Alex Hoffman on 2010-09-03 21:06:33
Eco Dive Center is a top notch facility, from the gear to the instructors I have been very satisfied with them. I did my open water and advanced open water with them and feel that I definitely got my moneys worth. Even with bad weather conditions and boat cancellations they were very accommodating, rescheduling boats right away and making sure I got the best training possible. They also offer a huge selection of rental gear, you can almost always count on them to have the gear you need available for a weekend dive. I would highly recommend this shop.

Trina Miyahara on 2010-09-03 00:32:32
My sister, a friend and I signed up with Ron for a 2 day express Open Water Diver certification course. We have dove quite a bit in the past, but never got around to taking the time to get certified. We needed it quickly since we were all planning trips with diving in the itinerary very soon! We happened to choose a very poor weekend for diving. The conditions were horrible (read: beige water, surf, seasickness, vertigo & 5ft visibility) at the beach the first day and only slightly better in Catalina the second day. Of the 5 planned dives, 2 were aborted due to conditions. Ugh! Through it all Ron and Carlos were terrific. Even in the worst conditions, they had positive attitudes, a smile, and knew how to keep our confidence levels up. Since we didn't finish the course that weekend, Carlos worked with us over the next week to schedule our last dives and made every effort to make sure we all finished the following week. Thanks so much to both Ron and Carlos for making sure we finally got certified!

Kevin Ryan on 2010-08-16 13:25:00
I couldn't be more pleased with my experience at Eco Dive. I always felt safe and I was always having fun. Most importantly, I left the class feeling very confident of my new skills and I was excited to move on to Advanced Open Water training. I should also point out that it wasn't just my instructor that I was impressed with, but the whole Eco Dive team - whoever was working the retail side of things was always very helpful, knowledgable and understanding. Thank you so much everyone!

K B on 2010-07-01 23:37:05
I never write reviews, but I have to say that I enjoyed being certified so much by EDC that I have to give my recommendation. Tony and Ryan were great instructors...really enthusiastic, helpful, patient, and tons of fun. They understand the doubts or struggles that beginner divers may have, and they relate one on one with each student in order to directly help the students achieve their individual diving goals. Aside from the instructors, EDC has really created a fun atmosphere to get involved with. From their weekly boat trips to their discounted tropical excursions, there's something for everyone to participate in. I highly recommend being certified through them and becoming part of an awesome group of divers.

lucas lambert on 2010-07-01 00:07:56
I took them up on their "online challenge" they promote in Diver News and was impressed. The deal thru eco dive is... Find it online and we'll beat the price. I walked away a happy camper with tons of new technical gear. Thumbs up for eco Dive Center!

Stephan H on 2010-06-30 15:56:16
That's right. This place is as good as it gets, short of a Scuba convention. They have a good sized shop - everyone in the store are supremely experienced divers and they have fantastic customer service. I highly recommend anyone looking at Scuba to consider Eco for all their needs. Great people and if they don't have it, they can get it for you. It's always nice to get to a place where the people that work there are so enthusiastic about their sport! You can find them on a boat at least once a week!

Bora K on 2010-06-30 15:43:46
Hi, my name is Bora and I'm afraid of deep water, claustrophobic, a slight germaphobe, and get seasick as soon as I step onto a boat. And yet, somehow I still managed to get my open water dive certification.

It took me a long time to come to the decision about getting this done because I didn't want to do it for the wrong reasons plus I didn't want it to backfire on me. I try to meet my fears head on but my attempt at bungee jumping to get over my fear of heights proved to be disastrous (when I refused to jump the worker agreed to let me off the tower but when I reached out to grab his hand, he pushed me off instead. My fear of heights is now worse than ever as a direct result of that particular incident) and I didn't want this to be a similar experience.

However, once I made the decision to go through with it, I threw myself into the quest of finding the best dive shop and outfitter available. After calling around and doing some extensive internet research, I settled on Eco Dive Center. It came very highly recommended (Thanks Simon!) and after comparing costs and schedules to 6-8 other shops in LA and Orange County, I felt like they were going to be my best bet.

The Basic Open Water Dive Certification can be completed in two weekends (You can do two consecutive weekends or skip a weekend in between but no more than that from what I was told). $595 will get you lifetime PADI Open Water Diver Certification, scuba equipment rentals for the entire course (this includes a wetsuit, BC, tank, octopus, and weights. You have to buy or provide your own personal gear- mask, snorkel, gloves, booties, and fins), training materials (online or book w/ DVDs- the online training cost is $120 alone and most other dive shops do not incorporate this fee into their total cost like Eco Dive Center), two pool training sessions (on 2 Saturdays), two boat tickets (2 Sunday boat trips with meals included to Catalina or off the coast of Ventura), lifetime annual scuba tune-ups, optional free beach dive training after completion of program which can be credited to your advanced diver rating, tank air-fills, and Dive Club membership. If you buy a complete Scuba System the tuition is refunded. All dive equipment in the shop is 10-30% off.

