Scubaland Adventures

Extremely helpful and amazing customer service! I highly recommend them for their certification classes.

Great dive shop! I needed an adapter to hook my octo/​power inflator to my bcd. In about 5 minutes Mark took my old hose off, hooked up adapter to hose which fit my atomic ss1. I asked how much i owed him because i know the adapter is about $ 8 online and he said i owed him nothing. WOW! This shop will definitely get my future business!

Was told I could return a wet suit if I had any problems, but that was not the case. I don’t live in Austin so it was a little outside the 14 days, but all tags still on, never worn. Be careful what you purchase as they only allow store credit and then they can’t order all brands. The owner was very arrogant and said he «didn’t care if he lost my future business or wrote a bad review,» but the female assistant was kind. I was reminded why it’s not wise to shop at small boutique businesses!

Just finished my open water certification at Scubaland and because of my odd schedule was able to have two instructors. Steven Neusaenger did my pool sessions and was both patient and knowledgeable. He was able to give those little insights that help a lot. Dominique Lutz did my open water check outs and was just amazing. She was so patient with me when I choked on a skill. Never seemed bothered and oh so happy to help. The sales staff was also great when I came in with questions. Never seemed put out even when I thought I was starting to get annoying. Would recommend this place to anyone and have in fact have done so with some coworkers that expressed interest when I told them how fun it was to learn diving.

Though some might fret about the prices of this place, they really do an outstanding job that is worthy of the cost. I had a horrible experience with another scuba school in town, but Scubaland exceeded all of my expectations and made me feel like I was getting a quality certification experience. My instructor, Mike Lutz, knows his stuff, and I feel very well trained and confident for open water dives thanks to him. In fact, I am looking at continuing my certification schooling until I complete the instructor level… with many, many dive trips planned along the way, of course!

I have been associated with Scubaland for about 20+ years now, and consider the owners, Rob and Jennifer to be my friends. It is the only LDS I frequent in Austin.
Always professional, knowledgable, and courteous, manager and assistant manager Alex and Roy, along with Mark, their superb equipment technician, have always been my go-​to folks in the store.
Master Scuba Instructor Steve and Scuba Instructor Scott are among the best instructors I have ever met.
If you’re looking for scuba (or swimming) classes, do stop by. If you’re looking for gear or advice, Scubaland is the place to be.
No matter what, do not make the mistake of not stopping this store for your scuba needs.

I took my Open Water Padi course with Scott Cameron at this location. I cannot give enough praise to the whole operation as well as Scott. His patience and years of experience made it a great course. I feel really lucky to have ended up in his class and with Scubaland. Their whole operation is smooth and everyone at the store was super helpful with rental gear and scheduling. I highly recommend them!

After and abysmal experience with Dive World in Cedar Park I took my equipment to ScubaLand. I can’t tell you what a difference it was between the two shops.
ScubaLand staff was friendly, courteous and professional. They worked with me and my schedule to get my equipment checked and back to me so I would be ready for a trip to Belize.
Having been diving for over 25 years I have been in more than my share of SCUBA shops and I would highly recommend ScubaLand for the kind of atmosphere that makes being a diver fun and the professionalism that makes it safe.

Overall pretty decent experience with respect to getting open water certified. Instructor Dan is a super nice guy and very good instructor. You will be very comfortable with scuba after working with him. For those who are like me and have never been scuba diving and do not have any gear it’s good to know the following before you sign up because I was not told any of this:
Cost of class does NOT include:
— purchase of mask, snorkel, boots and fins (I spent nearly $ 300) When I enquired about renting these items I was given the impression that I HAD to buy them
— purchase of PADI dive briefing slate and emergency sausage ($ 10?)
— daily entry fee for open water part ($ 20 per day per person for Reveille Peak Ranch).
*Cost could be different depending on where the open water dives are done
–tip for dive masters that assist with open water dives
— gas to travel back and forth to open water dives and back and forth to dive shop to check out and return equipment and refill oxygen tanks (only for open water dives)
Other than the hidden costs and hassles of driving back and forth to diving shop you should have an overall good experience working with Scubaland.

