Needed to rent a set of dive gear to attempt to retrieve the anchor from my boat that a partner lost. Nice young lady took my information, verified my C card, and pulled out a tank, wetsuit, buoyancy compensator, wetsuit, weights, and regulator for me. Tried on the wetsuit and placed the weights into the bc, paid the $65 for the rental and loaded it all up into my car. Fairly quick and easy. Made my dive, returned the rental equipment, and was on my way. I'll be back the next time I need to rent dive gear. read more

Beach Cities Scuba - Front window - Scuba Diving Near Me - Dana Point, California

Clowns! Do not bring your gear here to be serviced! I dropped my gear off on 4/8 and was promised it back on 5/6..a week and a half before my trip. 5/6 came and went without so much as a phone call. For days I called, left messages, and called again without so much as a peep. Finally, on 5/16, TEN DAYS after it was promised, and two days before i fly out, someone finally picked up the phone when I called. Long story short, they were able to get my gear back to me via the Laguna Beach location where John was did me a solid and got me my gear back. I have no idea why it took so much longer than expected. No one from the Dana Point location ever called me about a delay or offered an explanation. Take your business to the Laguna Beach location...the staff at the Dana Point location haven't a clue. read more

The manager Allie at the Dana Point store is SHARP. She recalled an agreement we'd made 16 months earlier, then executed it with full competance. Now if the rest of humanity had 50% of her neurons, our society would be much further ahead in our evolution. Well done Allie. :-) read more

Perfect place to rent suits and all the other gears cheaply. I saw a bunch of options for purchase in different price ranges as well. Ask for Allie if you want the best customer service read more

The last two times I have come into the dive shop they are not able to fill my tank. The place seems unreliable

Thank you Rika for all of your help in equipping me with the very best gear. This is a first class outfit with very knowledgeable people. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Beach Cities for certifications and competitive pricing on gear. read more

This has been on my bucket list for years & just never took the time to do it. Finally found a buddy that shared the same goal & we went for it. Purchased the PADI certification via Groupon ($199) & immediately signed up online for the available slots. Within 24 hours, received our confirmation email from BCS. I emailed them regarding my buddy that was from SF who was flying down to do this course with me. The staff was very helpful and accommodating, DJ went over the paperwork with me & even allowed me to pick up my buddy's crew pack, dvd, & logbook so I could mail it to SF to get a headstart on the studying & knowledge reviews. We were also instructed to keep that following weekend free from 8-6, Sat & Sun. Scuba gear packages (mask, fins, snorkel, gloves, & booties) are available to students at very affordable rate. They size and fit your gear at the shop. They will also waive your crewpack ($70) if you purchase the gear with them. Also, 10% student discount on all purchases. We had a Thursday evening classroom session at the Dana location for about 2 hours with Kerrilyn (woops, spelling? LOL) & went over all the necessary paperwork then sections 1 & 2 (some quizzes). Then another classroom session at Dana for about 5 hours on Saturday (luckily, with Kerrilyn again) to go over sections 3-5 (quizzes) & take the final exam then go over the dive planning & finally take that last dive planning test to pass. We had a little bit of a hard time getting the hang of dive planning & she was so patient with us and stayed to go over it more slowly & in detail with my buddy and I. So grateful for her time. On Sunday we had an entire day pool session with Christina at the Laguna Beach location. Let's just say... it was a very long day. We started at 10AM & didn't finish until about 5PM. But this was the hardest yet fulfilling part of the journey so far (I'll probably update this when I'm done with my open water dives). This was not easy, the gear is heavy. We had about 3 people from our group decide to stop. Longest day ever but you learn so much & what an amazing feeling it is to be able to tackle all the skills & breathe under water! LOL. Christina was such a good instructor. She was very detailed and patient in helping each one of us. Although we probably had a great fast learning group. LOL. Looking forward to doing my exit dives so I can finally be certified to explore under water. read more

