Recommendations for Monterey drysuit certification course, please

[neve]

My buddy and I will be in Monterey on the weekend of Sept 7-9, 2012, and we're hoping to get drysuit certified. Does anyone have recommendations for:

• An experienced local instructor
• A dive center that rents out drysuits, tanks, weights for the course

It would be great if we can get some ideas about the course fee, drysuit rental fee. We will bring our own scuba gear.

Thanks in advance!

 

[neve]

Bumping this up, hoping for some response. Anyone?

 

[fisheater]

Try Bruce at Aquarius on Del Monte.


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[g1138]

I don't know which shops rent drysuits and which don't or if any of them do for that matter.

I'll link the shops here and you could try sending them an email?
Seven Seas Scuba - Monterey, Dive Tours, PADI Dive shop, Dive Certifications, Scuba Lessons, Dive Gear, Equipment Service

Scuba Diving lessons, classes, courses - San Francisco, Sonoma Coast, Marin, Monterey, Northern California Bay Area | Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers

Aquarius Dive Shop - Your PADI 5-Star Scuba Dive Center in Monterey for Training, Equipment, Service, and Rentals

Glenn's Aquarius II Dive Shop

Norcal divers, did I miss any?

 

[neve]

Thanks a lot, I've dropped Bamboo Reef an email

A recommendation for a friendly instructor who still loves diving would be great!

 

[fisheater]

Thanks a lot, I've dropped Bamboo Reef an email

A recommendation for a friendly instructor who still loves diving would be great!

That's why I recommended Bruce. You won't find more experience or love for diving. Besides, I saw him training an instructor how to teach drysuit classes.

 

[neve]

That's why I recommended Bruce. You won't find more experience or love for diving. Besides, I saw him training an instructor how to teach drysuit classes.

Thanks fisheater. I had an unpleasant experience with Aquarius in general, when I went with them for a leisure dive. I think I'm going to try another dive operator this time. Does Bruce freelance, do you know?

 

[g1138]

Keep in mind that there's 2 Aquarius'. The one near the dive site Breakwater is less friendly than the one on Del Monte (near the naval post graduate school).

Bruce co-owns the shop on Del Monte, so in a way yes. When I was looking for DM jobs, Aquarius on Del Monte was hiring DM's as private contractors. You have your own personal insurance instead of a umbrella shop policy. I think that's been their policy and still is.

I take it that the shop simply takes applications as a way to gather a list of DM's they can contact.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[zf2nt]

Thanks fisheater. I had an unpleasant experience with Aquarius in general, when I went with them for a leisure dive. I think I'm going to try another dive operator this time. Does Bruce freelance, do you know?

I'd like to hear more about this experience, because I don't have anything in my records which indicates you have ever been in this shop.

Bruce

 

[3D diver]

FWIW: When I bought my first dry suit (back in '89) I requested a pool/training session as part of the sale. In my case the "training" boiled down to the instructor saying "go to the deep end, get inverted, and figure out what to do about it". But it was still useful. You can likely get a bit more than that.

Have you considered expanding your search to include the bay area shops?