Dunno if you're still looking, but I made the rounds recently.
I bought some gear last year from
The Dive Shop in Newmarket from Jim. He was a huge help with my Roatan vacation. Unfortunately, the shop seems to be closed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are 'liquidation' signs on the windows (as of last week) and I haven't bothered to stop in as it's been dark inside every time I've swung by. At about the same time, I bought some PADI materials from Colt Creek Diving in Newmarket, but their website seems to be down.
I visited the rest of the shops between September and November this year, while I was hunting for BC and regulators. Admittedly, I was leaning towards Apeks pretty early in my search, so I may have bias towards shops that carry their gear.
In Richmond Hill, a dive club friend recommended
Scuba 2000. I spoke to Diana (Alec's wife, I think) and she was really helpful. I liked that they had a pool where they'd let me test gear if I was interested. If I recall, they carried a lot of Sherwood and Scuba Pro stuff. I wanted some Mares fins this summer and ended up at
AquaSub. Norbert is outstanding. He has a great shop, and is hugely helpful. Easily one of the nicest guys I've met at a shop. Tons of Mares stuff. Great stories as well. During the big storm in July I was marooned in Markham at
My Dive Centre. Another very friendly shop owner, but not a very extensive collection of gear. I did buy a few small things I needed for an upcoming trip as the price was right.
In Toronto I went to
Aquarius. IMO, this was gear-heaven. Apeks, Aqualung, Mares, Scuba Pro, Sherwood, Atomic, Poseidon and probably tons more. Guy came highly recommended and did not disappoint. I can't think of a shop that had more equipment from more lines, but this observation is totally subjective - it felt like I saw a lot of shops in a short time. He really knows equipment. As it's probably the closest shop to me, and they carry Apeks, I'll probably use them/him for servicing. While I was there, I overheard someone talking about
Aqua-Systems in Mississauga. I never made it there. I also didn't make it to Water Sports, but I heard good things.
Although I'm not sure why, I drove out to
Dive Source in Oshawa (it's about an hour from my house). After a few more trips East, I ended up buying all of my gear from Brian, and really can't say enough about him, the staff at his shop and his shop itself. He offered very competitive pricing, even compared to online shops and carried everything I wanted and a lot more. Brian is extremely knowledgeable and an outstanding person to deal with. I just wish it were closer as it's the only reason I can see myself making that trip.
I agree with the previous poster who suggested supporting local dive shops.
Didn't know Doppler sold gear, but Steve will definitely be someone I'll talk to when I unbury myself from the debt incurred through my recent purchases.