Beach Cities Scuba - Little lunch break on pool day! - Scuba Diving Near Me - Dana Point, California

Had issues with the shop, but all has been resolved and the shop bellied up To the bar as was right. Everyone makes mistakes, it is how we handle them that makes the difference. Good for Beach Cities Scuba Safe diving and enjoy the day! read more

A group of us yelpers bought a deal off of Groupon for Snorkeling in Dana Point. See deal here: (http://www.groupon.com/orange-county/deals/riviera-yacht-charters-orange-county) We made a reservation with the Riviera Yacht Charter. With the groupon deal, we were to check in at Beach Cities Scuba Center. Then, meet the Riviera at the dock nearby. Checking in was pretty easy. They were able to handle a group of around 15 or so people pretty fast. And, if you wanted to rent a wetsuit it was $20 extra. The gentleman who worked there, I think his name was Chase? Was able to tell what size you were by just looking at you. Yikes. The wetsuit they provided worked out good. YES! It was hard as hell to put on. And take off! Although, one of the people who went with us had a hole in his wetsuit! WTH! The snorkel set that came with the groupon was in pretty good shape. No scratches in the eye piece. It was also easy to return your equipment after the snorkeling excursion. Parking: They have their own parking lot. And, it's usually pretty empty. read more

Beach Cities Scuba - Scuba Diving Near Me - Dana Point, California

REGARDING OVERHAUL SERVICE: This was a 2 star at best experience. I don't write many reviews; but I do when it's called for. I must of had bad luck or something because there are so many good reviews. But for me not the case. My dive gear had been sitting several years, all still in great shape and high end stuff. Not top of the line but definitely high end. My reg. Is still sold new on their shelf. So I needed it over hauled to start diving again. I called and asked if the my service gear. Said yes, bring it in. I arrive and the lady looks at my gear and says, in an Asian accent "ohh very old and then laughs" and then I laugh like WTF? Ok insult a customer about to drop 200-300 bucks for a basic service of a BC and reg set?! And my reg is literally still sold new on their shelf, lol so that really got me. Then she pushed to trade it in and I should buy new. So I politely said I just would like to service the gear, when I talked to someone on the phone they said it is something you can do. Then she had a rude attitude, asked me for my info, tagged the gear then gave me a receipt and said it won't be ready for two weeks. I thought two weeks was a ridiculous turn around time, but I let it go and said ok. Well two weeks arrived and guess what, nobody called me. I called the store and asked if I could get an update, naturally that person had no idea who I was. I explained the story and they said they would look into it. They called me back said sorry it's not ready it will be an additional two days. So I was polite and said ok sounds good. Well two days arrive and guess what, no call. (This was a Thursday) So I call them again. Naturally they have no idea who I am, I explain the same story, they tell me they will look into it. Called me back and said sorry it's not ready but it will definitely be ready ("Tomorrow Friday)". I said ok but this is getting pretty redundant. So Friday comes, and guess what? No one called. So I call them again pretty frustrated. Naturally the person on the phone had no clue who I was; explained the whole thing again, and said I simply just want to know when I will receive my gear or I'll come get It if you can't perform the service. They say sorry they will look into it. They call me back and say, sorry it won't be ready until Monday... frustrated I said ok. I'm expecting to actually have my gear Monday. 1 hour before they closed, they called me on Monday and said it was ready. 19 days. 19 days to service 1 BC and 1 regulator. Through that 19 days it never occurred to anyone on staff to offer me loaner gear to dive. NOTHING. Literally nothing. Even the tone in their voice was like, what's my problem this is routine... you should just wait indefinitely lol So I also needed to buy a new tank. I was really mad at the poor service with my reg/BC but I let it go and was going to purchase a tank. I asked if they had an AL80, they told me they only had 63 Aluminum, but instead I should buy the steel 100, which was 425$ almost triple the price of what I was asking to buy. At no point did they say, we can order you one, nothing, literally just said you want the 100 steel it's a better tank. Sure it might be better, but as a customer I'm telling you I don't want that, I want a specific item. So then I just left. I called another shop in lake forest, Sea Stallion. Was a super easy 5 star experience. They said they order the AL 80's. Purchase made over the phone, emailed me a receipt, they picked up my tank the next morning, called me said it was full and ready to be picked up. No up sell, no rude comments, basic American Business. Spent 5 mins on the phone, and 3 mins in the store to pick it up all within 24 hours. Like I said, beach cities has good reviews, but reading through the bad ones; people do have some valid complaints about this place. And I'll probably steer clear of them as much as possible. Stallion also has some bad reviews but not from the experience I had. It is what it is. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for beach cities. They definitely need better organization for the gear they service as well as better communication or dedicated employees to be able to speak with the customers who are having their gear serviced. The only person who seemed to be supportive through the whole thing was a girl named Gabby. She was the last person that I spoke to, she heard me out and ACTUALLY understood that there was something not right on their end. All the other people I talked to, it was like they couldn't be bothered. read more

