I dove my open water certification for more than 10 years and thought that I knew a lot about…read morediving since I had more than 70 dives under my belt... boy was I wrong. I had no idea that I would have so much fun from the moment I accepted the Master Scuba Diver challenge (to receive the highest rating for recreational divers) back in early 2013. I have since doubled the # of dives in less than 2 years than I had completed during my first 10+ years of the sport! The staff, especially Drew have been extremely patient with me as I continue to build confidence from achieving each milestone along the way. Advanced Open Water was fun, but Rescue was even better! Working through all of those specialties were a lot of fun...thank you Drew! The rest of the friendly staff at Sterling Silver Scuba seem to know the answers to my 100's of questions along the way. The camping n diving weekends are a great way to unplug from a busy 8-8 schedule. You just can't beat 4-6 dives in a weekend while having awesome food, wonderful accommodations and of course all the stories and laughter that one could handle. Melissa has gotten the logistics down to a science. She and her staff works hard to provide everything that you need to be and stay successful in the sport so that you can enjoy yourself learning new skills in the water. Oh, and thank to Jason, I have watched movies while enjoying smores next to the campfire can't go unmentioned either... Bottom line: Great Staff- knowledgeable on all safety requirements, competitively priced trips, sell top of the line gear... what more could you ask for in a friendly family-oriented local dive shop?

I stopped by this past weekend to look at some fins. Grace is very, very knowledgeable and she was…read moreable to answer all my questions and more. She pointed out the trade-offs between various types of fins and fin straps. I was surprised there was so much to consider when buying fins. She also pointed out some other things about scuba (not about fins) that were very helpful. I also had some questions about regulators. My concern was that the hose I used at the OBX felt too short and was almost about to come out of my mouth so I had to hold the regulator in my mouth or bite down hard on the mouthpiece. She answered questions about that as well as concerns I had about water leaking into the mask. She pointed out many things to consider. In short, Grace is very knowledgeable. She definitely knows what she is doing. I hope Diventures is paying her well because she deserves it.

What a great experience. Mike Parker went out of his way to accommodate the last-minute…read morearrangements and helped me fulfill belated plans to go diving with my son. Ten years late, but oh so enjoyable. We couldn't make a scheduled trip, so Mike arranged for open water certification with Dan Fosters dive shop. Can't say enough good things from shuttle service to the dive shop, excellent offshore diving, and hospitality of all involved. Can't wait to go back.

Member of the Carefree boat club. Terrible for renting boats. If you want a center consule you will…read morecatch hell tring to get one. Its like you have take a center c0nsule on thier schedule IF you can get one and if you do its weeks out and then you sit and wait.... buy your own boat...so we did...best wishes to all...

Did the intro to scuba course. Had a great time. Fred was very helpful and patient. Excellent…read moreopportunity to test other scuba is for you.

I stopped by for some advice on dive computer and other equipment I am in the market for. Mel and…read moreSy (?) were helpful, they clearly have a ton of knowledge. The store carries a lot of quality equipment and they offer classes as well as amazing dive trips. I only had a short amount of time to pick their brains but I will definitely be back!

I completed my dry suit certification with Everett and Valerie at Lake Phoenix. They are skillful…read moreteachers, experienced divers, and great to spend the day with. I left confident in my new skills and appreciate their excellent training.

My sons had a great experience with their weekend pool course as part of their Open Water…read morecertification. The instructors are thorough and attentive. The people in the store were also great - knowledgeable and helpful. All the staff is so into diving, which is really contagious.

Unfortunately they are now closed. The Realtor has a for lease sign up and inside remains the…read moretropical colors. When they were open it was a huge shop just outside of all the craziness of the DC Metro in a tiny little rural town / farm area of Catharpin. Prices were good. People were good. Location was just 10-ish minutes off I-66. They had racks of wetsuits, shorties, BCs and had plenty of dive gear. They could work on your Regs, Octopus, and most gauges. They could get you a regular fill or a Nitrox fill and you could drop it off or get a sandwich from the gas station. They had training and refresher courses, quarry dives, pool dives, vacation dives in the tropics. There are only 2 good dive shops in the area that remain. It's like people would rather watch TV than go out and dive...

