Online scuba gear purchasing question...

[krviera]

I need to purchase some snorkling gear for use at work and after looking at the local dive shops, I found that I can purchase the same gear for a significantly lower cost online. The online store that I've been looking at is www.scuba.com. Do anyone have experience with this company? Any good or bad? Any other online store that you might recommend? Thank you much...

[justin-branam]

id recommend www.leisurepro.com Used them many many times and never had a problem.

[Blue Moon]

Originally Posted by krviera

I need to purchase some snorkling gear for use at work and after looking at the local dive shops, I found that I can purchase the same gear for a significantly lower cost online. The online store that I've been looking at is www.scuba.com. Do anyone have experience with this company? Any good or bad? Any other online store that you might recommend? Thank you much...

Without a doubt ScubaToys is my favorite scuba store both online and brick and mortar. You get a discount if you post on their new forum or if you say you heard about them on ScubaBoard. Check out their customer feedback on ScubaBoard - they get rave reviews.

The only downside to ScubaToys is that they follow the rules so if you want to purchase any Atomic regulators you have to go in person. The advantage they have over nearly every other on-line scuba store is that most sell grey market so you often end up without a manufactures warranty. With ScubaToys you get the real deal.

Just curious, what kind of work do you do where you need snorkel gear? I love my Apollo Bio Fins with spring straps but mainly use them diving.

Blue Moon

[dive4fun]

I second Scuba Toys. We have used them for many years- you can't beat their prices and selection. I am not familiar with scuba.com at all and have been diving and buying equipment for more than a decade. HTH!

[krviera]

Thank you much for your help...

[krviera]

Originally Posted by Blue Moon

Just curious, what kind of work do you do where you need snorkel gear? I love my Apollo Bio Fins with spring straps but mainly use them diving.

Blue Moon

I worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I need the equipment for doing manatee rescues in Crystal River, FL.

[swanny338]

Just fyi, I recently made a decently large purchase with scuba.com... Talked to them on the phone to figure out what would be the best fit for what I was doing. Great service. Delivery was fast. I also made a couple online orders as well that went just as smooth.

[HotHolly]

I have a closet full of scuba gear - it was hardly used. Hubby had gotten into diving in TX and when we moved to NY, he lost interest. I think his wet suit was too thin for the cold water up there. Anyway, feel free to PM if you are interested.

[Torrey]

I have to 3rd ScubaToys. Being in Dallas, they're my local dive shop. The owner and all employees are top-notch, and they really know how to run a business. They will bend over backwards to make sure you are pleased. As Blue Moon mentioned above, you can get a 10% discount if you say you saw them on ScubaBoard...or better yet, if you join their forum, you get a 10% discount, plus a $10 gift certificate after your first 10 posts, and a $50 gift certificate once you reach 250 posts. If you can make it into the store, it's even better as they'll let you test out pretty much anything in their pool and will not pressure-sell you on something you don't need.

[Torrey]

Originally Posted by krviera

I worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I need the equipment for doing manatee rescues in Crystal River, FL.

That's awesome! The scuba club I'm involved in, the Scubadillo's participates in www.savethemanatee.org. You can see the manatees we've adopted at this link.