Pura Vida Divers

The establishment is very clean. The staff is friendly. Gear is very limited as it is shared with a clothing store and other water sports as well. They do sell fills by the cubic foot which can save you money BUT it is pre-​banked so don’t go if you like your nitrox fill at an exact blend. Overall it is a decent place. Just not my first pick.

Just went down to WPB for a quick dive weekend to escape the cold and snow of Chicago, and we loved this shop and its staff! Although everyone was helpful, Andrea was particularly fabulous. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and spent quite a bit of time going over the map of the Blue Heron Bridge dive site with us, and sharing tips and advice. (Thanks, Andrea!!) A couple of people in our group rented equipment, and were pretty happy with the quality of the gear. We had booked a boat dive for our second day, but due to a forecast for high winds/​waves, they called us the night before to see if we wanted to cancel, and handled the refunds in a speedy manner, and easily transferred our rentals so could do a second shore dive the next day, instead. Whenever we go back to WPB, we’ll definitely be using Pura Vida Divers!

I went down to Palm Beach alone on a whim and did 3 fun dives. I’m advanced open water certified, but haven’t gone in quite a while, and had only done 11 dives prior. Compared to all the other divers on the boat, I was by far the least experienced. I did my dives with dive master Neil and he was extremely professional, patient and helpful in getting me back up to speed without making me feel like I was holding anyone back. Aside from some seasickness from the conditions that day, I felt safe and comfortable, and seriously had an amazing time.
One of the dives we did was the Blue Heron Bridge night dive. If you visit the area you MUST check it out! Neil was great at pointing out heaps of cool sealife that I would’ve never noticed on my own, and gave me the names for all the awesome creatures we saw. It was great to be surrounded by people who were so passionate about the activity.
The Pura Vida dive shop is really nice and well stocked as well. All of the equipment was clean and in great shape.

I’ve never been to FL, never had any intention of going – I was actually heading to Puerto Rico for two weeks of diving until I read a Dive Training magazine that mentioned the Blue Heron Bridge. After researching dive shops, I picked PVD, and am glad that I did! I dove with them for two weeks, on several shore dives, boat dives and a night dive, along with a digital photography class and a nitrox class. The experience was amazing. PVD even recommended an awesome inexpensive resort in walking distance from the shop! All the instructors were very professional, considerate, and would drop whatever they were doing to help out customers. They were all very knowledgeable on timing, tides, dive theory, fish and critter species, and local laws.
I was impressed with Ryan, who was my dive guide, along with my instructor for nitrox and underwater photography. Ryan’s very down to earth, amiable, patient, and wouldn’t hesitate to explain concepts I didn’t grasp the first time around… or second… or third… He was also very knowledgeable about the site, and knew all the good hiding places for a panoply of scorpionfish, octopi, sea horses, and other animals that I should’ve kept track of the names of! Much appreciated.
Katie, Dean and Brian were excellent guides, taking us on amazing boat dives in sites teeming with reef sharks, gigantic turtles, and goliath groupers.
Dive shop staff were very kind, patient and bent over backwards to ensure that I would enjoy my time. Many thanks to Jeffrey, Andrea, Neil, Jeff, Allegra, Lindsay, and especially to Shana! Many thanks, you’ll be seeing me (and hopefully my bosses once I get a dive trip organized) again in the future! Five stars, two thumbs waaaaay up! :)