I just got open water certified at Aquarius Dives shop - the dive staff was incredibly fun and engaging. The water was chilly after our first ocean dive but the staff had hot chocolate and snacks waiting when we got out. I saw a harbor seal swim right by me which was crazy. The staff reiterates the importance of safety and I never felt unsafe. The owner is extremely knowledgeable and so much fun to dive with - I absolutely recommend getting certified here!
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Great operation. Did a guided tour with Nick who was super knowledgeable and accommodating. Was my first time in the pacific but felt safe and comfortable. The rental gear was good and they had an option for Nitrox.
Great dive shop! The staff are truly the best. I did my open water here in 2018 and fell in love with diving after diving Monterey. The staff are super knowledgeable and will do whatever they can to ensure that your diving experience is the best. The club dives are also great and a good way to meet fellow divers as well as discover new sites. I cannot recommend Aquarius enough!
Knocked the rust off my diving after doing an online certification for a two dive tour around the sea wall and had a blast. Our guide and instructor Kristie was incredible and super patient while we made small mistakes. The gear was in pretty good condition and helped stave off the cold. Only negative was the lack of coordination and collection of gear at the end where we awkwardly stood around trying to find someone who could help us offload our gear before we could find a much needed hot shower. Overall an incredible experience (not the jellyfish) and the best tour guide ever. 9/10 would recommend!
Got my ow with them, they aren t professional specially with international students. They have no patience, and it ended up with sending my certification card to an incorrect location. I don t recommend them.
Aquarius, you don't get my vote or my business for your current level of service and I'll encourage others to divert business until you get organized.
I made an appointment to drop off 4 tanks for a visual. Once I arrived to drop them off I was told I had to pay a 30 dollar rush fee. 25 dollar visual per tank, plus, 30 dollar rush fee for an appointment I had made.
I made an appointment, so a rush charge was incredibly poor form.
I got certified here, zero loyalty under current management, whoever they are.
I left without getting work done. There were no customers when I arrived, and none when I left.
I got my certificate here last year and had a wonderful experience with the teachers. A year later, I came here again for a dive tour because they offered excellent service. We came late because the traffic was really bad during labor day weekend but the staff and the dive master was really accommodating. I forgot the dive master's name but his license plate was Shark Diver and he was very patient with us! I'd probably come back here again just because everyone was so accommodating and helpful.
Hydrostatic tank testing as well as visual inspections. Shop has banked air, banked Nitrox, and argon for fills. Also can get custom O2 fills / Nitrox blends in tanks that are certified for O2 services.
The staff at the shop makes you feel extremely welcome and the Underwater Voyagers dive club they host is so organized! They have weekly club dives in the morning and evenings, accommodating to school and work schedules, and the guide is always actively looking for the best diving sites and conditions. He also keeps very close contact with the members via email, and while in person he provides you his undivided attention.
Awesome dive. Beautiful site (downtown Monterey, a sandy cove next to a pier). Scott is very knowledgeable and a great DM. He made me feel safe. He's a true west coaster, taking things very slowly. At the shop at 7:30am, sized by 8:15. Waited for Scott. At dive site by 9 (10 minutes away). After a very long, albeit informative and good speech, waited for Scott again. In the water at 9:45.....
Great experience having Aquarius provide rental gear for a day in Monterey Bay. They were able to accommodate a couple new divers, one a 13-yo, with wetsuits and bc and weights and tanks. The tanks we really nice compact steel high pressure compact 80cf tanks with convertible DIN/yoke valve. They were very pleasant and knew their gear well.
Great two tank dive with Mike! It was my first dive in Monterey. All the rental gear worked great. Did Breakwater Wall and The Pipe. Saw lots of cute sea lions, sea otters and so many jelly fish. Will come here again my next visit to California.
One of, if not the best dive shops in Monterey. I always find what I need, staff is super friendly and helpful and store has a fun vibe. I rock their decal everywhere I go so more people will know who they are.
I was there for open water Scuba certification. Denise the instructor is amazing!!! Great shop! Fun atmosphere! Friendly and they take what they do seriously.
Had such a great time on our second private tour with Nick! The staff are great and got us geared up quickly! We felt like we were in great hands with Nick who knew the best places to go and made sure we spotted some great wildlife! I highly recommend Aquarius Dive Shop and a tour with Nick, you won't be disappointed! Monterey diving is incredible, there is so much to see!
