This place is the gold standard for diving in the area. They train all the rescue divers for the…read moreChicago Police and Fire Department. If you want to learn how to dive this is the place to go.

This place has been around for years. Located in downtown,…read more yes they have just about anything you need for scuba diving. They have lessons, my hubby took lessons years ago from them, very good instructors. This is where I'd go to learn, if I ever plan to try diving in the future.

I have been a satisfied customer of Below H20 for the last 10 years. I was also certified through…read morePADI through Below H20. The owner, Dave Rautio is a nice guy. He is very knowledgeable and helpful. Every year he organizes a group trip to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac at Reef Divers Resort. This is a very nice dive resort that has valet diving. The dive boats are nice and staff there promote safe diving. I have gone to Cayman many times with Dave on this trip and met a lot of nice friendly people.

I took a refresher course this morning. The owner was very friendly and helpful. It has been a long…read moretime since I last dove. There were 2 other people in my class. The instructor (I think he was the owner) walked us slowly through the whole process. He answered all our questions. The facilities were clean. It was a complete refresher course without missing anything. The products in stock were substantial. I needed a new mask and snorkel. I was amazed that when he saw my goggles were not good, he just said that I should replace them. Not once did he mention buying from them. I did check prices on the internet. I could not find a lower price for the mask and snorkel. Looking forward to scuba diving, again.

Awesome staff and great product selection! We were in the market for new masks and snorkels. The…read morestaff was super friendly and very helpful in helping us find the right fitting scuba mask. The products were in stock (no waiting!) and we were able to pick up a few other accessories as well. If we need more gear in the future, we will be back. Much better experience than buying online!

Great store with an amazing selection of equipment to choose from…read more Nice to have divers helping you with extensive experience. They take the time to help and educate. Selling is second since education is Foundational. Definitely great to go to

We had SUCH an amazing time for my 30th birthday with Captain Bob and Anna! We spent 3 glorious…read morehours out on the choppy waters of Lake Michigan shortly after the Air and Water Show. I searched for hours looking for the right place to charter a boat that was big enough for my group of 15-20. Everything I found only held up to 10 people or held 50 or more, and they required that you purchase food and drink packages from them. Bob allowed us to bring all our own food and drinks so on top of being one of the most reasonably priced boats, we saved money on food and drinks too. Captain Bob was ridiculously accommodating for our group. He knew that traffic would be terrible because of the weekend we had our adventure so he offered to pick up our booze from Binny's that morning so we didn't' have to carry it down to the boat. He also went and got us cups since we forgot them. All in all, it was amazing and you should go visit!

From the owner: Our Chicago based 20 passenger US Coast Guard Inspected Vessel, the Great Lakes Explorer,…read morespecializes in Scuba Diving Trips, Fireworks Party Cruises (Every Saturday Night June through September), Playpen Trips (Swimming optional), Air & Water Show Cruises, Pavilion Trips (Anchor off Charter One Pavilion during concerts) and Just Plain Partying (Bachelor/Bachelorette, Wine and Cheese or just any Occasion). We are also a water based PADI Dive Center offering scuba diving lessons. Open Water Diver, Adventure Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver, Dive-master, Master Scuba Diver, Assistant Instructor, Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Emergency First Responder and DAN first aid courses. Specialty Diving, Dry-suit Diver, Night Diver, Underwater Navigator, Underwater Navigation, Underwater Photography, just to name a few. We also sell, rent, and service dive equipment, dry-suits, wet suits, regulators and more. So for beginner or Instructor we are Chicago's Scuba Headquarters.

I love Haigh Quarry. Tina Haigh and her son are very friendly and make you feel welcome. There are…read moremany tall shade tree on the premises. Looking out on the quarry is beautiful. The only draw back is that the visibility has been poor for the past couple of years. This I understand is being addressed, but may take some time to correct. Hope to visit Haigh this summer.

