Glenn’s Aquarius Two Dive Shop

Got PADI certified here, and it was pretty awesome! I came with a group so it was a bit slower than it otherwise could have been, but the knowledge I gained walking away from the experience is wonderful. Scott is very knowledgable and he throws in stories and tips all the time. He also pays attention to details and makes sure we know everything, especially those regarding safety. Very solid information and learning, would definitely recommend! Cheap (er) PADI certification than anywhere else too; look for Groupon and it’s $ 315 — usually PADI certification is more than $ 400 – 450! And the $ 315 is all-​inclusive, including all rental gear, books, and everything. When we did the actual dives, he took us around cool places and pointed out awesome water life. I’ll definitely be back to rent equipment and dive, definitely recommend!
[Side note: 1100^th review!]

We saw the reviews before we went so we were cautious. Glenn actually was a very nice guy. Our instructor did buy some nitrox from him and has been going for years and said he was great. I do agree with him!

Took advanced class with Scott, great time. Scott has been a pro for 19 years, 15 at this location, hard to imagine anyone knowing Monterey better than he does. Plan ahead and do nitrox at the same time to get some extra time in. They take max 4 people on classes which is great.
Taking the class with Scott was like spending a weekend with an old friend from high school. You hit all the «academic» points and Scott also provides extensive pointers on tips not written in the books as well as about Monterey sea life. And when you do stupid stuff he’s friendly suggesting you stop doing the stupid stuff instead of being a drill sergeant.
As some of the other reviewers have noted, you’ll hear some salty language in the shop, but get over it already. If I wanted people with no personality I’d stay in SF: P
Scott says he also does tours. If you are just filling up with a buddy it’s worth calling ahead to see if he can take you on a naturalist tour to see some of the amazing invertebrates. I’ve lived in California for 23 years and saw stuff I’d never heard of.
Ps the deli next door has great tri tip, pulled pork and home made pickles.

Though I am not a scuba enthusiast, there has been some interest past and lessons. Always some curiosity so stop here today was most educational with Krystal answering all inquiries and throwing out educated and experienced answers. She has learned a lot this area and shared. Lucky to have her enthusiasm. Thanks Krystal. No other customers in during my visit so got full attention. Nice equipment here for sale and lesson/​rentals. Great learning experience.

Got certified here last year & just did my first night dive last night. Awesome experience!!!

Too much attitude, condescending, very poor service and the equipment is of marginal quality.
Go to the Breakwater dive shop across the street from the park and avoid this shop.
Rented some gear here because it was close to the breakwater, but literally spent more time in the shop than in the water. The gloves had holes and my wife’s hood was literally coming apart at the seems.
When we told the shopkeeper how much weight we needed he became condescending and told us that this was not consistent with how much weight they normally give for the wetsuits he was giving us and insisted on additional weights. I took his word for it, but once in the water we were both vastly overweighted.
After our dives we brought the gear back but the shop attendant was more interested in a teenage kid browsing masks and snorkels than helping us put away the gear, and he wouldn’t let us rinse and hang the gear until he was present to oversee everything being rinsed (didn’t lift a finger to help once he finally did allow us to put away his equipment), so we literally stood in his shop for over an hour watching him watch this kid shop.
While standing there doing nothing we had a chance to appreciate the abundance of misogynistic attire, bumper stickers, etc that was sold here. And the conversation the shop keeper was having with the teenage kid made it clear he was a spear fisherman who engaged in unethical if not illegal fishing practices.
So if you are a teenage boy who can’t afford good equipment but likes to exploit and destroy marine animals, this is probably a good shop for you.
Everyone else should avoid it.

