I have revisited Elmesie Scuba recently and I feel in all honesty I should correct my impressions of this business from earlier this year. My complaints were aimed at the Scuba Instructor, whom the owner has replaced after hearing more complaints from other divers like myself. The new instructors are far more knowledgeable and much much better prepared than the person I met there early in 2011, who often brought his own faulty equipment for practice sessions. No wonder we had safety issues and there was not enough equipment to go around. The owner, Robert Elmes, was embarrassed by this instructor, who could have gone to Mr. Elmes and secured proper gear, but he arrived either late or at the last minute so our classes were never on schedule. I and my friend training with me have served the L.A. area as lifeguards for over 16 years. I already had certification from Eco-Dive class training, but our classes, which were supposed to be for experienced divers, were crowded with raw beginners and little children. My friend and I often wound up baby-sitting or working as lifeguards for the entire class period rather than getting real instruction for ourselves. Once we realized we were wasting our time, we went to the owner to complain and asked to complete training under another teacher or get a refund. The owner had no idea how unprofessional our teacher was at that time. I may have lost my temper and we had words, but I realize now that the owner was not really at fault but was a victim of his own lazy instructor. The situation and the organization is much improved today and you should consider training there if you are serious about learning Scuba. read more

I have gone through a one month "try scuba" program at my high school for the past two years, and I have gotten nothing but good things out of this program. Not only do they teach you just scuba, but also valuable skills, which could come in handy even when swimming in a regular swimming pool. Those skills include clearing your mark of water underwater, so you do not freak out underwater when water comes in your mask. Also, we learned how to hold our breath longer, by breathing deeper, in the process, expanding your lungs air space. Also, we learned about many different kinds of marine animals, such as the Garibaldi, the state fish of California. Also, we learned a lot about water pressure. The environment was also a very hot topic. We also cleared up many misconceptions that are common among people, such as when animals bite you. We learned that it is a defensive reaction, not because the animal "hates you" or wants to bite you for fun. My instructors Mike and Adrian are two seasoned divers. They know everything they are talking about, and they are very well qualified to do the job they do in teaching us. Elmesie Scuba provides the highest quality scuba tanks, in which everything works properly, and there are never any problems. They give you masks, fins, gloves, and boots for half the price of what you would end up paying at stores such as Sport Chalet. I bought a dive mask for $35 from the guys at Elmesie Scuba, and when I went to Sport Chalet the next day, I saw an inferior brand for $85. This class is also extremely safe. When we went scuba diving for the first time, our instructors stayed on our side, teaching us what to do if we had any trouble doing it. They are very nice people and should get more credit for what they do for kids all over Orange County. Also, the company provides numerous opportunities to go diving. It is not nearly as expensive as other places. You can pay $25, and you get mask, fins, wet suit, and snorkel all to rent for the day. It is a wonderful experience. We saw all kinds of wonderful marine life. The instructors also provide up to date materials to use for the correct certification. It is all very easy to understand, due to the wonderful teaching of my instructors, Michael and Adrian. The instructors also bring the correct amount of dive equipment every time. There are rarely any problems. The classes always start on time, and end on time. The class size is also very good. There are not many people at all, which provides for more hands on instruction time, which is very good for learning, which most people would agree with me on. Mike and Adrian are great people. They know everything there is to talk about the subject of diving, and marine mammals. You can ask them any question and they will go their best to answer it to the best of their knowledge. If they do not know the answer, they always seem to find a source and then explain it to the entire class in detail. Overall, I had loads of fun in this class for the past two years. I have had the same instructor, Mike Fenton, for the past two years and he is absolutely wonderful at what he does. My friends have tried other dive shops, and they say Elmesie Scuba is by far the best one because of the wonderful owners, state of the art equipment, and the planning of scuba trips and snorkeling trips. All in all, this is the best company for getting certified in Orange County, and there aren't any better me, or any of my friends have been to. Mudit Goyal read more