I want to compliment Ben the service technician. He has taken really good care of my gear throughout the years and has always gone above and beyond to make sure my gear is safe and in working condition. He's a really great guy and is super knowledgeable about equipment and scuba diving in general. I also want to compliment beach cities as a whole especially DJ, everyone has always gone above and beyond in terms of service and helpfulness and I have never experienced any issues with them. Everyone I have ever talked to has been increadably knowledgeable and helpful. I would highly recommend this dive shop read more

This shop is the definition of a small town businesses. The staff there are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They have been extremely helpful in helping me get into freediving when no other shop in dana point has come close to their friendliness and hospitality. For anyone of any experience level I would recommend Beach Cities Scuba! read more

My wife stopped in this shop to look for decent mask for snorkeling. We were greeted by Halee who was absolutely awesome.! She was extremely knowledgeable about the products and had us try on several masks to find the best fit. There was no high pressure sales just super friendly great experience. She also gave us some great tips on how to avoid fogging the lens with toothpaste. Halee is a true asset to this business and I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Went for a boat dive on the Riviera today. I've been diving for many years, but this is the first time on the Beach Cities charter. I can't say enough nice things about Captain Lee and Dive master Lauren. They both worked very hard to make this an enjoyable event for everyone and it showed. Their seamless teamwork and attention to safety made for a memorable day. read more

The Beach Cities Scuba - Dana Point dive store is one of my "Go To" Dive Stores in the Southern California area. They are geographically the closest to many of the great dive spots from San Clemente to Corona Del Mar and easily accessible from the I-5 freeway and Pacific Coast Hwy. Their friendly and supportive greeting always makes it a pleasure to drop off my tanks for a quick fill or visual followed up by a quick chat about dive conditions for that day. They are also ideally located to support any dives on the Riviera Dive Boat out of Dana Point Harbor for that last minute piece of gear or to rent a full set of equipment for that next dive. So check them out and enjoy their great friendly support! read more

I have been going to this store for years now and love all the people that works there. Everybody has been helpful in helping me find whatever I needed both for scuba and freediving. I want to especially mention Daniel who has been always ready to help me find the gear I needed to buy or rent, very professional! Also , the reg service with Ben is top notch! read more

Beach Cities is a great chain of dive shops that can provide anything and everything you need scuba related from lessons and certifications to all of your gear. Their staff are knowledgable and friendly. Dan is a great help when it comes to figuring out what works best for you. He has a lot of experience with working different camera setups too and is always willing to advise properly :) He is super passionate about diving and is in the water a lot also so he can tell you a lot about local dive sites! read more

These guys are awesome! I contacted them because I needed a hard to find part for my spear gun. They were very prompt and in my opinion went above and beyond. They checked there warehouse to see if there was anyway they might have one. They ended up not having it but pointed me in the direction to find one. I will definitely keep shopping with these guys and recommend them to everyone! read more

