Professional and friendly. My son and I had a great dive today. Perry was helpful getting us booked, checked in and setup with rental gear. Josh was a great guide and showed us both a ton below the surface. He took the time to ensure we enjoyed it and clearly loves his job. Highly recommended. read more

Amazing service! Fixed my gear for free!! Great vibes and awesome store with everything you need

Excellent dive shop! The staff did a great job of helping my teenage son to get his scuba certification as well as a refresher course for my wife and I. Very reasonable prices and excellent service. Special thanks to Chob and Rika for organizing everything, and our dive instructors Josh and Chuck. Great job, much appreciated ! read more

I did the PADI open water certification here back in August. I chose them for their flexibility in scheduling, as I already had a trip planned that I wanted to dive on in a couple weeks. I was able to pay a little more for a private pool session and still do the group beach dives to make it work. I had my pool session with Randy and my beach dives with Mike and I honestly just can't say enough good things about them. They were both professional, patient, attentive, made me feel safe, and always kept things fun. My first dive after getting certified was with a dive buddy who's been diving for years and he was impressed with how competent and comfortable I was diving after just being certified. I'm really happy I chose this place for my cert and 100% recommend it. read more

Had a great time getting my cert with the staff here at Laguna Sea Sports. My instructors Jay (dives 1&2) and Alex (dives 3&4) we're very helpful and made me feel safe under water and on shore! The pool instructor Bill was also very knowledgeable. I had a good experience getting my certification done here and would recommend it to friends! The only thing I would change, and would pay a bit more for, would be a shuttle service to pick you up at the top of the stairs. No biggie though. It's all part of diving. Especially beach diving. Thanks to Chob, my dives were all scheduled and done the same weekend! Thanks to the entire staff at Laguna Sea Sports! read more

It's unfortunate to see the couple of negative reviews below. As a cafe manager, I value the importance of personalized customer service. I can only speak for my experience with Mike, who works at the Laguna shop (they have 5 shops), Chob the course director, and the instructors with whom my wife and I have dived in the specialties toward our Master Diver cert: Troy, Ron, Mike and most recently Robb. They have, without exception, been extraordinarily helpful, courteous, and professional. The other reviews below may have been based on catching one of these staff, or perhaps another or former, on a bad day, but I give a most hearty two thumbs up. As for pricing, I can't speak for rentals (all necessary equipment rentals are included in the Open Water and Master Diver certifications. However, for the certification costs, they're the most inexpensive I've seen (we purchased our OW through Living Social, but Master directly through them). Also, the staff that I have dealt with have been very knowledgeable about equipment. Their pricing is typically standard retail. From what I'm told, this is because they are an authorized merchant for the items they carry, so the manufacturer's warrantees are honored, unlike some online sellers. However, I've found that they are fully willing to match competitor's pricing. read more

5 stars! Highly recommend coming here to work on your certification. Chob, Sarah, Dave are all fantastic.

Very ok store. We purchased a "scuba certification" Groupon through Beach Cities Scuba and had our "Pool dive" at Laguna Sea Sports. First of all, their pool is TINY. The pool was shared by our class of 7 students along with multiple other "private lessons". It was fishbowl carnage with people constantly kicking eachother. Simply not enough room. Limit the class sizes or get a bigger pool. Second is their scuba equipment policy. If you are enrolled in a scuba class, you are NOT allowed to rent their masks and snorkels, etc. In other words, they try and make you purchase their incredibly over priced gear. As an avid free/spear diver, I brought multiple set of gear to use for my GF and I in their "fish bowl". I was given an incredible amount of grief before they finally let me use my proper scuba split fins and $200 Mares free dive fins. We came back the next day to finish the class (Another story - but we were told the pool class was 5 hours. FALSE - we started on time at 11:30am and were still in the pool at 6:30pm - at which point we said said "We have to go. Its Sat night and we have dinner plans"). CHOP, who did do his best to accommodate us the previous day, finally made Alissa (my gf) purchase a set of their booties and fins. He explained to us that his boss was very upset with him for allowing us to use a set of Mares free diving fins. Fine. Brian - our instructor for the day was great. Finally - my last bit of beef is with their employee/instructor Shane. A boothead with an attitude. I parked in an open parking spot in the parking lot and he came out and told me to move. And not politely. Already drained from the day before I asked if it was not their public parking lot... and I didn't see a sign that said I couldn't park there. Like a prick, he said it was for instructors only and there didn't to be a sign. Just rude! Zero customer service. If it wasn't for the fact that we had to use their pool to get certified, I would NEVER GO BACK. read more

