is awesome... read more

Got my certificate in 2 weeks, pretty quick. Instructor Jade was super nice and patient, great learning experience.

You may not receive a good diving experience with this program. I originally planned to do my pool sessions with Scott (my partner planned for the entire open water course) but Scott said the entire course would only take 5 hours. Are you kidding? What can you learn in 5 hours? Most courses are spread out over two days in the Bay Area. So Scott's program already seemed fishy to begin with. Now let's move on to the scheduling. On May 23, I received a call from Scott after sending an inquiry for a scuba session on May 27. He said it was fine, there is availability and I should go ahead and book it with him. I spent a day researching my options and decided to book with Scott because he was the only scuba school with availability. When I called, there was no availability and my partner's scuba session was not even scheduled and he was charged for it! It was scheduled for the week after in June even though we specifically said we are leaving May 30. My partner would've shown up on May 27 with no availability, and we wouldn't have been able to reschedule for any other day. When he did try to reschedule us for Sunday, he said to call him back at 2pm but when we decided to cancel altogether because we couldn't do Sunday... he said no refunds! Scott may be very responsive to calls and emails but he is incredibly disorganized. Not to mention a 5 hour open water scuba class which is unheard of! Now my partner is getting a refund through his credit card and I'm glad I never gave him my credit card info through the phone. This type of disorganization and poor business management seems to be the trend for this scuba school. Is Scott even certified to teach? I don't even care because I probably won't learn anything from him in 5 hours. Does he even care for the safety of his customers? It doesn't seem so! Avoid at all costs. Book your scuba sessions with a trained and professional scuba school. Be safe and don't take the short cut otherwise you'll run into someone like Scott! EDIT: I wanted to edit this review to include the name-shaming, curse words, and rude behavior that my partner has encountered with Scott via email. Scott threatened to sue because of a negative 1* review on Google and continued on to say we were the ones who backed out. However let me repeat the fact that he told us over the phone that Saturday May 27 was full even though it was the date we requested over the phone after payment. Very strange how that appointment changed to June 3. He offered Friday Sunday or Monday but he still needed to confirm and told us to call back at 2pm (this was a call made at 11:07am EST). We emailed him back at 11:40am EST to just cancel altogether because we wanted Saturday and found another option. He said no refunds. The scheduling was Scott's mistake. He needs to understand that. But instead, he has resorted to rude curse words, poor grammar, and complete unprofessionalism to handle this matter. read more

Avoid at all costs! Scott is a fraud. He took my credit card over the phone after confirming a day and time. I was then told, through a friend, that he cancelled. Fortunately, I found out before I went in. Now he won't refund me the $340 he charged. Crazy! read more

Family took lessons and we are all certifide. We are on way to dive Hawaii's Big Island for a week and can't wait. Overall, we feel confident but a little scary. Thanks to team at Bay Area Scuba. read more

We were promised dates that weren't available, had to go through our credit card company to get a refund, and have been threatened with a lawsuit for posting my review... This is the first time I've felt compelled to write a review, and it's a long story, but I'll try to be brief: - My wife and I were promised specific training dates (confirmed by email) 2 months in advance. We double-checked the week before our pool sessions were scheduled to take place - it was important as my mom was flying in from the East Coast to watch our son while the two of us trained together (and we were leaving on a trip soon afterward). - The day before my wife's training was to start, Scott told us that our dates wouldn't work, so we couldn't complete the training. - Scott refused to refund the money. He eventually agreed to do so, and I tried calling him for 2 months (each time he gave some reason I should call back later) before giving up and getting the refund through the credit card company. It is clear from the other reviews that we aren't the only ones who have had disappointing interactions with Scott. Ask around in the diving community before committing to something that might seem more convenient! read more

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SCOTT. Literally, the worst experience of my life. He is horribly rude and disrespectful, and completely illogical and unreasonable. He failed to send us the necessary paperwork before the lesson, so we were disqualified from diving without a doctor's note. We weren't told this until we were in our wet suits on the the side of the pool. We were told to reschedule, but we can't. We're getting married and going on a long honeymoon and were trying to get certified before then. Also other life circumstances prevent us from having the time to do it. So we nicely asked for our money back (explaining that he screwed up), and these were the responses we got from Scott. Word for word, pulled out of his emails: "What a bunch of garbage." "We are all victims no one is accountable for their own neglgence. You need to stop blaming other and be big girls and big boys and read the data on the website." "You need to grow up and we set private instruction for you. As any educated persons know that all info is always on the website. " I do not wish to be treated like this by anyone, especially to someone I gave nearly $700 to. read more