This review is mostly for the PADI Open Water Certification class I took through Glenns Aquarius II from 6 – 9 August 2015.
Our instructor was John Tamagni. He did an outstanding job overall. He was patient and really worked hard to make sure you knew the skills you needed to know (especially in the pool on day one). The only reason I can see this guy getting a bad review is because he didn’t let someone pass if they couldn’t properly do a skill (they get to come back and try at a later time, this is for everyone’s safety). For instance, not everyone in the class passed the pool swim /​water tread so they had to come back later in the week and try again. This seems pretty common sense to me, if you can’t swim or tread water in a pool, maybe you shouldn’t go in the ocean yet.
John was extremely knowledgeable and very willing to share his knowledge /​experience. I’m very thankful he was my class instructor over another instructor I overheard, some old crusty guy that seemed like he ‘knew it all’, and seemed to have a God complex, in short a major tool. Anyway, if you get the option, take your class with John Tamagni. We also had another John (I don’t know his last name, let’s call him Big John) join us for an ocean dive, and he seemed really cool too although we only spent a couple of dives with him. He helped out when we were getting our gear taken care of and was just cool guy all around.
Glenn, the shop owner was helpful and answered everything we threw at him. The dude was super busy (to be expected) so if he was handling one customer he would just tell somebody to hold on a second, and get to them when he could. He was running around all over and taking care of customers and students non-​stop. When I have the money to buy gear, I’ll go to Glenn knowing I’m getting good customer service first, and I know he won’t drive up the prices just to make a buck. He seemed to genuinely care about his customers and especially his new dive students, and wanted to help get them under the water.
We dove with the groupon deal, if it’s still going on, you can’t beat it! Everything you need to dive is included in the deal, no hidden costs at all (I saw some shops didn’t include rental gear in the cost of the PADI course… ummm if I’m taking the course, I probably don’t have my own gear yet… this is their way of getting you to pay more). Even if you can’t get the groupon anymore, I would highly recommend going to this shop, and if you can ask for either John as your primary instructors. I would have gladly paid full price for the quality of service I received from my instructor alone. I WILL contact him next summer to plan some specialty training dives.
TIPS: If you can’t swim 200 meters without stopping and then do a 10-​minute water tread /​back float without touching the sides, don’t enroll in the course yet. Take some swim lessons, get in the pool and practice these two things. Also, stay calm. When you have something happen in the water that causes stress, don’t freak out, just stay calm and take care of the problem. Read the books, watch some of the PADI youtube videos (they may be a little older so use your new book as the best reference). Get familiar with what you will be doing before you touch the water. Lastly, PADI doesn’t allow any underwater photography during the course, so leave your Sony 4K action cam for the surface and take it down after you’re certified.

Yipes! Really bad experience here. Out of 4 nitrox tanks, all of them had a completely corroded and disintegrating o-​ring. When we asked for help replacing them, the people «helping» us were asking each other how to do this. Keeping o-​rings in decent shape is routine maintenance, but not for this shop! One person even suggested that the problem was my regulator, which she claimed was too sharp and sliced open the o-​rings and created leakage. Nope, I said. I’ve been on plenty of dives and had my regulator serviced very recently — no problems with leaking. Her response was to roll her eyes and say «I’m just sayin’…» Just sayin’ what? That I, a responsible diver, am at fault for your cruddy o-​rings? I think not.
The final test came in the water. We had a goPro and as we watched the video later, we could see the leakage. Yes, the o-​rings had been replaced, but the tank was actually leaking from the neck. Again, yipes!
I can’t comment on classes or some of the gear you might purchase. And I know that most shops’ rental gear isn’t the best compared to buying your own stuff. Still, this place has really poorly maintained gear and the attitude and eye rolling is the last thing you want to deal with just before diving. Stay away!

Paid for 2 scuba certificates only used 1, I asked for the price of 1 certificate to be used towards equipment or a refund, the owner said no way no refund. Very bad attitude for a owner of a business ! Will NOT go back for any reason.

Completed my open dive sessions for my certification training at Breakwater. This was the place that was recommended to us for refilling our air tanks. Just dropped my air tank off and picked it up after lunch. The workers are a little rough around the edges but for the most part, they’re alright.

All time worst customer service. I honestly don’t know how Glenn keeps his business running. He is a horrible man and I will never send ANYONE TO HIS SHOP. He actually called my son, the customer, an asshole! Not to mention that his equipment is shoddy and outdated. Go anywhere but here!

I’ve gotten all of my maintenance done here and sent a bunch of my friends here to get their open water. I absolutely love these people! Thank you for taking care of me and all of my friends. You go above and beyond every single time and I appreciate it!

I’ll never go back here again. Customers aren’t treated equally here. The man working there yelled at a couple fellow students who were in my advanced open water class. He wouldn’t let them leave their tanks to get refilled and come back. He was gonna make them wait, even though I had dropped off our tanks about an hour earlier. It also sucked that there weren’t any carts or wagons provided to help carry tanks. Carrying my tank back uphill was a workout, since I didn’t wanna drive down and risk losing my parking spot. I’d rather go to Breakwater Scuba. It’s just as close, but they provide better service and staff is friendly.

My friends and I did our four open water dives with Glenn’s Aquarius II to complete our scuba certification. Everyone was friendly and knowledgeable. Scott was our instructor for the weekend and was great — we had a good time with him, but at same time he definitely put us through our paces checking off our skills. And I got to hold a tiny octopus! And there were a lot of sea otters playing in the Breakwater, which we were really excited to see. Exhausting but great experience, can’t wait to get out there again.

