Aquarius Dive Shop — Local services in Monterey

I debated posting this because the staff was kind, but wish I had read a review like this as a newish and first time cold water diver.

I went diving at Breakwater through Aquarius and unfortunately had one of the most uncomfortable dive experiences I’ve ever had. When I arrived at 7 AM for my guided dive, there were 20+ college students there for a meetup and only two staff. I was given the wrong bin for my gear which has the wrong sizes for nearly every piece of rental gear, and had to be swapped out one by one as we were getting ready to dive. The rushed sizing process led to me ending up with gloves and booties that were too big, restricting my movement underwater and letting in cold water.

We also had to try our gear and prepare our equipment in the shop before loading into our own cars, dropping it off at the dive site, and finding parking. It all felt kind of chaotic and like the dive shop should have brought it to the dive site for us (which has been the case for all of my previous guides diving experience).

Once in the water, I was freezing — it felt like I was underdressed for the conditions and water was coming in to my ill fitting gear. Visibility was extremely poor (which isn’t the shop’s fault), and my gear issues made it much harder to control my buoyancy. On our way back, I accidentally ascended to the surface, and my group didn’t check on me or even seem to notice I was missing — a serious safety concern as I got caught in kelp and was starting to panic. I finally found my group and it was clear that they hadn’t noticed I was missing for some time.

Overall, I left the dive feeling shaken and extremely cold. I hope the shop improves their gear-fitting process and prioritizes diver safety, especially for newer or visiting divers who may not know what’s appropriate for Monterey’s cold water conditions.

I admittedly have only dove in warm water places before (Florida, Hawaii, and Mexico) but I will unlikely be back because of sketchy the conditions felt. Also, we had to pay our dive master an additional $60 when we got there - bring my total for a 1 tank dive to...

In summary, everything you'd want from a class! Very friendly, organized, and prepared Always felt safe Skill instructions were clear and help always available Their experience and love for diving makes the class!

I took the Open Water Dive Course with Steve and David and they were absolutely amazing instructors.

Before we even began, communication was clear and often. Early in the week, we received an email with all the information we'd need for the weekend classes (and tips and tricks to streamline the whole experience). They were also incredibly prepared and had extras of everything (or in Steve's case, had all the tools to fix things) to handle the inevitable issues that arose so that we were all able to stay on track.

In terms of instruction, it was clear that their top priority was watching out for our best interest. Our safety was always first, followed by an obvious desire for us to learn the necessary skills. They were always willing to answer our questions and redemonstrate when needed, were willing to take extra time to help us if required (but their explanations were so clear it was rarely necessary), and overall very thoughtful and accommodating to our needs (e.g. keeping note of how we were all doing and changing the plan as needed).

What was particularly stellar was their personal love for diving. They're both incredibly experienced and made it a priority to give us the room to discover a love for diving as well (and not just focus on the skills). It was a particular joy to hear all the diving stories they had and the good humour in which they told them.

The one point of confusion (which was my fault for being late and is actually a great deal offered) - the store offers extra credit if you don't ask for the deposit returned. While the course includes all the SCUBA gear, you will need to buy your own personal gear (fins, mask, gloves, boots) and will likely spend over this credit. It's certainly worth it!

Overall, I had an outstanding experience in the course, as well as interacting with everyone in the shop (everyone was always kind...

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 (