DO NOT GO TO BAY AREA SCUBA. This is the worse diving school. The owner wasted our time in name of theory sessions by telling his own stories, He canceled and rescheduled our pool sessions without telling us, He "forgot" to give paperwork to many people in our group for the dive in Monterey. They got to know about it after they reached Monterey and had to go back or wait half day to get the papers, We had to pay more money to the dive shop in Monterey and they said owner will refund it. It took us 6 months to get the refund from him. After many calls and visits we managed to get the refund check. The whole experience was a nightmare and will highly recommend not to waste your money here!! read more

I have tried and tried not to leave a review here for BAS but the fact is I have been trying to get a refund from them for almost a year now without success. My doctor would not sign off on me doing scuba training and this is the one reason BAS will issue a refund. I have provided this paperwork many times - over email, attempted over the phone, etc, only to be ignored and given excuses. As I sit here with bandages around my neck from yet another cancer surgery I am disgusted that I now need to spend my time and energy pursuing a BBB complaint and a small claims court proceeding - but it is either that or just accept that I have given $384 to BAS, which I refuse to do. Scott is an expert at dodging emails/calls when they involve him having to refund money - I am sure that is not the case when people are trying to send it. This company deserves ZERO stars and should not be in business at all. read more

Owner Scott Jackson at Bay Area Scuba Diving is freakin' NUTS. Stay clear from this business. Let's just say this guy now claims the #1 spot for worst customer service experiences. Absolutely dreadful. Rude, disrespectful and untrustworthy. Update: A fellow Yelper asked my to elaborate on this business, oddly just seconds after I posted it, so here's some details: GF signed up for open water course prior to reading Yelp reviews - big mistake. Guy was very short and insulting on phone. Received no instructions or documentation, just single sentence emails with link to online training course. Training website was unbelievably amateur as it was filled with typos and it didn't work with any browsers (had to constantly reload pages and login.) The experience we had completely underwhelmed us and genuinely concerned us to the point that we would not receive proper instruction in a safe, comfortable environment. He completely took the fun out of something we were both looking forward to for quite some time. Look, just read the other reviews, there is something fundamentally wrong about this individual and how he conducts business. He shows no respect or concern for his customers which is a huge mistake as a business, especially in today's tenuous economy. On the bright side, we found a fantastic group fairly close by that has been a real pleasure to work with so far. I'll have a another review when we finish. read more

The owner, Scott J, is lying. His shop is terribly run and he is extremely unreliable.

Took a refresher course, brief review in the classroom and a morning pool session. Scott gave us clear instruction and we went through all the equipment and safety protocols quickly and efficiently. Bonus was all the great stories! read more

Yelp really needs to add a zero stars option. This guy is beyond rude, it is crazy. Just look at the responses he posts online. I dare anyone to call his company and try to get info on diving, you will see who the liar is. I called bc I wanted to get certified before I leave for vacation. I told him I had questions regarding his shop vs other diving shops in the area. He became very defensive when I brought up yelp. Okay buddy, we get it... you hate yelp. He tells everyone to check the yelp class action lawsuits, blah blah blah. Regardless, the way you speak to people who are willing to give YOU their money is unacceptable. You yell at people and swear at them on the phone when they are trying to ask you questions, and then when they hang up, YOU CALL BACK NUMEROUS TIMES. Straight stalker status! Good job buddy, keep on working those "14 hour days" I can't wait till you have to shut that crappy business down for good. By the way, I gave my $$$$ to scuba fusion instead. Have a GREAT day! read more

I don't know how well they teach, but they sure don't have any customer service. I woke up early Saturday morning to go to my scuba class and when I get there, no one is around. The teacher was sick and they just didn't call anyone. That upset me, but getting a refund was really bad. They said they would refund me the money, but I have contacted three times to get the refund and nothing happened. I am hoping that my credit card company can pull it out of them. Post April 19, 2008-- Update I did get a phone call saying they were sorry and the money has been returned read more