I went here with a dive partner for a NAUI SCUBA certification and this place has the worst SCUBA instructor that I have ever seen in my life. First, unlike other dive instructors, Elmesie's instructor provided outdated study materials that were for a different certification, and produced by a different organization with different protocols--the books were not given until a good deal of time after we began studying diving under his instruction despite our asking for proper study materials repeatedly earlier in the course. Second, poor rental equipment was rendered throughout our training, for example my BC buckle broke and my dive partner's weight belt broke on our dives, but we were still expected to dive with that damaged equipment for several sessions before any word was given of replacement materials or equipment repair. I mentioned to the instructor several times that my BC had a broken buckle and he refused to trade it for another one or to fix the broken buckle, and he continued to have me SCUBA dive under his instruction for several dives, which is obviously a safety issue. Third, the instructor sometimes didn't bring enough rental dive equipment for everyone in the class, so he would delay the entire class and send people to Sport Chalet to rent additional equipment. Fourth and on the same note, his dive classes often began and ended late, sometimes by more than an hour. Fifth, we were not given a list of required skills for the class until a long time after the class began despite asking multiple times for a list of such skills. Sixth, the requirements that he stated for the course continually changed, with him saying that I had completed the instructional portion of the class and that I just needed a few more dives, then later saying that i needed to hear 4 hours of lecture, then later saying that I needed to hear more lectures, etc. Seventh, the instructor often had class sizes that are larger than the general safety protocols for pretty much every dive organization, and when teaching basic SCUBA courses he would engage in unsafe activities such as leaving some basic students at the bottom without a supervising dive professional for up to a few minutes while he went to the surface of the water to attend to other students. I spoke with the owner on more than one occasion, and he told me that he had received previous complaints about that instructor but that he didn't know he was that bad. I told the owner that I wanted to complete my course under another instructor and that I would like a refund for the course fees, but he told me that he would not give me a refund and that I should ask that instructor directly for a refund. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and the owner threatened me. I am very disappointed with this organization due to its lack of following safety protocols, lack of organization, lack of professionalism, and lack of ethical business practices. If you are interested in learning to SCUBA dive or in taking advanced dive classes, I would recommend that you go to one of the many other dive shops in the LA/OC area. read more

I needed to get scuba certified in a relatively short amount of time and at my own random hours and Mike at Elmesie was incredibly accommodating and never made me feel like a pest even when I got locked out of my online course and chickened out on my first open water dive. He is an amazing instructor and always made me feel safe by allowing me to stay in my comfort zone while encouraging me to succeed. i would definitely encourage others who want to get certified to go with Elmesie :) read more

Very average company. Shotty gear that's needs updated. Has new management, so unfamiliar with new personnel. Could be good, could be bad. You decide. read more

I had an Amazing experience w/ this company! I've been looking to dive for a long time and Googled them. I did not read this bad review until after my experience- i believe there is new ownership than previously and the instructor now is Awesome! He hand delivered my books- gave me one on one equivellant to all the other students and was very thorough with all training and criteria. I would highly reccomend this company if you are looking to get certified- for ALL ages- i'm in my late twenties and there were students older and much younger than me as well :) Great experience!! WHY is this being filtered along w/ all other good reviews?? read more

I think Elmesie Scuba is a great scuba program. I am a freshman in high school and found out that we were offered a chance to do a scuba program. I didn't really know that much about scuba diving but decided to give it a try. In our 1st class our instructor( Mike) told us a little about himself and about scuba, he also gave us information about scuba, and told us about the meeting for our parents. He explained to us what we would be doing and that you could get certified and scuba dive every week end with him. They are kind and polite unlike some scuba shops and they make sure that if you don't understand something they will help you out. They would never put someone that doesn't know what they are doing in the ocean. They also give you a test on the information you have to know if you want to become certified or even go in the deep end of the pool. You also have to go through a class to become certified so you know what to do if there is an emergency while you are diving. Overall i think Elmesie Scuba is a great program with amazing instructors... (Mike is awesome) read more