Love this place. Can get a little pricey but everything they have is worth the price. The staff is very helpful and educated and I'm just a happy customer. read more

My daughter and I just completed our open water cert with Beach cities. We did use the groupon, and actually read the fine print on what was included and what was not included. It seems many of the poor reviews are people who did not read it, were unprepared or shocked that they may need some basic gear or need to book a few weeks in advance. The cost vs how many instructors they paid to be with us, i don't see how they make very much off the group on deals. I felt it was still a very good deal for the amount of time they spent with us. We came in about 10 days before our class to pick up our diver packets, we also chose to purchase gear from the shop vs shopping elsewhere and paying for the dive material. I do feel they pushed the upsell on the more expensive items. It was not too much of a hard sell, and actually after trying on the less expensive gear... Well the nicer gear fit better, shocking i know. It was sold as a package, i shopped around online as well and prices were comparable, i think we may have saved around 10% going with beach Cities. But once again 100% prepared for this, read the small print when you purchase groupon items. Our sales persons was very nice, my daughter is 14 and felt very comfortable. Grade for Dana point A-. A week later we had our first class room, once again we read the instructions and had completed (mostly) our homework. Class was quick and to the point. Instructor was very nice, we had 4 people in our class. Grade A The following weekend we had pool diving, 5 dives one day. This is a long day. For the daughter, no problem, for an out of shape 40+ dad.... a little struggle. Once again we read the fine print. We knew you had to tread water, and swim... Well it is Scuba training, its in water and you need to swim...Our instructors were awesome, Randy is too funny. Pool Day A+ Next day, class room, written finals, Dive logs ect. Grade A. A week later we get a call. We had scheduled for 1 day on the boat, one day beach diving. The call told us that the beach may be cancelled due to high surf, we may want to do the boat. The call felt like a hard sell to get more boat time. After checking the surf report we went ahead and booked another boat day. In hind site, near 6ft surf at the beach. We talked to some people that did beach dive that day and it was a rough swim out. Up sell or not, we made the right choice and will probably hire a dive master to take us out for our first beach dive, or go with some of the dive 949 people. Back to the boat dives. Day one we had Linda as our instructor. My daughter and I both got sea sick...not awesome. I completed all tasks on the dives (in-between removing the contents of my stomach), My daughter fell short on the second dive, did the dive but was unable to completed 2 tasks. Linda was great and very understanding. Grade A for the day Day 2. Take Bonine for boat dives, just in case. We had Bill Carroll for our second day instruction. He took my daughter first, finished up the tasks missed the previous day and proceed to knock out our 3rd and 4th dives like a champ. Conditions were not great, decent surge, low visibility and it did not matter. We had another sea sick person in our group and Bill was able to calm her, get her though all her tasks along with ours. I will say this was a great day and Beach Cities should know they do have some great instructors. Thanks Bill. Dive grade A+. This morning, first thing. Your PADI cards are ready. So long story short, we just finished yesterday. We used groupon, went in knowing what we had purchased and what the extra costs were. I think they do not make much $ on these classes, but are hopeful that people will become certified and purchase gear from them... the more divers our there, the more sales they may get. It is not a bad business model as long as people buy locally. I love Amazon and online shopping, but when a small shop can at least compete, try to buy local. The instructors they have really seem to enjoy what they do, they are passionate, caring and took as much time as necessary to get us through. 5 star all the way. Last but not least, i do not get sea sick often... Take something before boat dives if you have not been on a small boat for a while. Better safe than... well you know. But hey the fish liked what i had for breakfast. read more

Jenn, you were fantastic. Thank you for answering the call and getting my 2 Atomic snorkels together and getting them out the door to FedEx. A big thank you from Dallas. Great to deal with on EBay BTW. read more

Great staff. I go here to fill my dive tanks. No issues. Always happy people here. Thanks guys for doing a great job.