Incredible customer service! The staff was extremely friendly and very helpful, especially the manager Chris. I came in with a group of 5 people and they were very quick at renting us gear at a reasonable price. We were fairly inexperienced divers so the manager decided to take his day off and dive with us to show us the best spots in Monterey. If your diving around this area, this dive shop is definitely a place you should check out.
I had a fantastic dive! Not only the site is amazing with the kelp forest and all the marine life but also John, the divemaster was superfriendly, competend and a buddy that you can only dream of!
Awesome shop. If you rent equipments from Anywater in Saratoga, you can fill the tanks for free, because it is the same owner. They do have more variety of wetsuits compare to Anywater though. Staff is helpful and cheerful.
I stood inside actively looking at masks to buy, two other people in my party stood by the counter wanting to rent gear. Greater than 5 minutes passed, we were ignored by employees the entire time and left. There are other dive shops in town.
I love this shop! Been around for ages and such a well trained staff. All staff knows their products and are all active divers with their products. They are friendly and always have smiles on their faces. James is a great owner. Truly has a shop that is a home away from home for me.
Fills are a breeze at Aquarius because you can back right up to the outdoor fill station. I love the new nitrox fill card. Bruce is a safe and prudent guy who maintains his gear well (and will happily give you a tour of the compressor shack). Uunlike some shops, he doesn't require flamboyant labeling or "O2 clean" vis stickers for an ordinary 32% nitrox fill.
Some dive shops will try to sell you a $1000 data mask when you stop by for air. At Aquarius they'll ask how your diving was and recommend new dive sites.
Bring Cody a tennis ball and you'll have a friend for life... Hang out for a while and you're bound to meet some of Monterey's most experienced divers...
Eek! Methinks not, is about right. I tried emailing the shop first instead of posting to google, but my concerns went unanswered so I no longer feel the need not to share my negative thoughts.
To sum it up in less words than I sent the dive shop, we booked a dive excursion with Aquarius Dive Shop. We came from LA specifically to do a dive tour, as Monterey was recommended in many dive books so we were eager for great diving.
We chose a guided dive as opposed to just exploring on our own as we could do that, but wanted someone familiar with the area, especially since this was one of my first dives out of my certification.
To start, the website states group dives are groups of 4 or less. Ours was a group of five, and clearly five was too many for our guide to handle.
Our guide took us to what I would call the worst dive site and does nothing to show off Monterey. To start, he chose a dive site that was awful, and didn't have sufficient parking. Parking was an issue when then made us pressed for time and rushed. We did not have a good experience as being rushed and pressed for time due to parking constraints really takes the fun out of things.
Due to time constraints and being rushed, we missed one out of our two guided dives.
On our second dive, there was nothing to see other than the kelp, which was not as impressive as Catalina. He found 1 crab for us to see, and that's all we saw. Visibility was less than 8 feet so if there was more to see, this wasn't the place.
There are a lot of dive shops to choose from, and I would not recommend this one for a dive tour. They didn't provide the services I expected from a dive tour and they didn't care to respond to my email, so I would try to find a different dive shop that will offer a better experience.
My experience with the Aquarius Dive Shop included my basic and advanced certification. Additionally, I took advantage of their 'fun dives', basically a social gathering where you can accompany their divers on a free dive at one of the nearby dive sites (assuming you bring your own kit, but they have rentals if needed).
Overall, they were awesome, relaxed atmosphere and extremely easy to work with. Each of their divers was clearly experienced and capable of accommodating all skill levels. Equipment rentals were easy and their admin support for certifications was quick. (Upon completion of the training I had both my certs in >5 days). Great team, good experience.
After getting a legit rental setup from Brian I did a tour with Nick at Breakwater Cove. They were both courteous and professional and I will be back. Thanks!
Went to Monterey to do my AOW while on vacation at the end of March. As recommended by the owner (James), I did a 2-tank dive tour with Scott to familiarize myself with the area and equipment (read: COLD water diving). So glad I did - was able to get my rental gear set-up in shop quckly - and did my AOW the next 2 days. Rental gear gets quite $$ if you don't have your own, especially since hood/boots/gloves are essential. I got to use brand new equipment so everything was in perfect working order. The only thing I'd suggest is a better system to ensure that tanks are FULL before renting out to people (and whoever keeps putting the cap back on a used tank - STOP IT).
