Ocean Horizons Scuba

Paul is the man. Ever lesson is very informative, and you walk away with confidence, and new friends! Couldn’t recommend this team high enough — certainly worth the money, and the time.

Are you ready to join the most amazing scuba family in Brooklyn? Do you want to dive with 2 experienced retired firefighters/​divemasters? Do you want to be the most competent scuba diver? If you answered yes to all of that ocean horizons scuba is for you, if you didn’t reread my review five times and re-​ask yourself those questions .
I loved scuba diving and like most people when you initially try to get your scuba certification, your probably looking for the «best deal» like where can I get certified for the «cheapest price». Well you can go on Unilocal look up reviews call 15 scuba shops and I can almost guarantee not going with Ocean Horizons Scuba is a big mistake. When I went scuba shopping some places will give you your certification after one day in a pool and say «hey your certified, just go complete the course online and finish your certification dives and your PADI certified» After one lesson in the pool do you think your ready to get tested on skills underwater in the ocean or a quarry you decide? Paul’s prices are so reasonable… There is really no competition.
Paul & Jimmy (the handsome instructors) are the gurus of the ocean they drill the concept of diving and the risks as well as understanding. They embed information into your brain. The course is 5 weeks, that’s right 5 long weeks of water time (spent either at YMCA park slope or Ft Hamilton high school) and class time… and if you aren’t picking it up fast enough they wont «let you fly just yet» they will take you under there wing and spend individual time with you in the pool or tell you to come for extra classes (no they wont charge you, they genuinely have your best interest at heart). If you feel uncomfortable about a skill they will review it with you, over and over again. They prepare you to take the NAUI certification and are more than willing to help you out with anything. Paul plans trips to Cozumel and Micronesia and other places once your certified and also to complete your certification. Like I reiterated when you take a class with Paul not only do you become a certified diver but you just got a first class ticket to one of the best circle of divers to travel and dive the world with!
Not only would I go back and do it all over again and again but this time I would take the paper with the list of other dive places and throw it out and not waste my time. I went to Thailand and It was such a great diving experience I owe it all to two hardcore scuba instructors.
Working a full time job, and going to school Paul accommodates to every schedule possible. Weekend, Nights he has so many classes to choose from.
Ocean Horizons Scuba has one goal and its making the best and safest divers in the world!

Absolutely the best. Very encouraging and patient. If scuba is in your future, you can’t go wrong with Paul and his team.

There are really not enough words to describe the awesomeness of this scuba course and its instructors. My husband wanted to learn scuba and I came along for the ride and am so glad i did. Paul and Jimmie are absolutely the best and coolest scuba instructors (and human beings) around! Not only are both very professional and safety conscious but they also made sure everyone was laughing and having fun while learning. We just came back from our open water certification at the Quarry in PA and I honestly don’t remember the last time I had so much fun (despite it being freezing cold outside… though granted the water was pretty warm). Not only did Paul give me his good mask to use for the entire weekend (because my mask was fogging up and leaking water) but he practically held my hand on the first dive down because I was a nervous wreck (making the remaining three dives a piece of cake). I am actually quite sad the whole thing is over and my Tuesday nights are back to being spent on the couch in front of the TV, but I sincerely hope I get to go on one of the Ocean Horizons Scuba trips someday soon! If you are interested in scuba certification please don’t for one minute hesitate to contact these guys they are the best bar none.

