Dive World Austin

I set up a private lesson for my girlfriend and me… and couldn’t have been happier. We opted for the online, which is really convenient and worth the extra it cost, I believe it was $ 50 or so extra. With our schedules, it was too difficult to try to attend the classes.
They worked w/​our schedule and we did our pool sessions in 2 visits, then just finished our open water at Lake Travis (took 2 more sessions).
Brittany was the one that greeted me at the store and explained the online course and did our first session… very friendly gal w/​lots of knowledge.
Our instructor for sessions 2(indoor), 3 and 4(Lake Travis) was Patrick Walsh. He was fantastic. He’s a laid back dude, w/​a good sense of humor, but most important, he is VERY PATIENT. We felt very secure with him while getting our certifications completed. He was very attentive and was able to walk us through any and all anxiety we had. I honestly can say, it was a great experience and if I could do it again, I would 100% NOT change a thing. Thanks Dive World for introducing us to SCUBA!!! I can only speak of private lessons, but if anyone wants to get it done quickly and at your pace, I highly recommend private lessons with Dive World Austin!

Customer service is as good as you could ask for. Very good people and they take care of their customers 100%. John went on a dive with me this past weekend and we all enjoyed the experience and will use his services again. Awesome service, I would recommend them to anyone in the area.

New ownership has improved this place dramatically for the better in the last five years. Looking good, great new rental equipment and great service from the staff. I’m glad I returned! Keep up great work!

Absolutely the best customer service!
They were so nice and helpful. They truly care about getting you what you want and not just selling you anything and everything.
Awesome service!

John took over as owner around October 2015. I got certified here almost a decade ago and haven’t been back since as I haven’t purchased anything new. I called today wondering if my mask and snorkel would still be good after all this time as I am leaving for a cruise tomorrow. John told me how to check if it was still ok and offered to look at it if I wanted to drop by. I went to the shop and he could have easily sold me a new mask and snorkel as mine were a little yucky looking. Instead, he showed me detailed how to’s to clean it and even replaced a styrofoam part that was missing in my snorkel instead of selling me a new snorkel. Grand total? About $ 2.50. He was VERY friendly, very helpful, and very honest. I will TOTALLY give them my business the next time I am ready for some additional gear or training!

Was renting two wetsuits to use in Austin in July. Guy asked for sizes and then gave me 7 MM suits! I am a new diver and assumed this would work for Austin. He didn’t offer an option. When we got to Lake Travis they didn’t fit and were way way too hot so we didn’t use them. When I returned the new owner apologized and refunded half my money. The guy who rented them to me was there and was defensive and rude! Next time I’m going to Tom’s Dive Shop.

If you haven’t been to Dive World recently you owe it to yourself to go. The new owner, Graysen. is always friendly and willing to help. If you haven’t been to the store recently you really need to go. It’s much more open and has a much more fun feel to it these days. He’s also really working to make it the best dive shop in Austin. Which is why you’ll often find tech divers hanging out and talking shop there; as well as people with only a handful of dives under their belt.
The training there is top notch. The instructors are nice, courteous, and are able to really size up students as to make sure to give them the best experience possible. My favorite part is that their instructors actually teach people to have decent trim. This is something that is sadly lacking from many other training facilities. I trust them enough to send my best friend there for training.
Outside of Florida cave country this is my favorite shop.

my wife and i got certified and bought all of our equipment here in august. great people and excellent instructors!!! we are on our way to belize to dive in the big pool, both of us feel very confident and ready! thanks mark and grayson!

The owner of this business clearly doesn’t care about his customers. I have spent over 2k with this business getting all of my scuba gear. I took 2 tanks to the owner on Feb 9^th and dropped them off to go to hydro. He told me it would be about 2 weeks. I followed up with him 2 weeks later, and he said that he hadn’t had a chance to send them to hydro yet, but that he would do it that day. I went in today ³⁄₅ (almost a month later) and asked him about my tanks. He said they should be back because nothing was at hydro.
Well he couldn’t find them and finally went to the back and found them and still NEVER took them to get done. I told him I was going to use them this weekend, and he offered what I thought was a fair solution — I could borrow 2 of his tanks while mine were out at hydro. I told him that so I didn’t have to make another trip to the shop, I would just keep his 2 until mine were back — he told me that was unacceptable. I told him that was kind of how I felt about him keeping my tanks for a month and doing nothing with them. He then walked over to me, took his 2 full tanks back. I told him that I would never shop there again and told me he doesn’t get rich on filling tanks and I could go elsewhere.
I told him you’re right, you don’t. But you do on the 2k+ I have spent with you on scuba gear (he must have forgotten the amount of money I spent with him)! What an unprofessional owner that seems to forget that the customer is what makes (or in this case breaks) his business! I will never go there again, and for a new business owner to act this way towards his clientele is really sad. I drove the 25 min to Scuba Land and they (as they always have been) were very professional and helpful. I only went to Dive World because they were close — but today the owner fixed that problem for me.