I had a problem with my fin breaking while at Shaw's cove. This shop is right around the corner and I went in and asked for a new strap. The man behind the counter was in his 20's and he was arrogant and sarcastic and he began to make comments about the sand in my fins as if he was funny. When he saw that I and others around me did not find it to be so funny he backed off. When there is a group behind the counter at this store they seem to be more interested in their conversation and mocking the various customers than they do assisting people. read more

Great shop. I got my open water diving certification here. The instructor (Frank) and shop owner were both great people. I really like the level of depth they go into during your dives. Anyone can go underwater and breath out of a respirator, but knowing what to do when things don't happened as planned is crucial (Fail = Death). The shop itself is a little limited on equipment and they only carry the more expensive well known brands. The justification here is quality equipment could mean the difference between life and death. I like the thinking, but know of a few other brands in the lower end of the price spectrum that produces quality stuff as well. Overall, I like the shop. It's friendly, where I got my start, and right next to a local dive spot (Shaws Cove). read more

We will NEVER come back to this establishment! Incredibly rude staff! Brought our family in to rent snorkel gear and the guy behind the counter was a jerk! Seemed very pretentious and acted like he was better than us. Most of my family lives in Orange County. Whoopie! Took masks and mouth pieces out of dirty bin and quickly moved them open to the clean bin to rent to us WITHOUT cleaning them!!!! When my niece questioned what he was doing he denied what he was doing. She has eyes! She knows what she saw! I love snorkeling and decided to buy my own equipment. I made a very costly purchase and trust me, it wasn't here! read more

Its always frightening to start a new adventure, but I feel as though I was guided well at Laguna Sea Sports. I got my lessons here. I'm not gonna lie. I was scared out of my mind and the instructors took their time to make sure I was comfortable (ahem ahem thanks Rob!). I had a million and one questions and all were answered to satisfaction. They are friendly. More importantly, they are honest. I'm wet behind the ears and would probably just have gotten the most expensive gear thinking expensive = best. But Chobs (an uber diving expert) always guided me to the practical, best for your buck purchases. I cant say enough good things about this place; mainly because the service is excellent. They treat you like family! Thanks y'all. read more

I recently got certified here. All the staff were very knowledgeable, helpful and super friendly. My dive instructor, Sarah, was phenomenal. She was so supportive, patient and efficient. Our dives were fun as well as a learning experience. We had some weird weather that messed up my dive schedule, but everyone, including Sarah, was super flexible and made sure I was able to get all my dives in to be able to get certified before we had to leave. Can't rave about this place enough! read more

When it comes to learning to dive, and your ability to use the skills underwater at depth it's not something you want to take a shortcut on, it's your lifeline. My 12 year old Daughter and I had Tim W from Laguna Sea Sports AKA Beach Cities Scuba as our instructor. Tim was really amazing, as a seasoned diver he was able to make sure we went through the guides and tests and relate them to real world situations. Tim spent the time we needed on the really important items, he helped my 12 year old understand many of these new concepts. The staff @ the store have been very helpful, we got GroupOn prices (A great deal), with products that are top quality and more expensive elsewhere. On the boat, Dive 1 & 2 in the ocean, the boat was pretty full, but the captain and dive master made it a fun experience, everyone really enjoyed themselves. For our 3rd & 4th dive, there had been a big storm 2 days before, the boat did not go out on the Saturday. The crew spent the time to visit 3 dive sites before determining the best (safe, visibility, surge, etc) for us, even although we went further up the coast, it turned out the be well worth it. The most important thing for me was not getting PADI certified, which we did, but to feel confident and safe in the ocean, and make sure this is something Im ok doing with my daughter. With Tim's guidance and the great training both in the textbooks/exams and in the water, we have this and are looking forward to our next dive adventure.. which we just booked !!!!! read more

