Need AOW in AZ

[GruPoo]

My LDS went belly up. Good folks too so keep a good thought for them.

Now I need to find a new place to work on my AOW, preferred NAUI but am willing to go PADI. Can anyone recommend someone in the Phoenix Arizona or even within a 300mi (domestic) area for education?

[Sansho]

While I can't recommend any from first hand knowledge, the NAUI dive center locator found one, Inland Water Divers, in Goodyear, AZ: NAUI Dive Center Locator which is on the West side of Phoenix (hopefully not yours that went belly up).

PADI shows a bunch in Phoenix. You can use their locator at PADI Dive Center and Resort Directory

[neugierig]

oasis divers, near bell rd and 44th st (i think)

you can google them, they have a website.

or for padi, you can try tres aquas (Tres Aquas Adventures - Sail, Scuba Dive, Travel - Phoenix, Arizona)
they're my arizona lds. the owner, dale, is pretty friendly.

[Charles R]

Originally Posted by neugierig

oasis divers, near bell rd and 44th st (i think)

you can google them, they have a website.

or for padi, you can try tres aquas (Tres Aquas Adventures - Sail, Scuba Dive, Travel - Phoenix, Arizona)
they're my arizona lds. the owner, dale, is pretty friendly.

Oasis Divers is the one that went belly up or at least 1 of the 2 that did. I would recommend El Mar and specifically if you can get a class that he is teaching Terry is an Awesome instructor. All of the instructors @ El Mar are good. It is a PADI Shop.

[FailedExistence]

Originally Posted by neugierig

oasis divers, near bell rd and 44th st (i think)

you can google them, they have a website.

or for padi, you can try tres aquas (Tres Aquas Adventures - Sail, Scuba Dive, Travel - Phoenix, Arizona)
they're my arizona lds. the owner, dale, is pretty friendly.

Oasis Divers filed for bankruptcy and closed up both shops. One of them, I believe the North store is re-opening under a new owner. Not sure of all the details, but I do know there's a lot of hard feelings about the way things were handled so I don't know what the quality will be like.

Paradise Scuba also went out of business and left a lot of people stranded.

For NAUI recommendations I have heard good things about Inland Water Divers, but they are too far away for me to have first hand experience with.

For PADI ... both El Mar and N-Depth are great shops with great instructors. El Mar is in Mesa, N-Depth in Chandler.

Hope that helps.

[mwhities]

http://www.salvavidascuba.com/SVS/Welcome.html

Hands down, the best instructor in the AZ state.

Tell him Big "one-armed" Mike sent you.

Michael

[FailedExistence]

Originally Posted by mwhities

http://www.salvavidascuba.com/SVS/Welcome.html

Hands down, the best instructor in the AZ state.

Tell him Big "one-armed" Mike sent you.

Michael

I forgot about Salva Vida ... I have not dove with them, but we discussed doing our AOW with them. Unfortunately our schedules didn't line up but they were super helpful and are active on a couple scuba forums.

[Don Wray]

I know Kris and Mindy of Salva Vida well....you would do great choosing them.

[przeor]

Thank you all for the kind words, and Jeff, you should have an email with some information on classes!

[Largo]

The people at Tres Aquas are very nice.

It is a PADI shop. Sometimes it's good to sample courses from different agencies to find which one you like better.