Best Scuba Diving Beginners Courses Seattle Near Me

CÁZI: Great gear, Great staff, Great instructers!

Benjamin Bryer: Extremely professional and friendly instructors. Highly recommend!

John Krah: Instructors are skilled and knowledgeable, love sharing their experience with divers of all skills from first time to professional, and pick good sites for finding octopus!

Joshua Adam: Great service and had what I wanted. Support local.

Gilberto Ramirez Jacome: Awesome!!

Steven Margo: From the very beginning, Atina at Underwater Sports' Seattle store was super helpful with scheduling, instruction, and advice.When my schedule wouldn't allow me to join one of the standard classes, Atina offered to work over a national holiday to refresh my training. She also was a superb instructor, reviewing material outside of the water and in the water. She also asked around to connect me with a recommended dive shop in a less-traveled destination.Thank you UWS for hiring great workers like Atina!

Len Quadracci: Good place to get gear serviced. Good place to take or update training. The employees care and go the extra mile. I trust them and that is important.

Stanley Groomer: I have been part of the Underwater Sports family since 1988. They are the best!

Julia Sleeper: These guys are so great! I worked with several folks from the team here on my scuba cert and getting setup with gear and everyone is very kind and supportive and informative. I would highly recommend this spot to anyone looking to learn!

Candace Mauer: Been coming here for 25 years for equipment purchases and servicing. Solid.

Bryce Johnson: Friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate staff! Great dive shop, I read that money cannot buy happiness but it can buy dive gear! Stop by UWS. 🤣

Vince Reynolds: Great dive shop.

Ozan Erdem: They did a great job replacing the battery of my suunto dive computer. I had an upcoming trip and folks here expedited my work so that I can take my dive computer with me. Thank you!

Henry Chism: Helpful staff and great instruction at UWs

Sage Wheeler: . I feel I have seen enough to give a wholehearted endorsement of the business and, especially, the instructors. All of my classes were taught by Duncan Scott. He is calm and assured and very competent. He dives effortlessly, which gives great confidence that he can support you easily as well. I highly recommend any class or trip with Duncan. This place could make a fortune selling gear to their students, but never once have I felt that I was being taken advantage of. In fact, the discounts offered to students usually result on a price much lower than anything you can find online. If anything they are too generous, and it seems they could use some profits from product sales to spruce the place up a little bit. It is definitely a vintage Seattle joint that could use some renovations, but I would take good people over glossy appearance any day.The classes are well taught, with a strong emphasis on safety. Ultimately, you have to listen and be responsible for yourself, communicate your needs, etc, but I felt well supervised the entire time. To do that, they sometimes break you up into small groups, even though they are well within PADI guidelines to take the whole group out. I like this extra-cautious approach. However, this leaves the other group sitting in the rain on the shore for an hour or so. I would have liked to have seen some more shore support on those cold days. A pop-up tent and some hot tea, hot water for cold gloves, etc. That seems like a nice touch that wouldn't cost a lot and would be really appreciated.I would also add that their website is very antiquated and is a bit hard to follow when it comes to scheduling classes, especially on a mobile device - but it works. They still use a lot of paper with a lot of the tests, applications, etc, which could be done online through PADI.Overall, this is a great group of people who are clearly passionate about what they do and they have been doing it a long time. There seems to be a bit of apathy towards change, as can happen when a business has been successful for a long time, and it seems they could use a fresh look at some of their offerings and practices. I would say they are still a 5 star operation, for sure. After all, I got what I needed, I felt safe, and I felt the pricing was very fair.

Ave B: The most fun class ever and great staff. I did the open water referral with their Tulum school and everything was so smooth, great communication. Great place to go learn how to dive!!

Jakob Engel: I love diving, and went with Seattle Scuba to do the Cold Water orientation, and then the Drysuit and then the Advance Open Water - I've been diving in different places before, but always at a cozy 20C, so this a great new experience. And to everyone who is in doubt whether cold-water diving is worth it compared to tropical diving - go try it!The Instructors are all excellent, and clearly love what they do, I can absolutely recommend the school. During the AOW one of the instructors was out, so the setup was somewhat sub-optimal with 7 students and only 3 instructors - we had to alternate groups, leading to quite long days and a bit shorter dives than I would have expected.In the end, I went on an additional two dives with the owner, Cathy - which were awesome and more than made up for it though.[Plus- the baffled look of people passing by on a rainy day, asking whether you are really going into dive in this nasty weather, and then realizing that, to a diver in a drysuit, a bit of Seattle rain really doesn't make much of a difference... is just priceless :D]