Wish I had read the reviews before purchasing certification classes through groupon as a gift for my girlfriend. The previous poor reviews are spot on. Total scam. I paid full retail elsewhere for my personal certification and it cost significantly less than all the fees and extras they charged my girlfriend after the class had already been paid for by me. Not all at once either nickle and dime fees that added up. If you don't like it you can start over elsewhere and lose progress and money invested towards certification, your stuck. Don't by their groupon deal! Better yet don't buy anything from them. The owner has been buying out local stores and raising prices from what I hear, monopolizing the market. Sad that you don't hear about this kinda stuff till you've been screwwed and start talking to others about it. 6/12/15 in response to the comment: I have received 1 message from you after my initial review stating you felt you did nothing wrong. Groupon credited me partially because you did nothing to remedy the problems I had with your service. Why you would respond to a year old poor review now doesn't make much sense. Learn from your mistakes and good reviews will bury my bad review. Defending your actions with a lie won't benefit you in a public forum like yelp. read more

This dive shop has a monopoly on Dana Point & therefore they can get away with charging outrageous prices. $17 for a Nitrox fill is steep. I got sticker shock just browsing and there's not even that much of a selection. I've had to go in to the shop several times over the last few years for "emergency" items or replacement parts & the staff couldn't care less about my needs. I think it trickles down from management; the owner or maybe she's the owners wife acts like the customers are a nuisance rather than their life blood. However, if you mention purchasing a high dollar item then all the sudden they are your best friend. Clearly the shop only cares about the $€£¥$ read more

Andrew at the Dana point store put together an outstanding package for me and I put it to its' first use on my Cabo trip. Andrew took his time, walked me through the pro's and cons of the individual pieces. He listened to my concerns with regard to budget and my desires for diving and he exceeded my expectations on value for my dollar in the gear I picked up. Chob at the Laguna store was cheerful, professional and friendly. Chob worked with my schedule and told me everything I needed to know so that I could be prepared for the classes. Chob also offered to let me use his top of the line gear to give me an experience of the newer vs. rental gear. He helped me put together a top of the line snorkel package that beat all of the best deals I could find on the internet. For those interested in the PADI Cert: I purchased the GroupOn deal for PADI Certification. For me the intro class was held on Wed night and then quickly, within two weekends of pool and subsequent open water dives, I was able to get my cert in time for a Cabo Trip I had already planned a few months prior. The staff was very helpful at both the Laguna and Dana Point locations in selecting great gear for very competitive prices that suited my wants vs. needs. They also took care to work with my schedule restraints. I took the boat dives rather than the beach dives for the open water portion. The boat dives were a worthy investment @$99 each based on the experience I had and from what I heard from those who opted for the beach dives. The boat dropped us into favorable conditions and we didn't have to walk down 100's of steps with 80+lbs of gear on. read more

Just wrapped my open water certification! While you need to be prepared to move around a bit (I did classroom in HB, pool in Cypress and open water out of Dana Point), everyone along the way is very helpful and friendly. Look, it's not rocket science; when you snag a great deal on Groupon, so do a ton of other people. You're not going to get into class next week. Be prepared to wait several weeks for an opening. I purchased my mask, fins and snorkel elsewhere - convinced that they'd be hideously expensive at Beach Cities. With the discount offered to students, I actually paid more for the "bargain" I got elsewhere than I would have through Beach Cities. Do your research, folks. Scuba is an expensive hobby no matter how you slice it. Also, many folks see the boat option as an up-sell. While it more or less is, good heavens is it worth it! Capt. Derrick and Dive master Bob struck the right balance between friendly fun and serious attentiveness to safety. It's not a Princess cruise, but it gets the job done. They fact that they put your fins on for you at the dive platform alone is worth the price of admission. I'll be fighting the surf this summer. I'm glad my first "real" dives were easy-peasy. Just jump off the boat, descend with the instructor and BAM, beautiful reefs. Now for our instructors. Lisa and Tyler were exceptional. VERY knowledgeable, friendly and patient. I felt like I was in good hands throughout and had so much fun! I am hooked! So much so that my honeymoon in Cabo a few months from now just got a dive excursion added to it. I could nitpick things, but my overall EXPERIENCE was five stars all the way. If nit-picky type things really get under your skin, don't bother getting off the couch, much less take up Scuba diving. read more

