Rick’s Diving Locker

«Rick’s Diving Locker» is NO LONGER a dive shop. Even tho their website
and their phone number (760)746−8980 is still active, they are NO LONGER in the diving business. Very misleading.
This Unilocal listing is misleading as most of the reviews and photos are about «diving». It will be a waste of time to go to the shop to find out!

Poor service. No customer service at all. I went here to check out firearms selection and tactical gear. I know judging by the shop name, this is not the primary source to go to for that, but regardless the owner was rude along with his workers. Over priced items. Don’t even waste your time coming here. Not military friendly here. Disappointed.

I learned how to dive here when I was in high school. Top notch! Their staff was the best around and it’s great to see them still in business in the same location after all these years.

Rick is awesome. I’ve gained all of my certificatations with Rick’s and I have been on upwards of 80 dives with them. The boat dives are the best. Great food, great divers, I always feel safe with our dive master. If you get an opportunity to go to Channel Islands with these guys… its a great trip!

These guys are awesome. My wife and I did a SCUBA pool refresher a little bit ago with them and it was just what we were looking for. Great instruction and top notch gear for us to use. The staff was super knowledgeable, friendly and professional! Thanks for a great experience!

Gotta love great service. These guys are knowledgable, nice, and professional. Great prices too. My family has been going here for years and nothing but the best equipment and service every time. Prices are reasonable too!

Ricks Diving Locker staff and Dive Masters are awesome! They helped me through the Open Water certification process and outfitted me with the best equipment. Ive already been on a dive trip through Ricks Diving Locker — Fiji and looking forward to the next adventure with them.
Vinaka to Ricks Diving Locker!!!

Best dive shop I’ve ever been to. And I’ve been diving for 10 years all around the world!!!
Friendly staff and very very knowledgeable.

I’ve been a very satisfied customer for over 13 years; equipment, training, service, air fills and local boat trips. After taking a few years break from local diving I returned to RDL and the great customer experience and training quality was still there for me.

Rick’s Dive Locker fills a needed niche in North County inland. Rick and his staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and competent.

We love Rick’s. They take care of us every time we go in. If they don’t happen to have it, they will order it for you. The atmosphere is great and they are always willing to help get you what you need. All of our classes and Instructors were great. Their boat trips are fun and we love meeting other customers/​divers as well. It’s like having a diving family!

Got started diving at Rick’s Diving Locker and can’t say enough good things about them. Super friendly and informative, great products, great instruction, and very informative instructors. Every dive has been a blast with them. A great, family oriented shop that I will stick with through my diving hobby.

Constant communication about specials, great customer service in the door, excellent products. They are a north county gem. I could definitely see upgrading to 5 star after using their services more in the coming months.

All I need to say is, «I took my son there to get certified.» I like how Rick’s Diving Locker put safety first and foremost in everything they do, even if it will upset an occasional customer. When it comes to having a child certified, nothing but safety matters.
Since getting my open water certification, I have taken several other classes and been very pleased with all of them. I wouldn’t think of purchasing my gear anywhere else. I like that Rick’s sells only top quality gear (again back to the safety thing) and the staff is very knowledgeable with their recommendations. I don’t just purchase, I learn.
I would rate Rick’s Diving Locker as one of the better businesses I have been to and will continue to recommend them to friends and family.

I had a HORRIBLE experience and will never go back here. they would not return calls to reschedule my class that was cancelled. After several attempts to reschedule they then claimed that they didnt have equipment to rent to me and when I said I had brand new equipment they then asked Why I didnt buy from them. Then later said I couldnt use my equipment, only theirs. WOW, it just shows how greedy this place is. Also one of the instructors was very unprofessional, he was constantly talking about his personal dating life and degrading women. They also did not show me proper techniques for the beginner class as I found that out in my advanced class at another BETTER school, they had to show me the right way to do a few things Ricks failed to show me.

Like a lot of the other reviewers I found my way to Rick’s through a Groupon promotion for my open water cert.
I was surprised to see some of the poor reviews on here. It should be noted when you are dealing with anything that involves mother nature you should expect to be patient. Conditions dictate what is possible and when its safe to go out, this can mean delays are inevitable sometimes. So, my advice is be flexible and enjoy the process.
We had our outings delayed one weekend and Kyle & Michael hustled to get us into the water the following weekend. It actually worked out great, the conditions were better and we had a smaller group. Win win if you ask me. They were flexible and offered options for where we could dive, our first open water dive was off a boat in the Pt. Loma kelp beds. Such an amazing experience so many divers right here in San Diego aren’t even aware is available to them.
Kyle our instructor was very precise and made sure no shortcuts were taken, this to me was impressive. Although its all about fun when you dive you must be aware and educated on how to dive safely. After talking with a few other friends who got their certs in other countries or in a more rushed environment I realized just how thorough Kyle was with us.
So, with that said I would highly recommend everyone at Rick’s and any classes they offer to divers. They make it fun and leave you much more prepared for good safe diving once you complete the course.

Bought a Groupon here to get PADI certified. I COULD NOT be happier with the results. All the people in the shop are super friendly and knowledgeable. Rick is a great guy, and he it’s very apparent he knows his diving. Kyle and Steve did my classes, and they are both really great instructors; very thorough and willing to teach from many years of experience. I’m now addicted to diving, and plan to make it my new hobby.
Go to Rick’s!!!