Review for the shop:…read more This shop is huge, their selection for all types of diving is excellent, and the staff there was friendly and better yet, informative on everything. They went above and beyond in answering all of my questions, including being able to tell me the mechanical details of how a regulator first stage (piston type) works, the pros and cons of each type of regulator, possible freezing temperature (unlikely but possible), air flow capacity etc... they were able to tell me the different types of BC's and all of their pros and cons... list goes on for everything I purchased. Now naturally, one would expect sales people to be attentive, sure, but they were educators first and salespeople second. I never was pushed, just helped and I'm satisfied with everything that I purchased. They helped me assemble my regulator first and second stage, and hoses. (I would have liked to have seen the process for that- but then again, I didn't ask, so that's my fault. I can always YouTube it.) Before buying, I even grabbed some food and double checked what they told me in the car via online research, and they had been honest. I had spent an hour at Best Buy last night trying to get a GoPro to no avail (Best Buy didn't have a waterproof glass casing in stock), however this store had a pretty decent competitor to the GoPro 4 for less than half the price, and it already came fully encased, waterproof up to 300 feet. And yes, I checked all the specs. ============== Review for the dive instructor/class: Immediate pro is that it cost only like $210 for the entire advanced certification, including 5 entire dives, 2 days with instructors, AND a drysuit rental. I found it exciting, challenging, and more difficult (in terms of dealing with cold water, low vis) than your average warm water dive or pool class. Which is exactly what I expected and wanted, walking into it. It was great for training and building mental toughness in the water. The instructor is very informative and helpful, and the class size was small (me and maybe 1 person), which is never a bad thing as you get a lot of help and focus. He's friendly but also expects you to perform your skills right; which is how it should be for an advanced diving cert/class. The only thing that didn't go as planned is that we weren't able to perform all the skills we were supposed to, as visibility was only about a foot (it rained heavily this week). Which is completely understandable from a common sense/liability POV, but it still sucked. The instructor said next week should be better though, so we'll see. If it is, I'll update review to show that. Either way; I get to come back for free until lake conditions are acceptable for training. Worst case scenario if they're not is a free day of partial dive training. Only things to work on: try to get a better range of sizes for drysuits and 7mm wetsuits. Bottom line: I highly recommend every new scuba diver in the entire D.C./MD/VA area come to this shop for their gear, and also for their advanced certification

I signed up for the reactivation class. Sam was very helpful and responsive when I asked questions…read morebefore and after I signed up. I did the reactivate this past weekend. My instructor was Israel. Over the last few years, I tried getting back into scuba at two other places which sucked because they couldn't correct trim problems I had. Israel is definitely the best dive instructor I've had. He was very patient and more than willing to answer the many questions I had. He also mentioned things that other dive instructors never mentioned. I'm glad I was assigned to Israel for the reactivate class. If you decide to take a class through One Ocean Scuba, I would recommend requesting Israel as your dive instructor.

I've always been curious about this shop tucked in a corner of Kemp Mill Shopping Center next to…read moreShalom Grocery Store. Rich and I don't scuba dive but recently went in to drop some toys in the Toys for Tots donation box. It's a nice store with items displayed neatly. There were goggles, wet suits, and a variety of products I'm not familiar with. There were some scuba/ocean related like stuffed sea creatures and a few holiday ornaments. On a black board in the back was a list of upcoming excursions, including one to the Maldives. I heard the owner talking to a customer about the difficulties of picking up trash in the Potomac River because you can barely see anything in front of you. I was really impressed with the neatness and organization of the store and with the wonderful attitude of the staff.

