North County Scuba Center

I rented a tank from Sports Chalet for a group shore dive at La Jolla Shores. Right before the dive, I realized my tank O-​ring was bad. Travis was guiding another diver but graciously offered me one of his O-​rings for free. Thanks for assistance, you saved my dive!

A very unpleasant, unprofessional experience, in my opinion, with staff member and owner and will not recommend or return. THere are MANY great scuba shops in San Diego so many choices. I could write a HUGE review on the ridiculousness of my experience but not worth any of my time or energy. In my opinion, you can do MUCH better elsewhere… Caveat Emptor and good luck if you sign up here… Enough said.

These guys are the absolute best in SD to get your scuba certification. They are so professional yet so fun and easy to talk to. Scuba diving can actually be very Scary with all the risks involved but they train in a way that you never have an uncomfortable moment. I would highly recommend going here to get certification. When you scuba over seas it can be frightening because the instructors do not take the time to address any questions or concerns you have. It’s usually just «let’s go» and you kind of just follow them and hope something doesn’t go wrong I know this from experience. North county scuba gives you the confidence to feel comfortable in your own which is VERY important in unfamiliar open water. Highly recommend! Such fun guys I hope to dive with them soon!

Very knowledgeable staff. Super friendly. Greg is a very helpful… loves his work and it shows to his clients. I will continue to come here for all of my diving needs. Helped me learn what I needed to know about diving and made me feel comfortable learning!
Thanks Greg!

I generally don’t review places, but something needs to be said about this place.
I took a SCUBA certifcation course for $ 200 out the door. GREAT deal, as any other place would charge far more of that, and it included books, gear, and 6 dives total (2 pool dives, 4 ocean dives (2 a day)). The course runs Thurs night (2 hour class), Friday night (2 hour or so pool dive /​training), and Saturday (2 ocean dives, 4 hours or so total time). Please note that those times are not the times you are underwater, the total times includes setting up, training, diving, breaking down equipment, etc. Total dive time varies, but each dive was about 20 – 30 minutes MAX (you do have air limitations, etc).
Now, I personally have no problem with this place. I got in, did the dives, and got my certification with no problems and I had fun doing it.
My friends who did the course had problems. The biggest problem was really the lack of professionalism. I consider myself to be a good swimmer and comfortable in most water situations, and I like to think I learn quickly and adapt to my surroundings. The problem my friends had is that if you get tripped up even a litle in their course YOU WILL FAIL AND THEY WILL CHARGE YOU UPWARDS OF $ 60 PER DIVE. My friend kind of freaked out at our first pool dive and was told she would not be allowed to do the ocean dive the next day. So effectively she paid $ 200 for the equipment, the books, and ONE pool dive. She was told if she wanted to finish the course she would have to pay $ 180 MORE ($ 60 a day), coming out to $ 380!!!
Another friend made it through the pool dives and kind of got freaked out on the ocean dives, seeing as how we dived off of La Jolla Shores and the visibility was MAYBE 5 feet (no fault of their’s). Anyways, he did pass either, and since he is a LARGE guy, he had to rent his own BC from another store and they didnt reimburse him, even though they TOLD him that they had a BC that would fit him. So he’s not a happy camper either.
Basically, of the 11 people in our class, only 4 people passed.
I understand that SCUBA diving isnt for the faint of heart, and as I mentioned I had NO problems with them whatsoever. The problem I had was that they seemed to be running course by the seat of thier pants, with a general idea of what they are doing. All the instructors ARE certified and GREAT at diving, but they just didn’t seem like they were prepared for people having problems with diving. And with a life or death activity like SCUBA diving, you’d think they would be a little more accomdating to people freaking out.
All that being said, I plan on going back and taking a night diving class or an advanced class. They are cheap and fun people to dive with and have some entertaining experiences/​stories, I just wouldn’t bring someone who doesn’t have great water skills and is already scared going in.

Okay Boys and Girls, here’s a science experiment that you DO NOT want to try at home–
Did you know that if you accidentally reverse the energy polarity by putting ONE of eight power batteries in backwards in your brand new dive light (because you’re tired after flying in at 12:30 AM but so you’re stoked because your buddy text messaged you to go lobster diving later that evening so you want to get ready early) and then take it in the ocean it might IMPLODE in your hand when you try to turn it on!!! Whee, what a fun waste of $$$!!! Amazing, TRUE, and will someone please call Bill Nye to explain why this happened in greater detail!!!
So I needed a new dive light because I was supposed to go out for another dive the following night. I logged on to Unilocal and found the North County Scuba Center, not far from my house. This is a SOLID little dive store with a very good selection of equipment for scuba, spearfishing, and freediving. These are all sports that have some inherent amount of risk and every coach that has trained me for the ocean has said to choose quality over price when you are putting yourself at risk from drowning.
The guy at NCSC was totally COOL and let me talk his head off about what happened. He then showed me his selection of lights and had me shine each one up on the ceiling in order to explain the differences in bulbs, brightness, and durability. He patiently answered all of my questions and did not rush me to make a buying decision. I opted for an excellent light that literally saved my butt as I was getting pounded in the surf later that night after getting hit by a stingray in my leg (I was reaching for a 2 lb lobster and the stupid ray was tagging behind me) and trying to make it back to shore.
So YAY North County Scuba Center, your selection and service are GREAT!!! You are now my first stop when I need dive gear! With that in mind, can you please protect my buds and me from those pesky stingrays, or, better yet, send them all to Bill Nye???

I went looking for a simple mask, a simple snorkel, and a simple pair of fins for local snorkeling and for my upcoming trip to Hawaii. I couldn’t find any of these three at a reasonable price. Average-​looking masks were upwards of $ 60 each, with no mid-​range option at all. They didn’t even have one non-​flex snorkel in the whole shop.
I can’t fault them for their lack of snorkeling equipment, since they’re known for being a SCUBA shop. I can fault them for the following, though… my reasons for knocking three stars off of their rating:
— Minus one star for charging too much freaking money for a watertight box that can hold my money and credit cards and go snorkeling with me, so that the Hawaiian locals don’t jack my stuff while I’m in the water. My friend and I paid $ 20 each for these, not knowing whether we’d find anything else. A day later at REI, I ran across 25 better solutions at an average of $ 7 each.
— Minus one star for no return policy. Now I can’t bring my $ 20 box back because YOU DON’T ALLOW RETURNS OR EXCHANGES! Way to instill my confidence in your store and its products!
— Minus one star for talking shit to me when I scratched out my credit card number on the receipt. Here’s a little tip for businesses: YOU SHOULDN’T PRINT PEOPLE’S FULL CREDIT CARD NUMBERS ON THINGS YOU’RE GOING TO KEEP. I’m super particular about this, and I ALWAYS scribble out the number. After all, having the number in a computer is one thing, but I have no idea what’s going to happen to that receipt after I’m gone. Next thing you know, I’ll find out some dude went on a spree through Europe on my American Express card and it’ll take me the next three years to get it sorted out! Most of the time businesses are understanding when I do this and sometimes they’re even like «Oh… good point… thanks! We’ll look into getting this fixed.» Not this guy. No, he had to make a smart-​ass remark. «You know, we have your credit card number anyway. It’s not like scratching it out does anything,» is what he said while looking at me like I was a total moron.
So I looked back at him without saying anything at all except that which my look definitely communicated… «as if it were any of your business…»
I would go back to this store if they’d let me return my $ 20 watertight box, but they won’t, so I’m not going back. That shit better not leak.