Tour itself was great, got to see a lot of various vertebrates and invertebrates (I think Scott has a thing for nudibranches). Kim G led the AOW class with help from other divemasters (Hannah, Denise, Michael-thanks everyone!). Safety was always a priority. Adequate time going through knowledge reviews with helpful tips/tricks during briefing and the dives. We had some rough times with the poor vis and whatnot, so the post-dive therapy talks were a nice way to de-brief what happened below.
Tips: you are responsible to get yourself and gear to the marina (<5min drive away) + day parking ($10) unless there's room to carpool. Arrive early if you need to rent gear so you can have time to set-up. Sunnier days = less vis; the area is quite silty so the vis drops further if people kick it all up. And the water is COLD - eat up, have a hot drink nearby or a thermos of warm water to throw on after, and be ready for the physical demands of the dive(s) from shore as carrying the gear and the surface swims can be tiring if you haven't gotten efficient. SO GLAD I had my dive parka to warm up afterward.
Went diving in Monterey for the first time and glad I did it with Aquarius. They were well organized and had all my gear ready before I walked in. Nick was a fantastic guide and knew the dive sites well. Overall I had a great time and would recommend them without any reservations.
Our guide John was extremely thorough and professional. Equipment was in great condition and everyone was very friendly and helpful. We dove the breakwater and it was my first experience with kelp diving. I ve got John s card and will definitely be diving with him again next time I m down here. Their location is not quite as convenient as some of the other shops, but don t let that deter you - seriously. 10/10!
I've been a customer of Aquarius Dive Shop since 1993 and am deeply grateful for their service, friendly and encouraging attitudes, willingness to explain processes and equipment use, and guidance to maximize one's dive experience in the Monterey area and beyond. To me and many of my dive buddies, this shop and staff are a local treasure!
Got my SCUBA certification here recently, and had a WONDERFUL experience. Every one of the staff members made me feel welcome, and I never felt rushed or pressured into purchasing equipment. The instructors were passionate, thorough, and made me feel very safe. I LOVE this dive shop. Can't wait to get back in the water!
Great shop with quality staff that are friendly and helpful. Scott was the best divemaster I have ever worked with. He double checked our gear before going into the water and before diving beneath the water.
EXCELLENT DIVE SHOP!!! I came down to Monterey to get my DRY SUIT CERT "I'm advanced, with nitrox currently" This place really went above and beyond to accommodate our dive at BREAKWATER COVE this weekend!!! They have a very friendly, knowledgeable staff, and plenty of gear to offer. I had 2 old pairs of fins... " used, but not torched!!" And donated them to the shop. In doing so, they gave me a discount on my new pair I bought from them!!! GREAT SHOP!!! They also have a pool for training available. In the past I have used BREAKWATER SCUBA and they are decent as well. I'd give Aquarius a shot if you have never usee them. Hell, try them both and then comment back which one you liked best!!! After all, it's all about helping future explorers!!! DIVE ON!!!!
Another great experience with Aquarius. My wife, daughter and I just completed the PADI dry suit diver certification with Aquarius and the class, staff, and service were exceptional. The owner James Vincent and staff (Ashley, John Jack, Kia and Katy) took great care of us and everything with great skill and patience. If diving in Monterey or the surrounding area, Aquarius is your place.
Unfortunately I have to second. I`ve recently been for a dive trip there and are quite disappointed. Prices are too high and really bad service. Search fo a different dive-shop if you're around...
The staff at Aquarius is fantastic. My daughter and I used them for two guided dives from San Carlos beach and had a very good experience. The patient and knowledgeable staff took plenty of time getting us fitted and kitted up for the day.
Alex was the best dive guide. She was very friendly and happily helped with questions, concerns, and forgotten certification info from my 16 year old daughter. If you are a relatively new certified diver unfamiliar with diving in Monterey, you definitely want her leading your group.
Their private dive tour (additional $55 on top of 1 person dive and rental gears) did not provide an instructor to dive with me, so what was the additional $55 for? On the other hand, the discovery dive for those that are not certified is fine.
aquariusdivers.com