I have been dealing with ScubaLand North for more than 15 years. They have good products and over the years I have bought multiple full sets of gear and spent many thousands of dollars with them. However, three recent service experiences have have led me decide to not using ScubaLand any longer.
First, I took in a Nitrox tank for servicing — I asked for a hydro and an O2 clean. When I picked it up the tank had only been hydro’d and the Nitrox stickers had been removed from the tank. Apparently the associate had written the ticket wrong and only ordered a hydro and not an O2 clean. I offered to pay the difference but Scubaland insisted on charging me for a second hydro test. They would not correct their mistake even when I offered to pay the extra amount for the O2 clean. So I had to pay to have it hydro’d a second time.
But having dealt with ScubaLand for so long, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. In prepping for a trip to Bonaire this summer I took in my regulators, BCs, and computers for servicing. I should have checked their work, but I didn’t. When I arrived in Bonaire, I realized that they had put the wrong type of inflator hose on one of the regulators. I was forced to buy the correct hose in Bonaire to address this second mistake that ScubaLand had made.
Then to add insult to injury, one of the computers that they serviced flooded on its first dive. I had never had a single problem with this computer until ScubaLand serviced it — then it flooded on the very next dive. ScubaLand refused to address the the damage they caused to the computer.
Despite the long history I have of doing business with ScubaLand, I will now be switching to exclusively use other dive shops in Austin. They do not take pride in their work, and they do not address mistakes when they occur. So far, I am out of pocket more than $ 300 for their service mistakes. I’ve now had three service issues with them in a year and not one time did they work with me or take any ownership of the issues they caused.

I haven’t been much impressed with this store and had heard that the South store is actually much better in terms of customer service and efficiency.
Went to the South store this past weekend and it’s all true. Jennifer is a great manager and their customer service is just brilliant.
Did an advanced class with Tim S. and he is a great teacher. Learned a lot from him. I will drive an extra 30 minutes just so I can go to the south store.

This place is an awesome facility to do your Open Water Certification or a refresher course!
The facility has a deep pool to do all your exercises and checkout skills with full equipment rental.
I did my scuba refresher course here with a Groupon for $ 35 (I believe the reg price is $ 70) and it was fantastic! The facility is clean and our instructor was very patient and knowledgeable. You get your money’s worth in the 4-​hr refresher course as well as full on workout!
They also have a scuba club where you can go on different dive trips with your fellow Austin divers.
If you are an active diver or looking to become one this is the place to go in ATX!

Just got Open Water certified at the north location and had a great time. Instructor Dick Bishop was outstanding and very patient when anyone needed assistance. Divemaster Manny was also great in helping with our class. I highly recommend Scubaland and Mr. Bishop to anyone considering diving.

I love the fact that Scubaland is locally owned and operated. I have been diving/​traveling with this operation for well over 10 years. Whether you are just beginning or an experienced diver, I highly recommend you talk to these people.
I have had gear worked on in the last month and I had no problems. My gear was completed on time and as quoted.

My wife and I were first certified here back in 1998, and despite the lake being slightly ‘frigid’ for our dives, we had a great time. After moving back to Austin two years ago, our eight year old son expressed interest in doing the PADI Seal program, so we signed him up. He had a great time and learned a lot; all the credit goes to Ms. Dominique, who was extremely patient and flexible with the kids. It was great to see him learn such a fun, lifelong activity in a low stress environment. He’s looking forward to getting his open water certification in a couple years, and we’re looking forward to our first family dive trip. Thanks Scubaland Adventures!

They taught me how to scuba dive, so there’s very little I can hate on! Our instructor for the Open Water course, Jack Ryan, was fantastic, and we lucked out and got a class almost to ourselves (one other person). If you want to go get certified, go in WINTER. I know it sounds really really horrid, but you get a super small class and lots of personal attention, and those thick wetsuits keep you warm in the 50 – 60 degree water, pinky swear. This is from someone who will get in the heated pool at the gym and complain it’s cold, so you know it’s legit!
We went back for the advanced class right away, and Richard Weiss created a class just for us, and we got to spend a weekend out on his boat doing that, which was what every class should be — taught on a boat. Cause… boat!
The only thing I have to pick on is that a) the store is just PRICEY. I know scuba gear is expensive, and I’d love to support the local shop, but there’s a lot of stuff that is just marked WAY up from online purchasing. It’s all great quality stuff, and I’ve purchased a few things there out of convenience (boots, fins, etc), but I’m having trouble justifying spending a lot of money on gear after the certification. I need to let the wallet recover.
However, they are super knowledgeable and organized and I just get a little happy going in there because I know it probably means I’m going to get to go under the water in a bit. I highly recommend their classes to everyone.