Perfect scuba diving in Illinois, lots of fish that are friendly and statues under the water. Nice…read morestaff and big lake. 10/10 Been there twice

I was So impressed with the knowledge and the friendliness of the staff. The store is very clean…read morevery friendly. They offer swim lessons for children and adults. They offer scuba diving lessons they have a wide range of equipment. If you need anything scuba, this is the place to go? I also visited the Plainfield location, and that was amazing as well. The young lady who is helping me it was amazing and super knowledgeabl

Just finished a trip to maui wth the owners and friends of scuba emporium, we are from the Los…read moreAngeles area we know the owners. We had a great time with the Chicago group met some great friends, had wonderful dives with Hawaiian rafting Adventures Dive Maui and ed robinson diving adventures. We were impress by both dive companies and always saw large critters like black tips, white tips, turtles and mantas. Great job scuba Emporium for the trip The meesters

Great service. Brought my equipment in for a tuneup, reasonably priced and timely…read more They have a large selection of products as well as a training pool.

My husband and I first walked in 01/2026 to sign up for the Open Water class. We just finished our…read moreconfined water dives this past weekend with Dale Rush. The attention that he has to safety is absolutely incredible. His focus on our wellbeing while showing us the skills we needed was a wonderful experience. If we did anything wrong he corrected us with an outstanding amount of patience, and told us the reasons why. He stays calm even when you're not, reassuring you that he's got your back. I had plenty of options to select the right size wetsuit, and BCD from the rental gear. Their store also has amazing gear that I can't wait to buy. Dale went over features to look out for in our gear, so I'm looking forward to making my first kit purchase with Underwater Safaris. I purchased some gear prior to completing my class online and I regret that. The mask I bought online from a different store did not fit comfortably so it is absolutely recommended that you go into the shop and let them help you fit gear so you're not wasting money in the long run. Be mindful, if you want to purchase your own gear for classes, plan days ahead. I believe we got a great value in our training so far, most importantly because I felt safe. We also learned skills that we are going to be able to use for the rest of our life. Can't wait for the 4 quarry dives with Dale!

Great family business that knows so much about equipment and areas to dive. I didn't take any…read moreclasses from them, but spent a lot of time talking and getting to know the owners. I enjoyed and will definitely be back.

Underseas was very kind and helpful when I reached out to inquire about a last minute PADI Advanced…read moreOpen Water certification for an upcoming trip. Even though my last few dives (including multiple SSI certifications) were less than a month ago, other local centers told me that I would need to participate in a refresher course either because they didn't 'trust' my SSI credentials or because it was 'required'. One also told me that they wouldn't take me to the quarry because "I wouldn't enjoy it".... Needless to say, Bruce at Underseas came through AND paired me with Johan Raffin who was an excellent instructor for this course... AND I DID enjoy it! The quarry is definitely cold and murky, but it was also a good learning environment. I would highly recommend Underseas for their service quality in the shop (thank you, Bruce!) and the professionalism of my instructor, Johan!

I got to experience a Discovery Dive through LSC last night and it was an absolute blast! I had…read morebeen interested in Scuba but honestly never expected to actually try it, so when I got the chance through a Yelp event, I was SO excited! Before attending, make sure you watch the intro video- it's super informative and saves tons of time when you get there so all your time can be spent in the water vs going over all the information. Bob and his team were so incredibly helpful, welcoming, and were great coaches for those of us who had never Scuba-d before. We got into the UIC pool with wet suits and all our gear, went through a quick orientation with Bob underwater, then spent the rest of the time swimming around the pool. Scuba diving in a pool doesn't seem that exciting at first, but trust me, it is way more fun than you'd expect. Everyone who helped us was so helpful and nice, and they really made the experience amazing. What an incredible organization led by a great person. Will absolutely be back to get certified some day!!

Loved learning scuba chicago. I took this course with my sister and we felt extremely confident…read moreabout taking our dive skills into the wild!! Thank you to Amy for making sure we got our course done in time for our trip. And special thank you's to Alex and Sam for helping me get over my fear of mask skills. And their fearless leader Zach/Bob for coordinating everything. Would definitely recommend this course they make sure that you are prepared and safe every step of the way.

GOT AIR is a different beast when it comes to customer service. They are a top-notch shop in both…read moreservice and classes. I've experienced their classroom, check dives, and gear sales, and all have been 10/10. Assistant instructors are also very knowledgeable and personable. Come "SEA" for yourself how a quality shop is run! John and Kim are dedicated to making sure you have a safe and enjoyable dive experience.

I had a groupon here a bit back, and was directed to buy all sorts of equipment. Teacher was ok…read morebut the classes were in a smelly building that evidently made plastics - super toxic. I got a headache every time I entered the building.