Hello Laguna Sea sports / Beach City Scuba I want to thank Brent and Chob also all at Beach City Scuba for the support and kindness and lots of encouragement to become a certified open water diver. Most of all THANK YOU to my instructor Brent Goudreau who is and was over the top an extraordinary dive teacher. I felt so much peace and safety from his calm instructions. When I felt scared he was creative and made it fun as well as productive. I am amazed at how he encouraged me when I wanted to give up and gave me time and kind words along with professionalism. Now my dream to dive has come true!! I will look forward to many more dives and to take the advance class next. Sincerely, Thank you! Joan O'Brien read more

Being a person who recently (2 years ago) picked up diving its always nice to find a location that really knows what they are talking about. Not to mention the location is 2 blocks inland from Shaw's Cove. Your initial reaction may be overwhelm due to the vast knowledge that these folks have. Don't let that dis-wade you, the staff here has a goal and they have always reached it when dealing with myself. That goal being to promote the sport of diving. Now I'm a free diver, that's right no tanks or heavy gear. Simply some fins, a mask, most of the time my wet suit, and occasionally my sling spear. Their website is gospel, http://www.lagunaseasports.com anyone who dives Laguna needs to visit this for real life dive reports. During the summer it is pretty common to find 3 updates per-day! Which makes things much easier and saves you a trip on those "surfer happy" days. If they don't have what you are a looking for, no worries they will quickly call another local dive shop and check their inventory for the item you seek. Yet again another sign they are actually in the business of serving the customer. While I haven't experienced their scuba cert training I'm sure they allow everyone to move at their own pace, as diving first and foremost is not about ego. So get off your ass, the water this week has been about 65, trunk-able but spring suit friendly. Go play with the Seals, and drop by this place to get more information about all the locations you have to try before this summer ends. read more

I don't even know where to start! Chob, Claire, Brittany & Seth were amazing. I had a few fears coming into this but they knew how to calm me down and make it the best experience ever. Besides the instructors being amazing the dive shop itself has everything you need and all the instructors will take the time to explain everything to you. I have so much more respect for the ocean and what lies beneath it is beautiful. Now that I am certified I can't wait to explore the rest of the world with my fiance Chuck!! Thank you everyone you were all so awesome!!! Jaime read more

My friend and I are NAUI certified advanced divers and we showed up early in the morning and had called before hand ...the girl was unclear about pricing plus tax rate, though it was somewhat cheap it was just unclear at first. The scuba gear rentals are more than a tad bit beat up and they are adamant about NO REFUNDS! (Which is pretty inconvenient if conditions change rapidly, which sometimes they do) so check the conditions often. Overall not my favorite store. read more

Dropped in here a few times for free diving equipment. They have a range of quality products and prices to choose from. Very helpful and knowledgeable staff who will assist you in finding what you need. Friendly, prompt and no pressure. Highly recommend stopping in here! read more

My boyfriend and I got our basic PADI rec dive certifications here with a deal from Living Social. I have to say, I think they were great. Jen instructed our classroom work which was interactive and interesting. She made sure each student understood all the concepts and shared some personal experiences over the years which helped us connect why we need to know the book material. Chance instructed all our dives, pool and ocean. He was great, his instructions were clear and he was patient with anyone who struggled and offered useful suggestions for improvement. It's true that you will need to buy some equipment prior to doing the dives, but this is standard anywhere. Their prices are competitive and they can help you find the gear that best matches your preferences and price point. We are looking forward to signing up for some Adventure dives soon! read more