Oceans Horizons Scuba is really one of the best dive groups and instructors in the NYC area.
A couple years ago I decided this would be the summer that I would get my scuba certification and like many others I looked up shops in manhattan and then narrowed it down to a couple and decided to go online and read the reviews which lead me out of the city and into Brooklyn and Paul, Jimmie, and Scott. After reading many reviews on how great OHS is and how personal the reviewers stories were on their experiences with OHS, I decided they were definitely who I was going to get my certification with. And I was not disappointed!!!
Now 2 years later and several scuba trips in with the OHS family it’s time I wrote my own review on just how wonderful learning to dive with this group really is. Their approach to safety and fun in your certification courses is outstanding. And then after when you decide to take a trip with them they really make you feel a part of the OHS family. If it’s your first diving trip you will feel extremely comfortable and safe knowing that you are with master divers and instructors that truly care how you’re doing and want to make sure you are a self sufficient diver and will work with you over the course of the trip in building your confidence in yourself as a developing diver.
The trips normally include several people that have been diving with OHS for many, many years and they too will open up and give you pointers and tips to use as you develop your own diving routine. Their stories are fascinating and really everyone on all of their trips truly care about each other and the welfare of the group. If you go on one of their trips you will have a great time and you are guaranteed to meet some amazing people. For myself, I have made some life long friends and each trip has broadened my horizons as a diver and an individual. I feel very fortunate that I decided to take a chance with Paul, Jimmie, and Scott that summer 2 years ago and can not speak highly enough of how great they are as instructors and then friends and fellow divers.
If you want to get the most out of your diving certification and then diving experiences thereafter this is a great group to align yourself with. You will not be disappointed!
Thank you Paul, Jimmie! And Scott for everything! Can not wait to dive with you guys again!

If you’re looking for a certification course, look no further. Paul is simply amazing. Fantastic instructor, unbelievably patient and just really wants you to have a good experience and learn how to dive properly. When I was looking for a dive shop to certify with, I was rlly interested in a quickie course but I am sooo glad I decided against it and went with paul. He is extremely flexible and will work with your schedule. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and feel so much more comfortable under water. Can’t wait to go on one of his dive trips in the future.

If your in the new york area, do yourself a favor and go to ocean horizons. I went with my girlfriend and we had a great time learning from Paul and Jimmy. These guys know their stuff and really care about your safety which is the most important thing when your diving! Cannot recommend these guys enough!
P.S by your 4^th or 5^th lesson ask Jimmy if he could teach you head spins those are awesome

My girlfriend and I took the class with Paul and Jimmy 5 years ago. We instantly liked them, as both instructors and as people. They have a genuine passion for what they teach and allow everybody in the class to get to know them. They are very focused on safety, adjusting the pace of the class to meet the needs of everybody in the class.
5 years later we still dive with them, they offer the best trips at a great price point. Every trip we have been to were a blast, the Ocean Horizon community is huge, made up of seasoned divers who are always willing to help and share some tips while having an awesome time.
Paul doesn’t try to shove equipment down your throat like other operations, he just wants to make sure his students have a good time diving. If you are interested in scuba, do yourself a favor and check out Ocean Horizon.

Well, one must give credit where due… My girlfriend and I are incredibly thankful to have become involved with this organization. We actually interviewed several dive shops before deciding on taking our certification course with Ocean Horizons. We felt very comfortable with Paul’s demeanor, approach to our concerns, and high level of diving skill/​experience. We enjoyed the experience so much we decided to go on a trip to Cozumel to do our certification dives. The group that traveled down with Ocean Horizons was big mix of very friendly people who were never shy about sharing their experiences or providing helpful tips to make each dive as smooth as possible.
To make an already long story short– if you are thinking of getting scuba certified, do yourself a favor and at least reach out to Ocean Horizon, you won’t regret it!

