Abyss Scuba

Just got done with my open water Dives 1-3. Have to do my final one tomorrow. Bart is an awesome dive instructor who has years upon years of experience. Very helpful. All the scuba gear is in great shape. Can't beat the price either. These guys crush the competition. I will use Abyss Scuba for all my certifications. Excited to do the Advanced Open water course, advanced buoyancy, and dry suit courses.

My two daughters completed their coursework and pool work with Dan, and then completed their certification dives independently in Cayman. For basic certification, Abyss was straight-forward, fast, complete, and competitively priced.

I want to write this review to let others know to make sure of all the costs associated with this Scuba School. I called the owner to see if they would honor a Groupon that I had for $392 and to see if that including everything I would need to become Open Water Dive Certified. I was told yes that that cost covered everything. Once I registered I received an email from one of the instructors asking us to bring $10 to cover the pool fee for our pool dives. No big deal to me. But after we completed the classroom time and pool dives we were scheduled to go to to the Aurora Reservoir to completed our dive certification on SAT and SUN. I received an Email from the owner with all of these extra cost associated with that weekend. More fees for parking, dive fees, and depending on if they would bring the gear and return and clean or if you did there were fees for that. I emailed the owner back and asked about all the extra fees. And also called. He was very rude about it. So I canceled my Dive cert with them and he said he would send me a refund check for that portion of the dive cert and send a referral (which is required by law) to another Dive school. He refunded me the cost of the dives for the reservoir dates but still charged me the equipment fees for those days. I would have to drive 58 miles one way for 4 days and take 2 of those days off to go to the school, get my gear, drive out to the reservoir and then drive back home, then drive back to the reservoir and then back to the school to turn in the gear. Then if it wasn't completely clean I would have been charge another fee. they did offer to clean and return the gear for another fee. Granted I chose to drive a longer distance but that decision was based on the lower cost that I thought was going to cover everything. As far as the referral that was sent to my new school, the referral he sent to my new dive school was total crap and will need to be redone. I signed up for this school thinking it was cheaper than most schools around and I had a group on so I didn't mind the drive time. But with the extra unknown fees and then having to take time off from work two days take go get them gear and another day to return the gear I would have spent over $600 for this course. The website for this school also states a cost and it specifically says "covers all expenses". The instructor I had (Dan I Think) was outstanding, I have nothing but good things to say about him, I do believe it is the owner of the company in this case. The lesson learned is do yourself a favor and make sure you have every cost outlined for you so you know what you are exactly spending I would not recommend this Dive School for any one that lives outside the area or who doesn't want to spend that kind of money. I have found another dive school that is well known and has high reviews that is cheaper. I would recommend you shop around for a dive school that fits all your needs.

I took instruction from Abyss in 2002. I was dedicated. So too were the instructors. The 3... 1/2 day classes were informative, and the instructors were disciplined to assure you knew your coursework. Im shocked to hear of complaints by some of the trials of climbing out with gear, or of the costs... Abyss was worth it because they insisted on full knowledge and the understanding the material... Scuba is safe because you are drilled to check yourself, your equipment, your surroundings, and your own dive buddy. Abyss is a great place to learn, and they manage very well the lack of large water bodies for testing out and certification. Now, ...16 years later, I use their purposeful instruction while in Thailand, Belize, Red Sea... Thank you Abyss, and BK... You do a great job.

I was thrilled to find the coupon for Abyss Scuba. As a 73 year old woman I pushed myself to try something new. DO NOT take this course if you're over 40. Abyss crams into one day what other shops do in two days or more. After three hours in a baking classroom it was a drive across town and then all the pool training. I was floating when first underwater.....instructor added four extra weights (in addition to the two I already had). I felt defeated when I couldn't climb out of the pool with the gear. Then I remembered I had almost 17 pounds more on me then all the 20 somethings in the group. I was exhausted about half way through the pool training and left. I can get my $130 for the open dive back...would have to pay $70 to do the closed water again. An expensive lesson that cost me $270 to feel like I failed. I wish I had gone elsewhere.

Completed my coursework and confined dives through Abyss. The owner Bart was fantastic. He is extremely passionate about diving and enjoys to share his stories which are encouraging and inspiring. I left the shop with my coursework and was very excited. Prior to I was still undecided. The shop was flexible and created a class that fit my needs prior to vacation, which was amazing. They were also the least expensive! My instructor Dan was patient and encouraging as well. You can tell he genuinely loves teaching. I left feeling confident and ready for my open water dives on vacation and cannot wait to look into dive travel options with them!

I have used Abyss Scuba for multiple certifications and finally had to walk away for a few reasons. Although the owner, is very knowledgeable about diving, he lacks in running a business. A frequent complaint that I've heard from others who have used Abyss is that their air tastes contaminated. I couldn't agree more and have pointed this out only to be dismissed. I'm not sure if it's their tanks or compressor, but their air has an unmistakeable, foul taste to it. Further, helping divers transport gear is an extra fee that they like to call "Concierge Service". Very sad, and not industry standard. Gear is another problem at this shop--it is literally falling apart and very outdated. I've used their gear on a few training dives and have had multiple malfunctions at depth because it's old and not maintained regularly. The above items are all part of running a good dive shop. If you want to see a professional shop, there are several others in town.