Nicole Quindara: certified! Everything was really simple to book online. Go to their website and sign up for the program you're interested in. For me it was the pool session refresher course. For my husband it was the full weekend of pool and two day open water certification. They email you all the study materials you need and you schedule your sessions online. The entire process is straight forward and Seattle Scuba is very communicative.Chris and Michael were my pool instructors and I could not say enough wonderful things. They were kind, funny, and absolutely professional. They took the class through a barrage of skills in just under 4 hours. You will feel 100% safe breathing underwater after listening to and learning from these masters!Sign up right away. I promise you won't regret your time with Seattle Scuba!

Natalie Garcia: Came here for open water cert, cold water orientation and dry suit cert. Everyone I’ve come in contact with from owner, instructors and front desk support is super knowledgeable, professional, friendly and fun. I would highly recommend this place. You get the feeling they all love the sport, and safety and education is top priority while also having a good time even in the worst of visibility conditions.

Rahul: Took my open water certification course here. These people go above and beyond to ensure your safety and to ensure that you've learned properly. I feel like we could have had more social distancing in the pool sessions but besides that, A+. Would love to dive with these folks again.

Lewis Lu: Positive:Communication,Professionalism,Quality,ValueWent in for some snorkeling supplies. The owner was so friendly and extremely helpful in picking out a good fitting gear, even offered travel tips to our destination. Highly recommend.

Alana Strassfield: Our instructor, Eddie, was so nice. Can’t recommend enough.

Winona Wright: My husband and I took our open water certification course here. We loved it and plan to take our advanced and dry suit course soon! We had Cathy as our instructor. She was very knowledgeable and we felt very safe with her as she spent a lot of time on making sure we knew all the skills. All of the staff was super helpful. I would recommend Seattle Scuba to everyone! We are excited to join future dives with them.

Andrey Karayvansky: Got my regulator hose replaced in minutes. Nice people work there

David: This is by far the best dive shop and dive school in the Seattle Metro area. The staff and instructors are all super friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. I would hands down tell anyone to go here to either buy equipment or to aquire scuba certifications.

Katia S: . Plenty attention and coaching from divemaster John. Excellent points on buoyancy in heavier equipment. Lots of good stories. Safe and professional..

Michael Delles: I really enjoyed my classes here. The instructors are super friendly and knowledgeable. Ill definitely be coming back for more classes and to start getting my own gear

Mary Josberger: Positive:Communication,Professionalism,Quality,ValueSeattle Scuba is a local gem. Incredibly knowledgable instructors, great courses, and amazing trip organization. I've been fortunate enough to travel with them three times, each an amazing dive experience.

Nathan Rose: I love these guys! I've done multiple shore dives in Puget sound, a couple of boat trips, and a 10 day dive trip to the Philippines. Every interaction is excellent, from the laid-back owner to the highly competent and safety-first staff. I did my AOW and First Responder certs with them and next up will be Rescue Diver. Outstanding all the way 'round.

Henry Chism: Seattle Dive Tours rocks! Tours are always great and staff is very friendly and accommodating. Come check them out!

Piotr Linke: Very professionally organised event. The Seacrest Cove 2 site is full of cold water marine life despite the proximity of the city. If you are into macro photography you should not be disappointed.

Katy Peterson: , and she did such a fantastic job! I’m headed to Belize in January and after a 7 year break in between dives, the course made me feel much more prepared and confident for my trip. I highly recommend Seattle Dive Tours for all of your training needs.

Tom Guadagno: Great experience!

Ian Campbell: Did the sea crest 2 dive and had a fantastic experience. They keep groups small and clearly know what they’re doing. Will use again

Jack Dennis: Amazing experience

Dennis Pilat: .I highly recommend them! They know their stuff and I love how they keep class sizes small

Brian Pisula: Scott and his crew are top notch! Had two great dives with Scott as my guide. Felt well cared for throughout. Gear was excellent, hot coffee during surface time, good educational materials about wildlife. Would highly recommend to anybody looking to dive in the Seattle area!

Kristen Tice: I had such a great time with this diving company! They were all very friendly and provided warm water with the choice of tea or coffee. The weights and rental gear were sized just right. We went over safety, hand signals, and the dive plan before getting into the water.