These guys are truly the best. Skilled, experienced, patient, funny, kind and thorough. After not having been in the water for 10 years, I went to Paul at the recommendation of a friend for a refresher course. The course was well taught and detailed, leaving me feeling that I could go under again without anxiety. Paul seems like he might be particularly good with people with water/​spacial fears, or kids, in addition, since he has incredible patience. This is NOT a rush you through kind of operation.
I also needed gear on the quick so stopped by Paul’s shop (he even opened it up the evening before he headed out of the country to help me!) and he outfitted me with fins, mask, snorkel and booties. Nice quality at reasonable prices.
Then, I ended up in Cozumel the same time that Paul and his crew were there. They were kind enough to take me under their wing and allow me to dive with them, even though I wasn’t on their formal trip. I was in a new place, on my own, and diving for the first time in a decade. Ocean Horizons crew made me feel right at home, making sure I was set up at the shop they work with and partnering with me to ensure I was safe (reminding me of important things like… don’t forget your fins! and equally important things like how to slow down and/​or stop and wait for the group if the current gets you a little ahead.)
I can’t say enough. These guys are the BEST! If you need/​want a class in NYC, call them up. If you need gear, go to the shop. They’ll make sure you have what you need and know how to use it. If you want to go on a killer vacation, go on one of their trips. I can assure you you’ll have an incredible time. Both I, and two friends of mine, can attest. In Cozumel I saw a shark, many turtles, giant lobsters, rays, colorful coral and schools of brightly colored fish. And, bonus, they all take amazing, and I mean amazing, photographs so you can focus on your breathing and boyancy and know that you’ll still end up with a shot of that turtle or ray.
The big shops in Manhattan have nothing on these guys. And, I know, cause I had to stop at one for a last minute need right before I left and it felt impersonal and a little pushy.
They have decades of experience, thousands of dives and a true love of teaching and sharing it with others. Go, dive, enjoy!

I just took one of their Cozumel week-​long vacations and loved it. I didn’t know anyone on the trip except for the instructor Paul before going, but had a great time with the group that went. The diving was wonderful, the food was good, and everything was super-​relaxing. I’ll definitely do another trip with this group once I save up some more vacation time.

I just got certified with Paul this past weekend in Dutch Springs! :D I wanted to thank him for the great experience/​weekend! I did my pool training with a Manhattan shop and it was terrible. I am so glad my friend Jasmine introduced me to Ocean Horizons Scuba. If you’ve ever wanted to learn to scuba dive I would highly recommend getting your certification here!

Just went to Costa Rica with Ocean’s Horizons and had the time of my life!
Paul and Jimmy, the dive instructors/​dive masters from Ocean’s Horizons, were very organized, welcoming, and fun, and they went out of their way to make sure each person in the group had a great time. There were 30 of us, so, it was quite an amazing feat that the whole trip went so smoothly. They handled everything for us and made sure we knew what to pack, the weather, dive conditions, the names of everyone in the group, etc. in advance. I just felt so well taken care of during the whole week.
One thing I noticed right away was that many of the folks who came to Costa Rica had been on several trips with Ocean’s Horizons. I’m hooked too – I don’t want to go on vacation without them!
As retired firefighters, I think Paul and Jimmy are probably much more focused on safety than most dive masters. They are extremely experienced divers but cool and fun about it. I didn’t take my certification class with them and had only 8 dives before Costa Rica, but, I feel like I learned a lot from them during this trip and am already a much better diver!

My husband and I are going to Bali for our honeymoon in December and wanted to get certified before we left. Naturally, we went to Unilocal and saw the great reviews — they are all accurate — of Ocean Horizons, and chose them for our pool and classroom sessions, which were held at the YMCA in Park Slope. Once we realized how thorough and patient, experienced and safety-​oriented Paul and Jimmie were as instructors, not to mention down to earth easy-​going fun people, we decided to complete our open water certification with them rather than wait for our Bali trip, which we did at the fresh water Quarry in PA. We got very close personal attention and feel confident and encouraged now to go out into the ocean in Bali with the skills that they taught us, and as other people are saying here, are above and beyond what you’d learn taking a resort course. We can basically second everything everyone is saying here about Ocean Horizons and recommend their class 110% to anyone thinking of getting certified in the NYC area.

