Recommendations on San Antonio Dive Shop

[PondPuppy]

I was just in SA a couple of week ago and saw several wetsuits hanging off of balconies. Are most people quarry diving? just curious.

No quarries, just rivers and lakes.

Comal and Guadalupe River are just up I35 around the New Braunfels area. Many tubers go there and then divers go there to get "tuber droppings" (keys, wallets, money, jewelry, etc). There's also Medina and Canyon Lake, and of course there's Lake Travis. There's are also some places south of San Antonio, like Calaveras Lake and Choke Canyon, but I don't know of anyone who has dove there.

Lea Ann

 

[1RUSTYRIG]

No quarries, just rivers and lakes.

Many tubers go there and then divers go there to get "tuber droppings" (keys, wallets, money, jewelry, etc).
Lea Ann

Tuber droppings was very popular back in CA too Great pass time!

 

[Heavy D]

I agree with Lea Ann about the LDS's except Duggan's would be at the top of my list. They can certify PADI, NAUI, SSI from beginner to instructor and also do tech, wreck, rebreather and just about anything else you want. Years and years of experience and the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet.

 

[CharlieSierra]

I'm getting in on this string a little late it appears, but since the search function is used a lot to find topics I figure I'd add my $.02.

I'm getting my OW in September and my wife and I spent the last month trying to sort through the San Antonio LDS's to see how pricing differed as well as personal interaction. Without having done much more than that, I'll pass along our findings (which may be premature) - but keep in mind we spent about an hour at each facility:

Dive Masters - while conveniently located to us, it was like pulling teeth to get the guy behind the counter to talk to us. Perhaps just a bad day (and I think it was the owner), but all my questions about gear, courses, etc. appeared to be received as an imposition as responded to with minimal info. We were the only ones in the shop at the time, and once a customer came in with an empty tank we were walked away from mid-sentence to tend to the 'established' customer.

Dive World (2 locations in San Antonio) - My wife and I likened this experience to being on a used car lot. High pressure sales tactics throwing numbers at you very quickly and then trying to close the deal. Very personable, but we found ourselves telling them bluntly we weren't spending a dime until we researched all the LDS's in town. Prices seemed to be on average with everyone else, but if you tried to enter the OW with your own gear they seemed to have a price offset that still brought the bottome line to the same figure.

Deep Blue - We booked with these guys. I've not met Trey (the owner) yet, but the experience from the time I entered the shop to present still continues to be great. Flat rate for the OW course, and no pressure to buy everything in the shop. They have as much inventory as the other shops and will give you scoop on current deals with insight on what you would really need vs. what you may want in the future. As previously mentioned, they keep their customers updated with e-mail traffic on upcoming events and meet at Joe's Crab Shack for regualr meetings.

Wish I had thought of searching Universal City for a dive shop - I always forget about our burbs - and tend to think of UC as a small extension of Randolph AFB.

Hope this helps the next would-be diver.

CharlieSierra

 

[rcndiver]

I'm getting in on this string a little late it appears, but since the search function is used a lot to find topics I figure I'd add my $.02.

I'm getting my OW in September and my wife and I spent the last month trying to sort through the San Antonio LDS's to see how pricing differed as well as personal interaction. Without having done much more than that, I'll pass along our findings (which may be premature) - but keep in mind we spent about an hour at each facility:

Dive Masters - while conveniently located to us, it was like pulling teeth to get the guy behind the counter to talk to us. Perhaps just a bad day (and I think it was the owner), but all my questions about gear, courses, etc. appeared to be received as an imposition as responded to with minimal info. We were the only ones in the shop at the time, and once a customer came in with an empty tank we were walked away from mid-sentence to tend to the 'established' customer.

Dive World (2 locations in San Antonio) - My wife and I likened this experience to being on a used car lot. High pressure sales tactics throwing numbers at you very quickly and then trying to close the deal. Very personable, but we found ourselves telling them bluntly we weren't spending a dime until we researched all the LDS's in town. Prices seemed to be on average with everyone else, but if you tried to enter the OW with your own gear they seemed to have a price offset that still brought the bottome line to the same figure.