So I got the yelp deal, and am one open water dive away from getting my PADI certification. From what I can tell, most of the negative reviews are based off of the fact that people fail to do research prior jumping in (pun intended) to a relatively expensive hobby. If you want to be a scuba diver, do not expect to be able to hit the ground running for $279. Equipment cost money, and obviously they are not going to provide that for free. Anywhere you go scuba diving, you will need to either rent or buy equipment. Here is no different. Their prices are competitive compared to online retailers. Their staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They don't automatically recommend the most expensive product, they are careful to recommend equipment based on your skill level and your diving aspirations. Their yelp deal is legit. For less than half the price of most other places, you will be PADI certified and get detailed instruction from multiple very experienced divers. Chob was especially helpful and was not judgmental despite my complete lack of knowledge. Thanks Beach Cities Scuba! read more

Beach Cities Scuba has a huge selection of equipment and carries the top names in diving gear. I found the prices competitive but their real advantage is the people that work at the stores - if you are new to diving there is lots to learn, these guys are professionals and demo most of the equipment - they will put you in high quality gear within your budget - I worked with Andrew at Dana Point store and Chob at Dive Show, both are awesome! The instructors are great, I did my advanced open water with them and am now taking other classes - the instructors are seasoned professionals, you will have fun and get some of the top instruction available in Southern California. Their boat out of Dana Point is the only public dive charter that departs out of Orange County (mainly dive Laguna area), you get two dives, weights, tanks, food, etc. and it only takes 3-4 hours - you still have 1/2 day to spend with family or do whatever, love that..... NOTE: Support your local dive shop, we need them and they need us! read more

The ladies here went out of their way to assist me in choosing a wetsuit and camera equipment - very friendly and knowledgeable, I will be back! read more

I attempted to shop at this store for some free dive gear. The store is very cluttered & the product is very over priced. That being said they do have name brand gear. When I asked the owner why the product was priced so high he responded "well I have to pay for this beach front building" that was very off putting. So I continue to asked questions about product & as soon as they realized I was a spear-fisherman there attitude quickly shifted to ignoring me & giving me the cold shoulder. I quickly realized I was no longer a customer they wanted & took my business elsewhere. read more

I love these guys! Rika and Andrew are awesome! I was certified 5 years ago and worked my way up to Rescue Diver. All done through this shop. I opted to go private because I wanted the extra attention which I received in spades. I've recommended several friends and co-workers to this store. All of them were extremely happy and satisfied with training, products, and local knowledge. I don't think people realize they put on several amazing dive trips each year. I've been on 5 of them. I've been to Fiji (twice), Philippines, Indonesia, and Cozumel. They choose the most pristine locations and the price can't be beat. I'm a subscriber to Sport Diver who every month reminds me the best paces to dive in the world. They've either taken me to them or we're going soon. You can't get better dive destinations and trips than these guys. I've traveled with them by myself and had very reasonable "single diver" rates so don't forget to ask. My favorite part about these trips is coming home with new friends. Everyone who goes is great and so personable. You'll always have someone to talk to. I recently went on the Cozumel trip with my girlfriend who just got certified by Beach Cities Scuba. We had a great time with all the other travelers. I always buy my equipment here and I mean always. Why? They use what they sell. This is super important as the gear you're going to be wearing is the same they trust their safety with. I've purchased all my gear here and most of it is 5 years old. All of it is in great shape. I clean it after each dive and have everything serviced at recommended intervals on-site at their Dana Point shop. Don't buy something online without asking them first. Don't forget they own 5 stores in Orange County. This includes the awesome dive shop right on PCH in Laguna Beach that everyone uses to do Shaw's Cove. You'll find great people there too like Chob and Chase. There's a pool for training classes. I keep this link bookmarked. It's the dive conditions at Shaw's cove. Super helpful. http://www.beachcitiesscuba.com/lagunaseasports/ read more

