Tropical Adventures, Santa Cruz

Tropical Adventures has THE best staff out there! If your dive shop doesn't have incredible staff, you will not have an incredible experience. John, the main shop owner and instructor, was outstanding from day one. I was nervous, not having had any dive experience whatsoever, and John spent ample time with me on the phone guiding me through everything I needed to know and how to be best prepared for my dive days. He was very clear with how much things would cost and helped me cut costs on gear where I needed to! He knows everything about gear and skills which is great, but the best of all is he is highly trained and serious about your safety whether you're in the pool or in the ocean. I knew I was in good hands considering John's 30+ years of diving experience. Plus, he is a genuine, joyful guy and he feels like your best friend right when you meet him. Rebecca was the other staff member who graciously answered my many phone calls and many questions! She's very sweet and was super clear about what our schedule would look like for training. My whole experience with Tropical Adventures, John, and Rebecca was so enjoyable and fun that I'm already getting ready to sign up for an advanced course with them! I HIGHLY suggest getting all of your certs through Tropical Adventures if you want the best of the best experience learning how to scuba dive!

Superior knowledge of the sport and excellent communication by the entire staff. Super fun experience and highly recommend this shop to all ages. Owner/operator John Richardson is easy to understand, patient and encouraging. Loved it!!

Tropical Adventures provides extremely qualified and safety conscious instruction for the novice diver! They provide everything you need to enter the sport safely and confidently! I am now doing advanced open water with them and I trust them to ensure that each skill is mastered before they let me tackle the next one! These guys are simply the best!

First off, the instructors and staff are nice, fun, and generally friendly. Definitely appreciate that. The problems I had were the schedule and hidden costs. Don't forget you'll be spending 80 on a book, 40 on a dvd, and bare minimum 300 on soft gear, if you get the worst of the worst. The scheduling is impossible, which, I understand is in part due to weather. I tried to reschedule my final dive 4 or 5 times, and each time it was switched last minute. When you commute that far, this isn't easy. In the end, with 1 dive left, I lost interest and gave up on the scheduling so unfortunately I'm out a lot of money. But hey, it was fun while it lasted, 1 day.