My wife and I got certified for open water diving in Thailand. We've been looking for some good places to dive and a good shop here in California to continue our training. We couldn't be happier with Laguna Sea Sports! Perry was super down to earth and hooked us up with all of the rental gear we needed at a great price. Then he set us up with a private scuba instructor, John. We got there early on a Saturday for a refresher course in the pool then went out for our first beach dive that same day in the afternoon! John was very patient with us and took his time to make sure we were comfortable. He then guided us through our afternoon discover dive. All and all an awesome experience! We will definitely get our advance divers certificate here! Thanks again Perry and John! read more

Fun course. Instructors were amazing. Glad that Beach Cities Scuba was able to work with me to get my dives and certification completed. Wonderful experience that I recommend everyone to try. read more

Unethical. Bought a groupon for scuba diving certification and so far everything is extra and equipment that should be optional labeled as required. Then I bought some quality scuba diving fins that were featured in some scuba magazines and when we went to the pool dive... they said you can't use those and we had to purchase some of their fins. I only hope that we can return them as they promised (but from the look of other reviews, that's a fat chance). Also, why not just recommend that we rent their scuba fins if they are the only place that won't allow them? Thinking of scuba diving, renting equipment, etc... don't go to Beach Cities. read more

I just called today to get some questions about dive sites in the Laguna area and the guy who answered the phone told me he doesn't have time to answer any questions and told me I can research the dive sites online. Not a great first impression imo... read more

I planned on diving with friends right by the shop and was the only one of us who had to rent equipment. The staff was great and I have absolutely no complaints about them...... When I got my equipment, nothing really fit well and was an annoyance on my dive. I tried on the bcd and weight belt in the shop and the guy said it was fine. They didn't even have a smaller weight belt to give me. It was moving everywhere in the water. The weight belt and computer were old. I rented a BCD, tank, reg, computer, and hood. All together it cost me $75. I didn't expect it to be soooooo expensive. AND for $75 I expected way better equipment. Everything in the shop was also over priced. I recommend going to sports chalet for rentals. Its only $45 there and you can keep it for more than 24 hours. read more

I took a refresher course today with Sam and it was awesome. He was very professional, knowledgeable, and patient. It took me a little bit to get back into the swing of things and he was very encouraging. He made sure I learned the key steps and had a great time too. I'll definitely be back to book a local dive now that I feel comfortable with the skills. read more

I took my Re-Activate course here today. Navid was the instructor. Navid is a Rock Star. He is very patient, thorough, and pays attention to detail. He makes sure everyone understands. Though this was more of a refresher course I learned more from Navid than I did in my previous classes. He has some great tips and tricks that make the most difficult tasks seem simple. What great guy! I recommend him and Beach Cities Scuba to anyone! I have also shopped at Beach Cities Scuba's Cypress location. Jed is an incredibly knowledgeable person. He is someone I trust. He helped me purchase the correct BCD for me as well as my wet suit. Beach Cities Scuba hires only the best and knowledgeable staff. Great job guys! Keep it up. read more