Location: Can’t be beat, excellent location, easy parking, super convenient. We came here before diving at Lover’s Point so we still had to drive off, but a good location.
Service: Mixed. Glenn was really friendly and chatty and kind. He mentioned what was on sale but wasn’t pushy. Crystal helped me w/​my equipment. She was excellent, experienced, and helpful. She quickly helped me find gear and explained my options (I am between sizes and she was happy to find whatever gear would fit me properly). She also has a huge adorable & friendly Malamute that she invited me to pet. The part of the service that broke down was all at the end.
After having a positive experience getting gear, getting 2 tanks filled and renting 2 tanks, we had 2 amazing dives and hosed off all our gear and went back to the store to return everything. I walked in to find Glenn or Crystal, but instead another guy (I think Glenn’s son?) was there. He was busy and helping another customer so I looked to see if there was anyone that was free. I waited at the counter patiently and after some time, he turns and said, «Did you need something?» I told him we were returning gear. He huffs and in an annoyed tone says, «You’re late.» (It’s apparently my fault no one was available to take the stuff when we arrived.) He then proceeds to tell me that he was busy and it would take time to get to me. He just clanked stuff around like a kid to demonstrate how busy he was. He just acted like I was really inconveniencing him by expecting to do his job. I had just been happy from diving and I was totally patient — so his attitude immediately turned mine sour.
I walked outside and we started to hang things up – the guy comes out and starts to yell at us because he wasn’t going to be able to figure out what stuff we were returning. (Meanwhile, we were just trying to help and do his job). Instead he just angrily told us we were doing everything wrong (which was one item, we did everything right except we put the hood in the wrong spot.).
The part that was annoying was that we never got an itemized breakdown of what we were charged.
It ended up costing $ 81 for:
2 tank rental ($ 10×2 = $ 20)
2 tank fill up ($ 5×2 = $ 10)
1 Hood ($ 8)
1 Wetsuit ($ 10)
1 Pair of boots ($ 8)
Gloves ($ 8)
Should have been $ 64 (or $ 70 after tax?)
but we got charged some mystery $ 11 extra and not told why.
It was honestly a really unpleasant way to end what was otherwise a really lovely day.

Condescending, rude, grumpy, crass, the list goes on.
The only reason to walk into this shop is to have your tanks filled (they didn’t even do that right, got a short fill).
Just remember you’re an idiot and Glenn knows everything, just ask him.
I’ll skip Monterey from now on and just roll down to SB. Way to push off another customer who has disposable income for an expensive sport. You will NEVER get any of my dollars, and I’ve got a full family of divers.
AVOID this cranky old man and his snippy staff.

SCUBA-​DIVING!
Picked up my scuba gear here. Love how it’s close to Breakwater. Since I was Loading on a diving vessel I was giving a duffle bag for everything. Great variety of brands and sizes to purchase and to rent. Staff gets you in and out, very helpful. Come the night before the morning dive to skip the hassle of the crowds. It will be my dive shop to prep for a dive in future dive trips in Monterey.
GEAR PACKAGE = $ 68 with one air-​tank
It’s NorCal Pacific Ocean waters… Do 7 mm on the suite!!!
JABA APPROVED. Until the next review…

Super friendly, casual but with the right amount of professionalism. A great experience overall, it’s cool that it’s located just steps from the beach too.

BEST Dive shop location… EVER!!! You can’t beat their Dive Tours either. Scott has been Diving this location all His life and knows every crack and crevice. Equipment rentals and sales help to make Diving the Monterey Area easy.
After reading some of the misleading reviews, I had to respond. Don’t expect sugarcoated retail responses to uneducated questions about Diving. Instructors and Staff have paid good money to become educated… Please show some respect and pay for your education as well.
For those of you that believe that Glenn is less than pleasant… He has the right to voice His passionate concern about whatever He feels at anytime He wants, don’t you?

This is the kind of place where the customer is always wrong.
My buddy and I got our scuba certifications through an affiliate school of theirs, SF Scuba School. Over out two days of dives, virtually every component of their rental gear had issues for somebody in our 8 person group, such as booties with broken zippers, and leaking regulators.
The older men, including the owner and his assistants, are condescending in tone and seemed to enjoy making me feel like I was a fool whenever I forgot how to do something or needed to ask a question. They also have an absurd policy of charging you $ 17 if your air can goes under 500 PSI. This seemed more like an excuse to make some extra money off their customers. All this even after we had purchased expensive equipment at their shop that morning! Unbelievable.