My wife and I are heading down to the Riviera Maya area of Mexico to do some snorkeling and relaxing. I was thinking about purchasing some gear rather than renting it down there. After reading a bunch online I still had questions so I went to Rick’s. He was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Knew the answers to everything and even brought up several things that I hadn’t thought of. I will definitely be going back again and again.

This shop is very knowledgeable, helpful and great to dive with! They are a Top Notch shop; very professional and take the time to be sure you get the equipment that fits you best. The staff is not pushy, they definitely focus on customer service and want to build good solid customer relationships!

Rick is all about customer service!
This is a top notch dive shop that sells the best in dive equipment and has expert staff that are truly interested in getting you the right gear based upon experience, budget, etc. and not just making a quick sale. I first went to Rick’s when I was looking for some quality snorkel gear for my son. They took great care of us and helped us find something that would be an investment long term. They later cut us a deal on a used wetsuit that was a little big when he was 13. It fits like a glove now that he’s 18! That’s a lot of money saved and they could have sold me multiple new suits that he would have outgrown as he matured (physically).
When it was time to finally fullfill my lifetime dream of OWS certification, Rick again took care of me and my wife and son. The instruction was great as was the facilities for the pool dives. My wife had some ‘special issues’ that threatened completion before our vacation to Hawaii (where we did our open water work) and Rick fixed it, making special accommodation so we could get her pool work done in time.
Since then, I have bought all my key gear from Rick for myself, my wife and son. Could I perhaps found it for a buck less? Probably, but Rick solidly stands behind his sales, no question about it, he makes it right. His personal guidance has probably saved me thousands by buying quality gear that will last me a lifetime.
I haven’t dived through Rick’s shop — it’s just too damn cold in SoCal for me, so I cannot comment on how his dives are organized, but I will continue to use him as my resource for outfitting and maintenance. Being a gear-​head and tekkie, that drives enough business his way for our family of 3 divers.

So far, I’ve been calling since May to schedule my Living Social deal for an intro class. There has been only one weekend per month and they fill up right away. I’m now super nervous about the 3 hours class that last 7 hours per the other reviews, and fear that I’ve wasted 100 bucks. Hope this works out for the better.

I am so sorry… I absolutely hate to leave such a negative review, but my girlfriend and I had the worst experience at Rick’s, taking the intro to diving course. My experience may be odd or unique. Perhaps I just got really, really, really, really unlucky… but that sure seems like an awful lot of bad luck. Originally, I wrote this epic-​length review, going over all the trouble spots in detail. You’re in luck… Unilocal told me it was way too long, so I’m tossing it and just giving you the basic outline of my experience at Rick’s. If you want the bottom line, my advice to you is to seek diving instruction elsewhere. I’ve been diving for about 25 years, I’m certified as an advanced open water diver through PADI and I also hold the enriched air (nitrox) certification. I’ve been through a number of different scuba shops & schools. This one was, by far, the worst. I signed up for an intro class with my girlfriend to get her introduced to my favorite activity, and get a review for myself.
1) The instructors do not work directly for the shop. They are essentially hired contractors. When you call to schedule your lessons, they almost always tell you they’ll have to call back when one of the unpredictable instructors can call to schedule you. It took two attempts for me before anyone actually did return my call.
2) Even in an intro to scuba class, they did not have booties to rent out, so we had to buy $ 50 booties to try something you might not even like, and it contradicts the information they send you, which says they can be rented.
3) Upon arrival at the shop, nothing was ready… The instructor and shop employee were hurriedly throwing gear together… We wasted an entire hour sitting around the shop waiting for this.
4) There was not enough gear for everyone in the class… They blamed this on the fact that they had so many other classes that weekend. I’m pretty sure it’s their responsibility to not schedule more classes than they have gear for. A lot of the gear was broken in some way, so the shop employee was quickly making little fixes on lots of things as the instructor found problems.
5) The course is advertised to run weekly, but actually only runs monthly, so if you have a tricky schedule, be warned. That’s two important errors in their own information now: You’ll have to buy expensive booties, and you may have some real trouble with scheduling if you have a busy schedule.
6) The class was supposed to be 3 hours on Saturday, then 3 hours on Sunday. Due to the lack of rental equipment available, the instructor could only teach half of us at a time. The other half just had to sit there and wait. My girlfriend and I were there for 7 hours before we realized how late it was, and had to leave. Upon leaving, we realized we were also starving, having not been prepared for such a lengthy ordeal. That’s right… This 3 hour class was not yet over after 7 hours. There was no food, no shade, and thank goodness I brought sunscreen to share with the class.
7) Also, since there wasn’t enough gear, some people didn’t get a wetsuit. Even in a nice «warm» pool, it’s not warm when you stay in for several hours with minimal activity. I felt awful watching some of the first class get out of the pool all goose-​bumped and freezing.
8) The instructor was extremely well meaning, but I’m sorry to say that it also felt like this was her first class teaching by herself, and like maybe she needed some more training as a trainer before she takes on classes of her own. Very nice person, just not ready and/​or not yet experienced enough.
After all of the above, we did not even consider returning for day two. I’m lucky my girlfriend is still willing to give scuba another shot… but we’ll find another shop, and I’ll research it thoroughly first.