I have never written a yelp review until now. but i have to for this. My issues Utterly Disorganized: This is my biggest issue with them. Scott is horribly disorganized. He's struggling to balance the firearms business with the diving business (and the diving business is losing miserably). If you do not stay on top of him for EVERYTHING, it will NOT happen. Here are a few examples: (a) Multiple times he had and tried to reschedule my certification (including once at 10pm, about 8 hours before my 2nd day). I nicely accommodated. Once I finally did get my 2nd pool night scheduled, he had scheduled us with two other people who were doing their *first* night. So, rather than doing several hours of new (and presumably important) coursework, we repeated everything we did from the first course. And then, when I called to confirm all the details for the open water certification (two days prior to the certification and 4 days prior to my vacation), he had FORGOTTEN about it and asked me if I could reschedule. I said no and he had to make alternate accommodations for me through another company. (b) I also had to spend several days tracking him down to take my written test since I was about to leave for vacation. Had I not done that, I would have NOT been able to dive on my vacation. They took no responsibility for getting me certified. It was up to me to keep him organized. (c) While in his office, I saw a note from another student who was stood up by Scott after waiting for an hour for him. Irresponsible: Scott sold me a mask that didn't fit (despite his assuring me that it did). I had to buy a new mask and now own two (including one that does not fit). Misrepresentation: You do not necessarily get PADI certified as their website claims (I ended up with NASI). Whether that's important or not is up for debate. But based on their website, I assumed i would be PADI certified and was not. I was told by someone in the dive community that he was kicked out of PADI; but I have no evidence of this. Unprofessional: This one is a little more subjective. But from the poor customer service; their disorganization; his attacks and insults on other yelp reviewers, his foul-mouth and HIGHLY offensive and inflammatory things he said to me; without a doubt this is the most unprofessional service provider I have ever dealt with. Bar none. In retrospect, I would have forgone my dive in Australia not to have dealt with them. It was that bad. Caveat emptor. You'll need it. read more

Even though Scott had certified me a million years ago, he obviously made a big impression because he was the first person I thought of when my boss called me into his office to ask about scuba courses. My boss had a big Hawaii trip scheduled this last year and needed to get his kids certified before they left. Scott was great about making time for them and rushing them through the certification as quickly as he could so that they could finish their certification/do their open water dive on their Hawaii trip! Scott was a job saver with the small amount of time my boss allotted me to get his kids certified! He has always been really responsive to my scheduling needs as well as any questions or concerns that my boss had. I would definitely recommend him to anyone else who wants to look into scuba. read more

Did my in-pool training with Scott three weeks ago, did my check-out dives in Monterey two weeks ago, and did my first dives to 90ft in Turks & Caicos last week! Absolutely amazing! This shop is basically will basically certify you to SDI standards which is basically the recreational wing of TDI, a well respected technical diving organization. I was a little worried that it wasn't PADI since that's all I seem to remember growing up on Maui, but did some calling to all my favorite dive shops and found that it's basically the same certification, since they all have to teach to the WRSTC standards anyway. I found the SDI training to be well thought out and defnitely prepared me well for the in-pool training sessions. Unlike other online crap like traffic school, I made sure to REALLY learn the stuff since my own or others lives would literally depend on it. Because of this, and the fact that I grew up on Maui (and spent a lot of time in the ocean), the pool with Scott was an absolute breeze. I was the only one in the pool session, so Scott even went over skills that he wasn't required to teach, but that I wanted to learn anyway. There were times where Scott felt like I had the skill down (like buoyancy control), but I didn't feel totally comfortable, so I did them a bunch more times until I was comfortable. Scott was definitely patient through this, and consequently during my checkout dives, the instructors actually commented several times on how good they thought my buoyancy control was! My final word of advice is that it's not necessarily the dive cert that you get, whether it be PADI, SDI, SSI or NAUI, the biggest thing is the instructor. I lucked out, in that Scott and I got along great, even though I hadn't met him before, thus I felt comfortable and competent in the skills that I learned from him. Definitely meet Scott, or any other instructor BEFORE you sign up for a class, it will make all the difference in your learning experience! read more