I came to Laguna Sea Sports like most people, because of a cheap groupon deal I found online for an open water course in or about August 2013. Upon arriving at Laguna Sea Sports, I was informed that I needed to buy basic dive gear to take the open water class, e.g. mask, snorkel, fins, gloves, and boots (which is required for all open water class at any dive shop that I know of). I purchased the second highest package without really knowing the difference between the gear packages, the quality of the products, and whether I was getting a good deal. That week, I decided to shop around and look at other dive shops to determine if I got a great deal. In searching, I ended up at Sports Chalet, as they were having a "sale" on dive gear. I spoke with various dive associates at Sports Chalet, and they informed me that I "overpaid" for my dive gear at Laguna Sea Sports , and they showed, and sold, me their top of the line dive gear (which I got on sale, and an additional 20% student discount). That same day, I went back to Laguna Sea Sports with both sets of dive gear, and demanded a refund, because I felt as though I overpaid. This is when I met Chob, one of the managers at Laguna Sea Sports. After looking at the Sport Chalet gear, Chob informed me that the gear I bought at Sports Chalet was, for a lack of a better term, cheap. I was in disbelief, and I didn't believe Chob, as I thought he was simply trying to up-sale me. Chob informed me that the gear I purchased from Laguna Sea Sports was high performance and top of the line gear. However, Chob didn't pressure me to keep the Laguna Sea Sports gear; rather, he informed me that if I wanted to keep the same gear I purchased at Sports Chalet, most of which was on sale and at a 20% student discount, he would beat each and every price that I paid for the Sports Chalet gear (which he did). Still confused which set of gear to keep, Chob invited me to get into the Laguna Sea Sports's pool, and test both sets of gear with him; I accepted his offer. As soon as I got into the pool, I immediately noticed the Laguna Sea Sports gear felt more comfortable in the water (compared to the Sports Chalet gear), performed better in the water (compared to the Sports Chalet gear), and aesthetically looked better (compared to the Sports Chalet gear). Additionally, I began noticing that the dive gear my friends purchased from their respective dive shops were all the same gear sold at Sports Chalet. This is when I began to realize that the gear that I purchased from Laguna Sea Sports was more expensive than other dive shops because the gear at Laguna Sea Sports is high end quality gear. Long story short, I ended up keeping the quality gear from Laguna Sea Sports, and returning Sports Chalets cheaper gear. After completing my open water course with Laguna Sea Sports, which I have nothing but positive things to say (the Laguna Sea Sports instructors were patient and helpful), I decided to purchase the rest of my dive gear from Laguna Sea Sports. Ultimately, Chob picked out a list of middle to high quality dive gear for me, and quoted me a price. In my research, I realized that the price Chob quoted me was the best price I could find anywhere (including online stores). I ended up buying my BCD, wet suit, hood, regulator, dive computer, dive light, dive tank, and weights from Chob at Laguna Sea Sports because I couldn't find a better price online. A few weeks later, one of my best friends bought the same high-end BCD that I purchased from Chob from his friend, who happened to own a dive shop. Ironically, the price I paid for my BCD with Chob was $50 less than what my friend had paid at his friend's dive shop. After comparing prices online, and comparing my prices with my friends and their shops, I now realize that Laguna Sea Sports and Chob's prices are the best around, online or otherwise. Two and a half years after meeting Chob, and 22 recorded dives later (including Catalina, Redondo, Laguna, and the Caribbean), I continue to visit Laguna Sea Sports and Chob for all my diving needs. I recently completed my advanced diver course with Laguna Sea Sports, and Chob was able to adjust the advance course schedule around my buy work schedule (50 hour work weeks). I have always had a great relationship with Laguna Sea Sports and Chob, and I won't go anywhere else when looking for dive gear or information. Laguna Sea Sports and Chob are extremely knowledgeable, willing to work with your budget, and willing and able to provide consumers with detailed information of diving and diving gear. I highly recommend Laguna Sea Sports and Chob for all of you diving needs. read more

Pretty disappointed with the service here. We went in to rent gear and the process ended up taking an hour and a half to rent 4 sets of gear. The inefficiency of this place is mind boggling. The woman helping us had to ask sizes for each person multiple times before getting it right. She would then say hold on and help other customers as they came in. She would forget everything as she was helping the other customers so we basically had to start all over multiple times. I understand things get busy but there is a priority of first come first serve. At one point she went to get my friend (who is 5'10") a wetsuit and she came out with a 3XL! This thing was massive. We told her that there is no way that was going to work and she replied by saying "well looks like you are going to have to buy one then". Absolutely ridiculous! We then had to urge her to go look again and she came back with an XL that fit well. The gear worked and we had a great dive but the process of renting should not be that hard. I would recommend trying to rent from another shop other than this one. read more