Virginia Scuba isn't just a dive shop--it's like joining a big, welcoming family that happens to…read morelove the ocean. We (family) got certified through them, and from day one, we felt right at home. The owner and staff are not only super knowledgeable, but they genuinely care about making diving fun, safe, and totally pressure-free. Their dive trips are next-level. Whether you're exploring local waters or heading somewhere tropical, they know how to make every adventure unforgettable. No gimmicks, no sales pitch--just great people, great vibes, and amazing diving. If you're even thinking about diving, this is the place to start.

I found Va Scuba in 2021 when I was looking for information on learning to dive. I found the shop…read morefriendly and very knowledgeable on all aspects of diving and, not only answered all my questions, but provided the information I didn't know enough to ask. A few weeks after that first visit, I was in class, the pool, and then in the lake gaining my Open Water certification. I highly recommend Va Scuba and don't think you can go wrong by reaching out and starting this adventure with them as you dive professionals.

Calling out Drew Smith for his proffesionalism as a trainer of many scuba skills. I also trust Drew…read morecompletely as a scuba equipment maintenance and repair technician. When you need your scuba regulator (life support equipment) inspected and maintained, you can feel safe in his hands. He's an asset to Diventures indeed.

Thanks Diventures and Diveventures Virginia for making the Secore trip to Curaçao amazing! Amazing,…read moreeasy week of diving some beautiful and alive corals reefs. It was great learning with Sabrina, Dirk (and Paul) about the work Secore is doing to help the reefs! Thanks Wille (Duane and Josh) for helping sort through the selection of flashlights and making sure I had my Big Blue flashlights I wanted for the trip. I preferred having the red lens and the marker light at night! Also, the 1 mm neoprene top was perfect weight for me. Thanks Drew and Tracy for making sure my gear was good to go. And MaKenzie and Nathan for facilitating it all and positive vibes! Coming from another Diveventures shop, its great to see the family grow! Thanks oceanencounters_curacao for the photos!

Really happy and super impressed with the personal service and recommendations provided on dive…read morelights! Hope to dive with them soon!!

Officially PADI Scuba certified! I'm so happy--this was a significant accomplishment for me. I…read moredidn't think I could get through it and wanted to quit many times, especially while swimming in the cold 62°F water at Laguna Beach. Thanks to my amazing instructor Spencer, I pushed through, and now I'm very proud of myself! He really took his time with me, was extremely patient and walked me through every skill step-by-step. By the time I hit the open water, I felt like a pro. Spencer is so knowledgeable and an excellent instructor. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to get their certifications.

Very rude and impersonal on the phone when I called to ask about my sailing class after I put a…read moredeposit down. I tried to give my availability and was cutoff---she said I will contact you if we have an instructor. Ok, well I can't just drop everything when you call to go sailing, please take my updated a availability? I hope other employees are better-suited to customer service and maybe kayaking and other options are still worth it, just wanted to let everyone know of my experience. I've never left a bad review, but I was excited to learn to sail, sad this had to be my experience. On to the next place!

Learning to sail had been on my bucket list forever so when I saw that the Mariner Sailing School…read moreoffered sailing lessons for adults every week of summer I decided to sign myself up for my own "summer camp". I have to tell you that learning to sail was an excellent decision because I actually learned to sail a 19 foot flying scot independently! My lessons consisted of four 2.5 hour morning sailing lessons out on the Potomac, Monday through Thursday. The sailing school also offers adult weeknight and weekend classes and different kids camps. The instructors split my class up into groups of two or three, went over some of the materials and then out onto the water we went to learn how to rig the boat and raise the sails. My instructor Ray was awesome, he taught us what we needed to know and even pushed us to run docking drills by ourselves on the last day of classes. Yes, at times the lessons were super challenging and nerve wracking, but once you get some practice time in, you'll get the hang of it. It's worth it to learn how to sail. I myself now find sailing enjoyable and ridiculously relaxing. Everyone I have encountered at the marina either teaching lessons, working in the office or out on the dock have been super friendly and helpful. They give you a free week of practice sails after your lesson so that you feel totally comfortable sailing independently and the people at the dock give plenty of tips to help you continue to hone your beginner skills.