Joseph Thomas: My wife and I did a walk-in guided dive at Sund Rock; it was an awesome experience! Olivia was our dive master; she made us feel welcome and comfortable, and both dives were safe, enjoyable and informative. We will definitely be back for more!

Jake Seegs: Fantastic dive shop with a wonderful group of guides. The rental gear was top shelf stuff. Shoutout to Maddi, Madison, and Shannon for their professionalism and patience. This was my first cold water dive and it was a lot to adjust to compared to my usual tropical environments. I’d definitely dive with this shop again and encourage others to do the same.

Alex Chernak: Excellent dive, and crew. Great experience!

Jack Mi: is so nice and friendly and helpful. The communication is SUPER SMOOTH. They are very responsive!I booked the seacrest cove 2 tour with them. Great briefing up front. They helped a lot when gearing up/switching tank, they have very good surface support

Tigin Kaptanoglu: I visited Seattle off-season and wanted to dive. My schedule was hard to begin with, and kept changing. SDT was so accommodating throughout, always making sure that 1- I could dive as many times as I wanted, 2- I would enjoy each dive to the max, 3- I got to my hotel safely when my phone died and my cab didn't arrive, and 4- I was refunded for any dives that I missed. The dive with the massive friendly seal was an experience to remember for life. I absolutely loved these people and will definitely travel from Europe to dive with them again.

Sophie Dion-Kirschner: and Billy

Forrest Wedmore: These guys are awesome! I've done a guided tour of both Seacrest Cove 2 and Edmonds UWP with them and both have be excellent! The staff is attentive and knowledgeable about conditions, gear and wildlife. I would highly recommend them for certification and tour dives in the Puget area.

Caitlin Townsend: , and they even added a second instructor on Day 2

karl wirsing: My wife and I just completed PADI open water certification through Seattle Dive Tours, and they are nothing short of exceptional. For someone like me, who was fairly nervous going in, I loved their instructor-to-student ratio -- one professional for two newbies -- and felt thoroughly cared for and safe the entire time. Everyone we met and worked with was warm, welcoming, hugely knowledgeable and patient. Seriously, couldn't have had a more positive experience, and we can't wait to get out in the water again soon!

Jeff H: . The class included rental items and there was never a time where we incurred an unexpected cost once we signed up for the class. The instruction was great. Our instructor was professional, knowledgeable, experienced and very patient. We would definitely recommend using them. We will continue to provide them with our business. Also, we would highly recommend doing the open water dives in the puget sound, it exceeded our expectations. Cheers!

Kristofer Stensland: Just finished the intro to free diving course. Learned a ton and had a blast!

Chuck Fergerson: My kids, 13 and 15, just completed their open water dive certification. The instructors were great and the kids had a blast!

Corinne Klohmann: I had a great experience getting my open water SCUBA certification here. Jackie was an excellent instructor and took every precaution to make her students feel safe and confident diving!

nima maghoul: Great staff, service and equipment for your diving needs

Riley Cobb: Manager is super friendly and helpful! This guy needs a promotion or something!!!

Robin Barr: Love this local place! They know all there is about NW diving and had a snorkel that fits my 7 year old

David Rahfeldt: Great people an DC cety competent help. Filling. Instruction ...gottaclivd friendly competence

Ken Buzelle: Went diving at magnuson park when my dive buddy's high pressure hose blew while doing our surface prep.. Googled dive shops and they were the top of the list. A+ service

Pamela Bellah Seattle & Eastside Realtor: struggled and struggled

Colin Katagiri: They've always been extremely helpful in their sponsorship of the University of Washington's Human Powered Submarine Team. Their staff is always very friendly and knowledgeable about the gear they are selling.I have not taken any classes with them.

Ian Doepker: Lighthouse Diving is a great dive shop that always has its best interest for the customer. I took the basic basic open water scuba certification with Jim and Tim and they provided outstanding service, very well knowledgeable, never rush into things and take each chapter one step at a time. Prices are reasonable, able to work deals with possible packages. Can provide adequate info on dive sites. Definitely one of the higher recommended dive shops to go to if you need something dive related.

Dom .F: with discounts and expertise. Brought my gear in for annual servicing, and the work is done at about the going rate for that sort of thing. All work is done offsite, which makes the lead time about 2 weeks, but that's about as good as most other places.Only complaint is that they generally seem pretty short-staffed: pretty sure just one guy is in the shop at a time. Their process for servicing and renting could be expedited, otherwise there is a pretty long wait if someone else is in the shop.