I decided to take my scuba cert through Bay Area Scuba because of their flexibility with my schedule. Unlike most students, I preferred to take my classes during the week instead of the weekend. Scott Jackson (the owner) was very flexible and was very good at communicating with me. Despite some last minute changes I was able to get the class and pool work done before my trip to the Philippines. Step by step here is what to expect: Online course work - best for those who want to study at their own pace and are good at self-study. Give yourself a good amount of time - the modules are easy but you need to pay attention - scuba is super technical! I got to work the day after I signed up with Scott. In class refresher - with Scott - he's very knowledgeable and walks you through everything you studied online and the dive tables. He will give you a dive table to keep. Pool - I did the pool work with one of his instructors - he was awesome, very good at keeping me calm and comfortable through both pool classes. I successfully got through all of the skills by the end of the 2nd pool session. Open -water - Do this while on a tropical trip - Scott can help you find a referral dive shop if needed. I did all 4 of my dives in Anilao, Batangas Philippines. 84+ degree water, visibility at 20 ft, and the most diverse coral reef and marine life habitat in the world. It was beyond amazing. Best tip I got from one of my instructors - BREATHE LONG AND DEEP - this will allow you to save air and will help keep you calm in the ocean. Got my NASE c-card 1 week after I got back - now how is that for service? read more

Scott was very helpful an accommodating when I need to get my dive certification at the very last minute. I called him on Friday, said I was leaving on Monday for the Dominican Republic and wanted to go diving. I had no prior experience and this was a total spur of the moment decision. I asked him if this was even possible and he got me going on it that very afternoon. Easter weekend, mind you! After a few minor setbacks, we got it done - Scott made sure of it! I'm now on my way to the DR with my diving referral in hand and can wait to do my first open water dive over there! read more

Scott was a wonderful instructor that was both knowledgeable and friendly. He was able to explain complicated concepts to me in an easily understandable way and always took the time to answer my questions comprehensively. I'd recommend this place to anyone looking to get certified! read more

I just finished the weekend pool certification and can't wait to dive in Monterey. Scott was very thorough and patient - especially since I was initially very nervous and overwhelmed. The class size was small (four people) and he really took the time to make sure all participants were comfortable with each new skill before moving on to the next new skill. I feel assured that I will NOT panic if presented with an underwater emergency situation. The equipment provided was in good condition and because he didn't have my size flippers to sell last weekend, he comp'd me a pair to use. I am also excited that he knows of reputable dive outfitters in Mexico and has provided referrals to ensure our diving experience (for our honeymoon) will be safe and fun. I would definitely recommend this outfitter to others..it was the only business I could find that offered the online course. One of my classmates came all the way from Tracy for that same reason. I'm hooked! read more

Wow. All better

I was able to get my course done in the two weeks before I left on vacation. Being able to book last minute was one of the reasons I chose Bay Area Scuba. The online course, which is through NASE, was informative and came with an e-book which I still use. Scott is very nice but he is disorganized. My class schedules got changed but in the end, everything got done within my timeframe. The pool work was also good and I knew everything I needed for my open water dives. I did my dives in Maui at a place referred to me by Scott and I had a great time. Scott also got my referral done quickly as well as my diving card after I passed my dives. read more

Very unprofessional, multiple cancellations and no-shows. Horrible follow up and communication.The only thing more frightening than the fact that this guy does Scuba certification is that he does firearms training as well. Seriously, the government should pull ALL OF HIS CERTIFICATES. read more

I did my Open Water Cert with Scott (owner) and Tony. Although I will agree it was chaotic the first day getting the equipment and scheduling the Open Dive in Monterey, I liked that is was small enough to give more individualized instruction. The shop was close to my house and the price was definately right. When one of the tanks I took to Monterey was leaky Scott promply refunded the cost of the air refills. He even gave me a little gift when I went by today to pick up my card. I recommend this shop because as with anything else in life, you can attract more flies with honey than you can with vinegar! Oh and the dog onsite is pretty cool too :) read more