The cost of the certification really can't be beat but even that pales in comparison to the quality and level of instruction. Being a teacher myself, I have a tendency to focus on the instruction part of things and me having issues with deep water on top of everything, I was very aware of my instructors (Lee and Matt) and how they handled each student's trepidation and concerns. One thing that impressed me the most was how honest they were. Some students were asked to stop because it really wouldn't have been safe for them to go on the dives (physical problems such as a weak back, inability to equalize because of bad sinuses, not a strong swimmer etc). They were also incredibly thorough and very safety cautious. Even when I was told to do the same skill over and over until my instructor felt I had mastered it, I couldn't complain. This was my life we were dealing with, and as exhausted and cold I was at times, I was grateful that he was taking the time out to make sure I learned everything properly so that I would always be safe

This whole process of getting my open water dive certification wasn't an easy one. There were definitely times when I wanted to quit (it might help to do this with a friend since you'll have someone to keep you motivated and have a built-in buddy for certain skills), was freaking out (realizing underwater that the only thing keeping me alive were my wits and the air coming out of my regulator), scared out of my mind (jumping off the boat in full gear the first time was absolutely terrifying for me), and simply thinking I wasn't going to be able to finish (the first boat dive was physically draining especially because I wasn't accustomed to the weight of all the gear). But I am really happy and proud that I did it (and everyone keeps telling me if I can get certified in CA where the water is so cold, diving anywhere else in the world will be a breeze) but I have to give credit where credit is due and I could not have done it without the fantastic staff at Eco Dive Center. I couldn't recommend them more- if you want to get certified, they're the way to go.

MWA H on 2010-06-30 15:40:00
The 5 stars are for the training I got on the Open Water Diver course. I was kinda scared of the ocean before I started but felt like I was getting good instruction and really trusted my instructor, which definitely made me feel safe enough to relax and enjoy being under water. My first boat trip was enough to get me hooked :) Laura is a great instructor--fun, no BS, doesn't seem to feel any need to scare you with horror stories.
As a store it's not cheap, but I felt like of the advice they gave me was honest and sensible, and it's not like they're jacking the prices up, it's just an expensive sport (sigh). They'll refund the cost of your open water certification course if you buy all your gear with them, but you have to buy *everything,* including the little accessories and a tank.

Zeiggy L on 2010-06-30 15:36:59
Some of the best, most enthusiastic teachers around. Sometimes the owners and staff come off a little impatient or aloof in store, but it's a local business and they try very hard to provide education about marine life and ecology when possible. They usually have very exciting dive trips available too.

Hubert Cheng on 2010-06-30 02:14:25
Eco Dive Center is the best! Carlos Linares taught me how to swim with sharks and other sea monsters of the deep. Please ask for him to instruct you how to dive properly.

Richard Duong on 2010-06-30 00:12:45
Great dive shop with very friendly and knowledgeable staff. The owners Beth and Ron are very cool and have a ton of dive experience and knowledge. Also the instructors are great, very friendly, and thorough with instruction. I've taken classes with Carlos, Tim, Tony, and Laura as well as the owners Beth and Ron and have walked away a better diver after every class. I've even found a $20 bill in the ocean while taking the Navigation Specialty with Carlos.

Robert Yoshioka on 2010-06-29 23:26:34
This past Christmas, my girlfriend bought us both Open Water certification classes through EcoDive. From arriving at EcoDive through completing my course, the experience has been amazing.

As the other reviewers have stated, the entire staff is super friendly and encouraging. They helped me purchase fins (Mares Raptors) and a mask (Atomic Frameless) (as I already had a snorkel from a previous diving course and the booties and gloves were included in the tuition.) With the fins and mask Laura helped us select the perfect pair without over selling. She told us what she used and the benefits of both a higher and lower end model. At no point did I ever feel pressured into buying a "top of the line" model.

The Wednesday before our first class we went to pick up the remainder of our gear and Laura again helped fit us. The wetsuits and weights she selected by sight fit perfectly and did us well on the dives. As for the class and dives, our instructor Tim Yeo was absolutely amazing. Both funny and informative, he quickly ran through our study material and got us in the water as soon as possible. The instruction he provided in both the pool and open water was equally as great and while neither my girlfriend nor I had any problems, our classmates who struggled with breathing and equalizing their ears were kindly cared for by Tim. I honestly attribute my great experience in both the pool and our open water dive at Casino Point to Tim.

Our second dive was just as fun. While it was not with Tim, Carlos Linares proved to be just as amazing of an instructor as Tim. We met up with him for a fun night aboard the Sand Dollar prior to the next morning's dive. Throughout the day he was extremely knowledgeable about everything we had to complete for our final three dives.

I think the best part about our experience is that we have stayed friends with both Tim and Carlos - going on numerous dives with our new certifications. Through both their enthusiasm and Eco's free rental days they keep us wet and looking forward to taking more classes.

Marcus Thompson on 2010-06-29 21:43:20
This shop is fun, energetic and they know scuba. This ain't sport chalet that's for sure. I have to drive an extra 5 miles in LA traffic but it's worth it. Do I get my free airfills now? haha!