My boyfriend and i decided we want to learn to scuba dive, I looked around, i called another shop and was told they would not give me information with me coming in and signing up for classes, i just wanted to find out how many classes, price etc. I called Ocean Horizons scuba and spoke to Paul’s wife who gave me all the information and took my name and number and had Paul call me back. Paul returned my call quickly and answered all my question for about 20 minutes with pressuring me to join up. I felt so at ease i set up an appointment to met at the shop at 871 71^st street Brooklyn NY. I met Paul after i got out of work, He again took his time and answered even more question that i had. We set up to met the next week on Saturday at fort Hamilton high schools pool to start the training. Paul only asked for a deposit at that time. He gave me the Naui training book, some forms to fill out and off i went home so excited to tell my boyfriend the news. I was so excited when Saturday came i got up early and i don’t get up early. We met Paul outside the pool and we then met Jimmie and Scott. There were 2 other new people and 2 finishing the training. The training began after a briefing from Jimmie and Paul. THOSE guys are super nice, and Jimmie will probably kill me but he is SO sweet, Jimmie took his time and gave me one on one training, since i was having a problem with my ears and nerves. Each week i work with Scott or Jimmie, i got the ears and nerve under control and loved every minute of diving. We decided to go to Cozumel Mexico in June with the group from OCEAN HORIZON SCUBA, let me just say this FAMILY, all the people treated as like family from the minute we meet at the airport everyone was so nice. The veteran divers were all super nice with advice and experiences. After diving we all would meet by the pool for fun and laughs. Learning to dive truly changed my life it opened me up to new experience’s i was to scared to try. I have to thank OCEAN HORIZON SCUBA Paul, Jimmie and Scott are the best, patient, they are the best people you will ever met. I total think everyone needs to learn how to scuba dive with Ocean Horizon Scuba. Kim

Absolutely love Ocean Horizons Scuba. Paul and Jimmie are two of the nicest people you will ever meet, and their dedication to teaching scuba the right way, and providing students with personal attention is amazing, and exactly what you need when you are learning. I was definitely a bit more cautious and reserved than some of my fellow students, but Jimmie’s care and attention made me feel like I was always safe, and I didn’t feel rushed to keep up with the rest of the class on skills that I needed more time to master. I recently went on one of their trips to Cozumel with my husband, and had one of the most amazing vacations of my life. I would strongly recommend them to anyone who is looking to learn this amazing skill, and am actually trying to convince my sister and several friends to take up the sport and go to Ocean Horizons to learn. Choosing them was the best decision I could have made.

My wife and I had talked about trying scuba diving for years and she surprised me with classes for my birthday last year (BEST. GIFT. EVER.) She and her sister are obsessive researchers and planners, and after hours of online searching, it was decreed that Ocean Horizons was the place to learn.
They could not have been more right. Paul and Jimmie are excellent instructors, incredibly knowledgeable (they should be, they’ve been diving for over 30 years), warm and friendly, impossibly patient, and just all-​around fun people to be around.
Their prices are insanely low compared to some other places (so much so that I was a bit wary at first), and there is absolutely ZERO pressure to buy ANY equipment from them. Other places make you buy gear before you start, anything from fins, snorkel, and a mask, all the way up to a wetsuit and regulator at some places.
We did our pool sessions with them at Fort Hamilton high-​school, and when you start out just sitting at the bottom of a pool breathing is a phenomenal experience. You will learn skills beyond those needed for the checkout dives (removing and replacing gear underwater, swapping masks with others underwater, maybe even a headspin) which makes for a lot of fun, but more importantly raises your confidence and makes the checkout skills seem much less intimidating. Jimmie even managed to make the classroom sessions fun and interesting, and I hate classrooms. If you are very lucky he will try to draw something on the whiteboard. If you need more pool or classroom time, they provide it, at no charge.
We did our checkout dives in Key Largo, as I had a trip to Miami planned right after we finished the pool and classwork. The outfit we dove with was great, but we did get to experience an instructor with a very different style from Paul and Jimmie’s, and it made us appreciate them all the more.
We went with them on their last trip to Cozumel in early December 2010, and I have never had a better vacation. Drift diving is like flying over an alien planet inhabited by alien creatures. Mind-​blowing.
Paul and Jimmie are great to be around, the people who go on trips with them (many are repeat customers) are great to be around, and they dig up the best value dive trips out there. We love these guys, consider them friends, and are looking forward to many more years of diving and learning with them.

