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!

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

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.

Honored to be the first reviewer. I know one of the two partners, Roger Shields. Roger ran…read moreoperations for the previous Patriot Scuba that he renamed Patriot Diving. This is a very experienced and customer-oriented shop. Roger is a veteran combat medic so helping veterans is an active effort among other Occoquan community services. Instructors for the many courses they offer have been outstanding in every way, and competitively priced. They lead excursions to carribean sites and Florida where training courses can be accomplished, as well as several megadon teeth hunting trips off North Carolina.

From the owner: Some of you might know us from Patriot Scuba. Roger was the Store Manager for Patriot Scuba, and…read moreAllie had been diving with them for years and volunteers with Patriots for Disabled Divers events. In early 2023, when Jeff and Merial decided it was time to leave the retail dive business that is Patriot Scuba, Roger and Allie knew how much this dive shop meant to them and everyone else connected to it and decided to keep up the tradition of a veteran-run PADI scuba dive shop. As the shop goes through several transitions, please bear with us while we work to give you the best experience while letting the new owners put their spin on things. Can't wait to work with you all and see you in the water! We will still dive every weekend, so please call or email us with any questions.We look forward to making new memories with all of you!

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.

Compass Dive & Sail is the best great place to get your scuba certification. The staff focus their…read moreentire course on getting students comfortable with skills, live scenarios of diving, safety, and swimming underwater. Amazing people who make the experience so memorable with their great personalities and unlike other companies who try to have large classes, Compass Dive & Sail want small classes so they can pass all their knowledge to students about scuba, the sciences of it, and marine life. They are very passionate about what they know with scuba and all facets to it would rather spend less time on the corporate blah and pass everything they know to prospective scuba candidates. The last thing I'll say is that they don't nickle and dime every little thing. Unlike many other dive companies, they are all inclusive from online training, pool skills, scuba gear and check out dives, camping and meals which happen at Lake Phoenix in Rawlings VA...which is an amazing place to practice open water skills or just dive! Only costs not paid for are transportation, wetsuit, fins and snorkel/mask.

We got our OW Certification for the pool and open water this summer with Compass Dive. The…read moreexperience could not have been better. Doug and Meg took their time as we progressed through the requirements. The attention to detail, 1-1 training and confirming we learned the skills was invaluable. The open water certification at Lake Phoenix was a blast, with Matt's help the weekend flew with smiles after each dive. After discussing with friends, it's apparent that Compass Dive provides a personal experience that the large shops can't replicate.

They have a good selection of products, timely servicing of regulators, friendly, professional,…read morefair prices.

I got a funny feeling when i visited another scuba shop closer to home; got on the phone to talk to…read moreother shops before more time wasted. Spoke with Donna and immediately had a more reassurance, sense of honesty and competency. After trekking the extra 40 min to Dale City, i was not disappointed. Informed, high integrity, cordial, polite. Despite living in DC i will go back and will look into diving trips with this establishment. I got a real sense of enjoyment and community when I got my OWD certification with a friend in Puerto Rico and wasn't sure I would find it in the sales/finance driven environment in my city. I got the sense this shop espouses a sense of fellowship and support that will make further exploration of scuba more meaningful. Donna was not rushed; answered all my questions and just told me to "most importantly have fun."

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!

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.

This dive instruction business is female owned. Classroom instruction done in Culpeper and pool…read moreinstruction done in Manassas currently. The open water dives are done in the quarry near Fredericksburg. Ronda is very patient with the students and ensures safety and having fun is always present.

I received my Rescue Diver certification through Fins Up Scuba. The instructor was very…read moreknowledgeable and thorough in her instruction. She was very personable and patient with all of the students in the classroom and during the open water exercises. Very well recommended!