I RARELY write reviews but when a business is this horrendous I feel the obligation to warn people.
Having been a diver since 1982 and dived all over the world I’ve been in a few dive shops.
The service and the attitude of the man who owns the shop is absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen.
I haven’t been in the water since 2013 and dropped off my regs and BC for inspection and rebuild. Told the guy at the counter I was heading out of the country in 2 weeks and wanted some pool time to check out and review skills and needed my regs back in time, he gave me a date that worked and it seemed like no problem; WRONG
I’d pay very close attention to when the reviews were written since he’s only own the place since 2014 it’s obvious that the good reviews that were written (certainly the majority of them) were written with the old owner. This guy doesn’t do what he says he’s going to do, he does not follow up on his commitments m, he does not return phone calls and he does not present a good face forward for the consuming public.
I would run not walk away from this place and I would certainly not trust him with any of my equipment. The place is so disorganized he couldn’t even find my BC that I brought in. I finally had to dig it out from behind a row of tanks.
02÷24÷15 as an update. I took the same equipment to ScubaLand and the staff there was friendly and professional, tested all equipment AT NO CHARGE and stated that all equipment was in excellent working order and they could not recommend any repairs. WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Austin & Greysen at Dive World Austin were awesome! We took the e-​learning course online and they were gracious enough to let us split up the weekends (pool dives one weekend in July and lake dives another weekend in August) to accomodate our schedules. We got great 1:1 training, learning, and feedback and the whole experience was a ton of fun! Highly recommd Dive World for anyone wanting to get their scuba certification!

I was really nervous to start classes since the idea of breathing underwater was intimidating to me. However, my instructor, John Lindsey, was awesome! He was patient and understanding. We achieved everything necessary (skills, objectives, etc) in a calm, fun, relaxed, but serious learning environment.
The shop itself is open and welcoming. The staff is knowledgable on any equipment/​gear you could want or need, and they seem to have what you want or need.

Wonderful experience for my teenage son and daughter! The instructor, Mark, was patient and helpful with both kids throughout the entire process. From class time to pool time to testing and diving, he was great. My 13 and 15 year old kids were fortunate enough to get to do their certification dives at Aquarena Springs, which just opened to divers after 3 years’ hiatus. I’d prepared them for the cold and dark certification dive most Austinites have experienced. 5 stars for all around helpful and attentive!

I gave this business 5 stars because I couldn’t think of anything negative about it. I was nervous about picking a shop to get my scuba cert from. Many different shops had different prices and not many reviews available online. When I went to Dive World, they were very friendly and showed me around the store. They have a pool in the shop where you do the basic scuba instruction before your open water dives.
Our instructor was very knowledgeable and also kept us laughing during this learning process where you might be nervous! They weren’t pushy with buying the most expensive equipment but helpful in making suggestions and answering questions. They gave us the option of where we wanted to do our open water dives. We chose Comal River and Lake Travis so that we could get a feel of diving at two different locations and bodies of water. I’d definitely recommend this place! Be prepared for early classes and bring snacks! It’s awesome that you are able to knock out the classes in 2 weekends.

under new management, very helpful, friendly and courteous. Happy to have a great dive shop out near the lake. thanks guys!

I took the lesson last week. Our instructor, Mike, is strict (for good reason) and very patient with me even though I caused a lot of trouble in the water. Highly recommended!

Employees like Bert are the reason I will continue to shop here for my scuba and snorkel gear. Bert was immensely helpful and knowledgeable and answered all my questions before my trip to Curaçao. He also honored the warranty on a defective mask and issued a replacement. You can shop and buy locally with confidence at Dive World.

Ode to Dive World and Wayne Brush our very patient instructor:
First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking if I ever scuba’ed
Then I might die.
But I spent so much time
In the class and in the pool
I grew strong
I learned how to float along
and now we’re back
at Travis lake
I just performed all my skills
with a surprised look upon my face
I can clear my reg and mask
I have learned to buddy breathe
I can hover in the water
Up and down so easily!
Go on now go, fifty feet deep
I’ll follow down now
’cause I can get my buoyancy
weren’t you the one who fed the fish by my side
you think I’d freak out?
you think I’d tell scuba good-​bye?
Oh no, not I!
I will survive
as long as I watch my gauges
I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all the sharks to see
I want to swim all the reefs
and I’ll survive
I will survive
It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart
to clear my ears and calm my breathing
and slow my beating heart
and I spent oh so many hours
on the murky lake bottom
I used to cry
Now I hold my BCD high
and you see me
somebody new
I’m that diver blowing bubbles
swimming under you
I’ll be exploring the ocean
A confident finned girl
And I’m owing all my thanks
to the guys at Dive World!