This review is for the Discover Scuba Diving course offered at Scubaland. Kelly taught our lesson and she was FANTASTIC. She truly helped to put my mind at ease — I was a smidge nervous due to a bad experience with snorkeling in Maui. Diving is way easier than snorkeling. Let me tell ya, having a steady flow of oxygen really makes a difference. By the time our lesson was through, we were ready to sign up for the Open Water Course to get our certifications and plan on doing so very soon.
Have to note that we had a couple of LivingSocial deals. I reserved our class before the coupon expired, but then actually had to reschedule a few times. By the time we made it in our deal had expired. Not only did Roy work with our rescheduling requests, but he also honored our LivingSocial deal. We didn’t even ask him if he would, he just did! Class act and we had beyond a great customer experience. Can’t wait to get certified and will be sure to schedule during wrestling off-​season and non-​crunch time. I hope Kelly is involved with our certifications! She’s just that awesome!

Four stars because I’ve only rented gear here, and I like NAUI certification.
The gear I rented here was great. That includes reg set, wetsuit, weights, bcd, and air. Whoever helped me out was great, and the pricing was reasonable. I really like that they have small Ladyhawk BCDs, because I’m petite and these are some of the best fitting BCDs for the petite athletic but scrawny-​ish (my) build. I think they fit better than the Pearl BC that I own, but I like the hybrid style better.

I am knew to scuba diving, so I needed diving lessons and equipment. The staff (everyone) and the instructors (Steve and Robert) at Scubaland are professional, knowledgeable, and eager to make your experience enjoyable. I highly recommend Scubaland to anyone in Central TX looking to either learn to dive, purchase diving equipment, or participate in one of their planned diving trips.
Just good people…

Wow! This is like the Runtex for scuba in Austin. Locally owned and enthusiastically run!
Hubby and I are taking scuba lessons at, ahem, a competing shop but had heard thru friends that this Scubaland has a large sales rack (they do!) to hopefully save money on fin and mask purchases. We originally started at their location on 620 and were expertly helped by Emma on how to find the perfect mask fit which is crucial for scuba. She spent a long time with us and hubby actually bought his $ 75 mask from her (they don’t have a lot of sale items here). I opted to run down to this location as it has the big sale rack. Yes, when it comes to survival in the water, I am a bargain hunter :)
Upon entering, a very nice gentleman, Mike, asked if I needed help. «I need lots of help, I’m afraid,» I said, and he responded with an enthusiastic «Great!». First off, he found me the perfect mask off the sale rack for half off at $ 40. Then on to the fins. He produced for me some sweet flippers that were on sale for $ 70. He also had me try on some sturdy soled booties. I liked it all and when he asked what color I wanted my fins in, I randomly picked yellow thinking I could find them easier if I dropped em while swimming. He returned from the back with a different set of fins saying they were out of the yellow sale fins but I could have this better, $ 100 set for the same $ 70 since they were in yellow!
AND, he gave me the student discount of 10% even tho I’m not taking lessons with them. What a great guy! He went on to advise me on my trip to Caymans. All in all, he and his charming labrador retriever, Max, spent about 45 minutes with me. It wasn’t until checkout, where he made sure I got all my discounts, that I found out he was the owner of all three Scubalands! He, as in Mike, not Max the dog (altho Max definitely «owned» Mike :).
**Stop reading here if you don’t like the personal stories** So I called hubby from the store and told him what I was buying, the fins, mask and booties (altogether for about $ 150). And he vehemently said we didn’t need to spend $ 30 on the booties, we had neoprene socks at home. I reluctantly put them back, all the while Mike shaking his head. Next day, at our shop taking lessons, hubby went to buy HIS fins and the guy said, «Oh these are the best and you need em. They’re only $ 120 and you’ll need these $ 40 booties as well.» Hubby immediately agreed, without trying anything else on and started to check out. His grand total for mask, fins and booties? $ 250! I just looked at him from across the store and mouthed «I am so mad at you right now.» This is why I can’t take him to the Farmer’s Markets. If some nice person says «Here you’ll love this and you should buy it,» he will! He cannot say no. So now I have to go back to Scubaland and get my $ 30 booties. I don’t mind so much, tho. I miss Max!