WELL worth it! In the time that I've gotten into Scuba through Beach Cities, it's been a wild ride (five cancelled dives because of bad weather!), but BCS has always gone out of their way to make sure it all went well, and that I was able to reschedule according to both their and my schedules. I've ended up shopping from the Laguna, Huntington Beach, and Dana Point stores, and all were quality. In terms of inventory for the store, you have to understand how many brands and different things are created for scuba, so there may not be a large number of items, or exactly what you're looking for, because of the need for space to store it. That being said, they've all been a great help. I've bought all my gear through BCS, and will likely continue to do so. Also, the (at least the ones I've met) employees (instructors, assistants, shop workers, etc) have all been quite friendly. During my Open Water dive classes, the instructors were patient and worked well with the different new divers and the levels of comfort we each had. They've definitely made me want to continue diving. As far as prices are concerned, they're quite good. You'll be looking at either what you'd expect to find, or better. In many cases, you may find a certain item or items on sale, or perhaps a class if you're lucky. Which, by the way, the classes are all well priced already. As far as the classes are concerned, you get quality teaching and instructing that works with each diver to get the most out of it, as well as maintaining a comfort level while understanding and progressing through the learning process. I'm glad I started through BCS. Among other things, the locations for the classes are very nice, and made learning a lot of fun. Quality instructors, gear, and locations made it all worth it. I'm glad I met my new friends at Beach Cities Scuba! read more

My wife and I were Open Water Certified at Beach Cities Scuba. We've had great instructors and the shop staff are always helpful. We have purchased all of our gear from them. As student divers, we found their pricing is competitive to internet pricing, but you get the personal attention too. We have now signed up for the Advanced Open Water course. We highly recommend any Beach Cities Scuba shop. read more

Helpful and friendly staff. These guys/gals took a look at my gear and got me set up with what I needed today. Super helpful, knowledgeable, and un-assuming. Willing to spend some time with the customers. Thank you! read more

Always had great experiences renting gear here. Will and Dan are always helpful and able to answer any questions i have.

I signed up on the Groupon and did my open water certification in August. It was a great experience. Chob was a great help with all of my equipment questions (there were many) and Alex was my instructor both days on the boat as well as the follow up Advanced Diving Class that I took. They could not have been nicer or more helpful. Scuba is not an inexpensive sport! If you go into it thinking you are going to pay the price of the Groupon and that's it, you will be disappointed. I have purchased all of my own equipment except a tank, and have been happy with every purchase. I just bought the Groupon and some starter equipment for my daughter and her fiance for Christmas and am sure they will have the same great experience that I did! read more

I went in there, was the only customer, they were too busy ignoring me, guess they don't need business

Their customer service is out of this world! Every time I stop in, they go out of their way to make sure I am completely happy. Management stands behind their products are are willing to lose money if that's what it takes to make the situation right. Hard to say that about many businesses now a days.. That is why Beach Cities Scuba is my #1 go to dive shop! Thank You Guys and Gals! read more