Location is everything for this shop because they are just up the street from Shaw's cove. Otherwise, not really a great dive shop in the sense that there are so many people in and out of here that it is always chaos. I rent my tanks from here occasionally, and it is $20 per rental, a bit steep for a rental tank, but again, they're right there. You could walk down to the dive spot from the shop, if you could find parking (not their fault, it is a busy neighborhood, residential). Friendly people, a little over-priced, but I guess they're on PCH so it makes sense. read more

We cannot recommend this highly enough! My girlfriend and I have both wanted to get certified---and in pops an email over the summer from Living Social which gave us the financial opportunity to finally do it. The classroom instructors were great (enthusiastic). Our pool coach was wonderful. The boat dives were challenging but super fun! Major thank you to Beach Cities Scuba for an incredible life-changing experience---we can't WAIT to go diving! read more

I recently took private open water scuba lessons through Beach Cities Scuba & I had a great experience. I did my classroom time & pool dives with Troy who was great. He was very informative & easy to talk to. I then did my ocean dives with Jennifer. She was also amazing. She has a calming presence about her while being very patient & encouraging. She made my diving experience feel both safe & fun. I'm so happy I started diving. I can't wait to do the advanced open water course. I'll definitely be doing it with Beach Cities Scuba! read more

Word of advice for those shopping here. If you buy something you won't get your money back if you return it. You'll get store credit.. which is cool if you dive in that area alot because you can use that credit to rent tanks. read more

Outstanding people to work with. Jeff Goodner taught me well.I'm in debt for life for the service surrender by the knowledge learnd in a short time.Keep up the great work.Jeff Rutherford sr. read more

Laguna Sea Sports offers great diver education and knowledge of diving equipment. My wife and I took the open water diver course and were impressed with level of training and service we received. Chob has been great and has always made good recommendations for equipment that make sense. My only complaint is that I wish scuba diving wasn't so addictive! read more

Laguna Sea Sports has great instructors that are experienced in all sorts of scuba diving. They care about teaching you right and although keep things light and fun, make sure that all the important stuff is stressed and reinforced. I also received one on one instruction for my pool instruction which was fantastic and allowed me to really work on what I needed to accomplish. The professionalism yet friendly atmosphere at Laguna Sea Sports makes it a great place in my opinion. If any of my friends wanted to become certified I would not hesitate to point them to LSS. I am very glad to have gotten my certification here thanks Laguana Sea Sports! read more

I've had the most amazing experience at Beach Cities Scuba (all locations). But I had my PADI Open Water course pool time at Laguna Beach with the most awesome instructor ever... Jen! I have to say I was scared at first when pool time came, but Jen was thorough, super clear and super patient! She made it fun yet serious and not hard at all! Learning to scuba dive has been a great decision, the staff is so helpful and the prices for all the equipment are completely reasonable and they even have great discounts for students; I would definitely recommend BCS to anyone!! Everyone I've had the pleasure of talking to: Chob, Troy (another great instructor) and Robb have made my underwater life transition the best! read more

Just finished my advanced open water with Beach Cities Scuba and had a great time. Troy and Ron were both competent instructors and made the dives very enjoyable. If you are looking for a place to get certified in the Orange County area, this is it! read more

I took my scuba course here and was highly impressed and learned a lot. Jennifer Young-Miller was my instructor and she was awesome. She moved the class right along course and took some time when it was needed for myself and other individuals to help with skills that were difficult. I would defiantly recommend this course, this location and Jennifer as a instructor. read more

I got my certification at Beach Cities in September, and I had a great experience! I had Jen M. as my private instructor for the classroom, pool and open water sessions and I highly recommend her! She was so organized, made the classes super fun and she really made me feel comfortable in the water even when there wasn't very good visibility. After getting certified in the ocean here, I felt confident I'd be able to dive in tropical waters. Thank you Jen! read more