Deep Blue - We booked with these guys. I've not met Trey (the owner) yet, but the experience from the time I entered the shop to present still continues to be great. Flat rate for the OW course, and no pressure to buy everything in the shop. They have as much inventory as the other shops and will give you scoop on current deals with insight on what you would really need vs. what you may want in the future. As previously mentioned, they keep their customers updated with e-mail traffic on upcoming events and meet at Joe's Crab Shack for regualr meetings.

Wish I had thought of searching Universal City for a dive shop - I always forget about our burbs - and tend to think of UC as a small extension of Randolph AFB.

Hope this helps the next would-be diver.

CharlieSierra

First let me thank everyone for being so professional in their critiques of the local dive shops in San Antonio. I haven't read anything that was totally disrespectfull, or insulting. Next let me try and defend my home turf. I was certified by Dive Masters in 1994, and have been teaching there since 1997. I will be the first to admit that Tom (the owner) does take some getting used to, however if you can get past his personality quirks, I think you will find he can be a nice guy. He's extremely honest, and won't sell you what you don't need. I know it can a bit of a task to get info from him on some days.
You see part of the problem is that Tom has owned that shop for almost 30 years and is probably a bit tired. He has seen it all from the guy that walks in off the street and knows more about diving than Cousteau, to the individual that tries to nickle and dime him to death. He's had people steal from him, lie to him, order a special piece of gear and never show up to pay for it (which comes out of his pocket.) Dive Masters has been around for a long time and is one of the oldest shops in the state of Texas. What I'm trying to say is It's difficult to be a small business owner in San Antonio, especially a dive store owner. Everone has there bad days, if you've had a really bad experience there let me know and I'll see what I can do to make things right.
Again thanks for the professionalism

 

[stoneoakscuba]

First let me thank everyone for being so professional in their critiques of the local dive shops in San Antonio. I haven't read anything that was totally disrespectfull, or insulting. Next let me try and defend my home turf. I was certified by Dive Masters in 1994, and have been teaching there since 1997. I will be the first to admit that Tom (the owner) does take some getting used to, however if you can get past his personality quirks, I think you will find he can be a nice guy. He's extremely honest, and won't sell you what you don't need. I know it can a bit of a task to get info from him on some days.
You see part of the problem is that Tom has owned that shop for almost 30 years and is probably a bit tired. He has seen it all from the guy that walks in off the street and knows more about diving than Cousteau, to the individual that tries to nickle and dime him to death. He's had people steal from him, lie to him, order a special piece of gear and never show up to pay for it (which comes out of his pocket.) Dive Masters has been around for a long time and is one of the oldest shops in the state of Texas. What I'm trying to say is It's difficult to be a small business owner in San Antonio, especially a dive store owner. Everone has there bad days, if you've had a really bad experience there let me know and I'll see what I can do to make things right.
Again thanks for the professionalism

Hi All,
I wanted to make you aware of a new shop in San Antonio, Stone Oak Scuba is located in the North Central area. They are the only dive shop in San Antonio that has privileges at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos for Diving. Ok, I own the shop and couldn't let this go without mention of my shop. We do offer PADI Courses at a flat rate. We also have a great selection of gear. If you would like more info please pm me or email me @ joe@stoneoakscuba.com
I hope no one minds me plugging my new store, we have only been open for three months and would love to see all the San Antonio Divers

 

[Mack Diver]

I own a dive shop in Austin, TX. However, this inquiry is about San Antonio dive shops and I'll throw in a vote for Duggan Diving. I've known and worked with John for the past 8 years that I have owned my shop. He is a great guy and always has stories to tell. John headed up the effort to certify Wounded Warriors at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio. I have had the privilege of working with him on several of those classes. Oh, and they can take divers to The Meadows Center (Aquarena Springs) as well.