I was with a group of 5 friends and we all purchased the Groupon deal so this review is for that. First, the price is super deceiving. I did a little research beforehand and I knew I will be expected to pay out of pocket for additional materials besides buying the Groupon but the whole experience seems like a scam and you won't really be saving any money vs. just showing up to the shop and paying for the class. Next, the staffs are only passionate when selling you gear and boat charter. They don't really care if you needed some extra help during pool session. They would fail you and have you pay and sign up for an extra session, instead of helping you get over the unfamiliarity. So allow me to give you a break down for the process and additional fees: After you get your Groupon: 1. We needed to call to schedule your classroom session. We purchased the Groupon in June, and wasn't able to be placed into a class until late August. They weren't very flexible and didn't have many availability. This was crappy. 2. (trip 1) We had to drive to one of the shops to pick up books and materials. And I had to pay about $80 for a log book + education DVD. And even though I live an hour away, they said I could not have a friend pick up my books for me. This was crappy. 3. We were told to study on your own and go through the whole book before class. 4. (trip 2) We showed up to class #1 and for 5 hours or so, the instructor went through the whole book with us. So... why did we read the book on our own if the information was going to be repeated back to us... This was crappy. 5. (trip 3) We did class #2 which then only lasted 3 hours. We took the test to pass the written exam. It felt like we could have done all the class session in 1 go. 6. We had to have gear for our pool and ocean dives. The packages they offered were between $299-$499. They had to be scuba grade, and good for cold water (long fins). So if you are thinking about bringing your snorkel set from cancun and saving money on this, it won't work. They will literally make you buy the stuffs during pool session. This was crappy. 7. (trip 4) We went to a different location to do our pool session which lasted half a day. The instructors were pretty cold. She went through all the exercises by the book and didn't really make any extra effort to help us practice. Also, she didn't really teach us on how to equalize. I already knew how because I have done dives in the past, but I thought that was super strange.. That's like one of the main actions of diving. 8. We were told to book our ocean dives. We had to do 4 dives. Beach dives are free and boat dives are $120 per trip (2 dives). We were also told the beach dives can get cancelled frequently due to weather condition and you have to carry heavy scuba equipment up and down lots of steps. They were really selling us on the boat dives. This was the real crappy part, by the time we've completed our written test, the earliest beach dive we could schedule was at end of September. So we decided to do 1 boat and 1 beach dive. 9. (trip 5) We did the boat dives and was told our beach dive got cancelled. The next available beach dive was sometime in October. The weather was already getting colder and who knows if weather will permit in October. If it gets cancelled again, then what? So I coughed up another $120 for a 2nd boat dive. 10. (trip 6) I completed my 2nd boat dive and I got certified at the end of September, while my friends who had to reschedule their beach dive got certified a month or so later. 11. (Trip 7) Certification card needs to be picked up at the store. So there you have it, Groupon was $199, but I ended up paying a total of $1050 for certification. I am forced to buy cold weather scuba fins which I am not really planning on using since most scuba tours will provide you with all the gear for various conditions. That's not counting the 7 trips I had to make to several different locations (a different place for class, pool, and boat dives). I knew we would be paying more than $199 for this but it didn't feel good to be pressured into paying for things you don't need. They also weren't super upfront about all the details. It felt like we discovered new obstacles and complications as we were going through the process, and by then I just want to get certified and be done with it. So, besides the money and the hassle, I was very disappointed with the staff. They were all very helpful when selling you something. However, during the pool dive, the instructor was really just hurrying through the process. No one told us what the criteria for the swim test was. When we got there, we were told to swim 22 laps and be able to stay afloat for 10 minutes. They were pretty rude about it. Once or twice I tapped my foot on the bottom, and they just add 5 minutes to my total time. They could have prepared us for it so we could have practiced on our own. read more

Purchased the Scuba Certification a few months back. Overall C minis. I felt that the 'manager' of several stores Chob pushed expensive gear. All smiles until I stopped buying gear. The first 2 Boat Dives... Visibility poor, about 3' with heavy surge. The second 2 Boat Dives... Visibility about 6'... I purchased the Boat Dives because it was supposed to be better than Shore Dives. Again... All About The Money for this business. The boat Beach City Scuba uses is the Riviera in Dana Wharf. This boat is All About The Tips for the crew. There was ABSOLUTELY no help getting back into the boat with all the gear on... You were supposed to get up the ladder with 80 lbs of extra gear on! Good Grief! I would NOT recommend this business to anyone! Boat Dives? Go to Catalina read more