I had no idea that scuba class would be this great! At first, i just joined the class to get out of PE and to hang out with my friends, but it turned out to be much more than that. It's only $20 to start the class which is a really good deal compared to other scuba places. The first time that I tried the tank on, even though it was only in four feet deep water, I knew that this was going to be an interest of mine. I don't know why I like it so much i just do. I've been in this class for three weeks and i've loved it so far. Last weekend, we went on a snorkeling trip to Corona Del Mar which was even better than i expected. Mike and Adrian, the instructors, provide the gear that you need if you pay $25. There were about 20 people in our group that day and after we got our stuff on, we went into the water and we used all the techniques we learned from our scuba class at school. The water was REALLY clear that day and you could see EVERYTHING. Mike would bring up whatever he found on the bottom of the sea floor so we could see it better. The first thing he brought up was a starfish, which he gave to us so we could pass it around and look at it. After we all looked at the starfish, We went to a kelp forest and saw all kinds of fish and i saw two stingrays. Mike dove down again and got this weird sea creature that looks like a rock and sticks to your hand. We all looked at it, and then we swam around and looked at all kinds of things. Towards the end of the two hours that we were there for, mike dove down and said he was going to scare some stingrays towards us and we all saw about 3 HUGE stingrays. Then we went back in and Left. For the past two days we've been in the deep end of the pool at my school, practicing for doing actual scuba diving. After all this, I am DEFINITELY wanting to get certified. I would recommend Elmesie Scuba because Mike and Adrian make sure that you understand everything, teach us techniques, and are really great instructors, also its a REALLY good bargain. I'm sure that you'll love it because I never even thought that i would ever like scuba diving but i ended up loving it! read more

This was the worst instruction ever. I'm sorry but this doesn't even deserve 1 star but it was the least I could give. * He was either sitting up on the bleachers or walking out to his car not paying attention while students were at the bottom of the pool at 15 feet. * We were wearing only bathing suits with no weights; though one belt was available it but it only had a few pounds. * We never looked at any dive tables the day that we dove in open water; though we did stay after school to learn the dive tables in a class of about 25. * The instructor weighted me at 24 lbs., my body weight was 130 lbs. at the time I was diving, and therefore you divide by 100 and add 5 lbs according to NAUI with a 7mm wetsuit in salt water using a steel or aluminum tank. Which should be 18 lbs. Overweighting was due to his laziness. * During one of our open water dives, my buddy and I were left at the surface together alone while he was attending other students at the bottom. * During my snorkel dive, he had only mentioned the word free dive, it does require a brief instruction because you can get shallow water black out if you do not clear your lungs before you dive. We were never told about this. In fact, I went out to Catalina Island with a Master Scuba Diver Instructor and she was the one who told me how. I had no prior knowledge. * My certification dive was a snorkel, which should have been first.* For our open water dives, the instructor combined 2 dives into 1 dive. We entered the water, went down below the surface, came up by practicing our emergency swimming ascent or buddy rescue, then descended after, did more skills under the surface, ascended and went back to shore. He considered this two dives. So I basically got Certified with 2 open water dives and a snorkel last. * I never learned what a safety stop was. I went to Catalina to dive with some friends twice, and not until my 14th dive, did I know what a safety stop was, and we were going to 60 ft. Also, a friend of mine went to Canada to dive and later Hawaii, when he got back, I asked him if he was ever informed of what a safety stop was and he had no idea what I was talking about. This could make a fatal situation. * I was never taken past 21 ft. upon getting certified. I had not gone to 60ft. until about my 12th dive, which I should have done before I was certified. * He is going to numerous schools, certifying students this way, which is very inappropriate, and it is surprising that no one has been hurt or even killed. These are fatal accidents waiting in the near future, which should be avoided as soon as possible, before anything happens to anyone. It should not take somebody's life to stop this instructor from teaching. read more

elmeslie scuba is awesome! :3 i am taking a class through my school and it is super fun. mad props to my instructor, michael! he is pretty cool, bro. heheh. anyway, ova hurr at elmesie scuba, it is obvious that they care very much about their students' safety and all that. if you wanna get certified, you should do it through dis place :D read more