If you want to dive, Ocean Horizons is THE ONLY place to go. I got certified with Paul and Jimmie about 6 years ago, and am still diving with them on the wonderful trips that they run, and am still learning from them all the time. They are very experienced divers who truly enjoy the sport, and they are both wonderful instructors who inspire so much trust and confidence in their students.
The class is very well run, and the full NAUI class is very worth-​while — If you really want to learn how to SCUBA dive, please DON’T be tempted to do a quickie, resort course on vacation. You need good instruction, and some time to practice and reinforce everything before you can really relax and enjoy yourself.
I can’t recommend OHS highly enough. If you are thinking about taking a class, again, this is THE place to call. You won’t regret it!
Rachel
Brooklyn

Amazing experience with Paul, Jimmy & Ocean Horizons Scuba.
First, Paul and Jimmy are former firefighters and their emphasis throughout the course is on safety. Each class consists of a classroom portion followed by an in-​pool portion. We were in the pool with equipment on on the first night of class.
Our class was 5 sessions, each building on the next. This was followed by a 2-​day certification weekend at Dutch Springs Quarry. Throughout the entire time we felt complete trust and safety with Paul and Jimmy. They are warm people, easy to be around and lots of fun too.
When we went to Dutch Springs for our open water certification dives, we noticed other larger groups there for certification. These seemed very impersonal and geared more towards making money and getting people through the dives. In fact, we had a run-​in with them under water as they tried to pull my girlfriend into their group! Paul and Jimmy always knew where we were and were always right there to insure we were comfortable and safe.
I simply cannot imagine a better experience for learning Scuba. The Ocean Horizons team makes everything fun, they are true pros, and they’ve seen it all. In my opinion, by virtue of the fact that they are former firefighters, they exude a sense of calm and ease — again, always emphasizing safety.
I know that there are DVD courses that exist to train scuba divers. Based on the amount of safety-​based skills we learned, I cannot imagine NOT taking a full class for this sport. Both my girlfriend and I now have a series of safety-​based skills that we hope never to use. But, because we have them, it will make our scuba experience that much more enjoyable.
On the final day of our certification dives in Dutch Springs, I couldn’t help but notice the fact that our group both entered and exited the water laughing and enjoying ourselves. Other groups were less personal and more business-​like. We were always safety minded, but because Paul and Jimmy really care about their students and allow you to get to know them, it makes the entire experience so much more FUN. And that is the way it should be.
I strongly recommend Ocean Horizons Scuba. Their price is excellent, their staff tremendous, and the overall experience is life-​changing. Definitely use them!

Great SCUBA instruction, very thorough and safety oriented.
I completed my Open Water certification through OCEAN HORIZONS and have nothing but accolades to say of them. A very close friend of mine originally referred them to me. The instructors have been diving for over 30 years and are still very active in this recreational sport.
In my opinion, what makes them really stand out is their integrity. Unlike many other outfits, which are typically run by full-​time retail dive shops, they do not peddle dive equipment to newly certified students. In other words, they do not rush you through the course just so that they can sell you a bunch of stuff (a dirty little secret in the SCUBA business).
Two of their main instructors are recently retired NY firefighters. Not only are they friendly, patient, and confidence inspiring, they are very safety oriented. Classes include 6 sessions in the pool. If you feel you need more practice you are welcome to show up at their other scheduled classes, without additional cost. There may be places that offer «certification» in less time, but they do this by handing you DVDs to take home for self study and provide very little pool time, if at all. Trust me on this, you don’t want to take any shortcuts in proper SCUBA instruction. Speak to any experienced SCUBA diver, and they will give you the same advice. In order to complete your certification, you will need to perform skills assessments in open water (ie — not a pool). They can provide you a referral certificate so that you can complete it while on a diving vacation in warmer waters. If you don’t mind performing this in cold water, for about $ 150 (outside the normal course fee), they will provide wetsuits, air tanks and all other gear to complete the necessary dives at Dutch Springs, PA.
All in all, I recommend OCEAN HORIZONS whole heartedly. They will gladly take up a conversation with you and answer any questions you may have about SCUBA. No pressure sales tactics, or double talk. Just a good bunch of stand up guys.