Feb 14, 2008 Thur

Hello everyone.

Thank you for a fab experience. I can’t speak highly enough about the entire staff at Aarons Dive Shop. Knowledgeable, experienced and fantastically friendly. Thank you again for the excellent time getting me certified.

Maureen

Dec 16, 2007

I wish to thank you for going the "extra mile" and checking things out for me to make my vacation exquisite. I can't believe I'm finally certified and I intend to make the most of it.

Your staff deserve a round of applause for their dedication and professionalism. My family had a great time on your boat and felt they were given very gracious treatment. Kevin was a great teacher with a wonderful sense of humor. Kirsty was great in helping me understand the dive chart. Bob was supa friendly and helpful in talking about gear. I will recommend you to all my friends in the future. Merry X-mas and thanks again!" - Reginald Jones

Dear Jack,
Just a note to thank you and your staff for the wonderful experience of going through your Padi Open Water Diver Course. I never planned on doing any scuba diving while in Hawaii, but I am so glad I did because it turned a relaxing get-away into the best vacation I ever had! I'm also very grateful for all the help and advice I received in purchasing my new underwater equipment, I love it! Everyone we came in contact with was supportive, knowledgeable and fun to be around. Last but not least I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to your instructor Mark. He was so patient and so professional throughout my families training and because of the trust he instilled in us ( 10 years old - 47 years old) we were all able to push past many fears and are now hooked on scuba! My ten year old son Michael was so taken by Mark that I have promised him that Mark would be the one to certify him when he turns 12. The CD that Mark created of our experience was awesome and will help us to relive the experience until we can return.

We have added your web site to our favorites list and have been enjoying the weekly
dive logs.

Thanks again,
Erica

"To Aarons Staff, ( Jeff, Mel, Simon, Matt, Kilie ) I would like to thank each one of you for the memorable dives I was able to expereince while diving with you. You guys made the dives interesting and fun , from the way you explaned everything to the way you gave the tours around the wrecks and reefs. ( and I just loved the reefs. NOT..) But the Monk Seal was cool. I want to espiecally thank Mel for the time she took on the first dive with my mom. That was the first real open water dive she made. She had a blast, and can't wait to dive again.

THANKS AGAIN" ... GREG, OHIO

"Aloha!

Just wanted to drop a line and thank everyone at Aaron's for a great time diving. The staff is really knowledgeable. My special kudos to Kirsty, Jeff and Alec for their assistance on my two days of diving. If I am leaving anyone out, my apologies and sincere thanks. You guys are professional and most of all a fun group to dive with. I will definitely recommend Aaron's to any of my Texas dive buddies who may be traveling to Oahu. Seeing the Eagle Rays at the Mahi, Squid and even the Atlantis submarine, sea turtles and all types of fish at the Sea Tiger up close and underwater was quite a thrill. Thanks again for the memories. (Now if I had just brought an underwater video camera!) I look forward to the posting on the web site. " ... James (Cibolo, Texas)

"Aaron & staff,
My name is Rick and I have a dive group here in Spokane Wa. ­ the only consistent, weekly dive group in eastern Washington, N. Idaho. I am writing regarding one of your students, Josh.

Josh took BOW from you on his vacation, returned to Spokane and decided to peruse local diving. I get a lot n00bs like Josh, who make a few warm water vacation dives and then give it a shot here locally. The cold water (39 degrees yesterday), low vis, silty conditions, extra equipment complexities, and often rainy or snowy weather to suit up in, soon has these n00bs peddling their gear on eBay. In most cases, these new `vacation divers` are poorly trained, lacking the buoyancy skills required for cold water, low-vis drysuit diving. For those that have a desire to keep diving with us, we mentor them through the basic skills required to safely dive in our local environment. Without this basic training, newly certified divers are often a danger to themselves and their buddies, even if certified locally. Your student, Josh, is the exception.

Josh took a drysuit course and had just one coldwater dive before he dived with me last night. His only other diving experience was with your organization while on vacation. Just watching Josh gear up showed me that he was unusual. He understood his equipment, how it assembled, had it pre-adjusted, and knew how to don it without help. During the pre-dive planning, Josh showed knowledge of the basic signals (except a few light signals) and how to properly plan a dive.

In the water, Josh always returned OK signs with a proper OK in return (you'd be amazed how many n00bs just nod back at you). He swam beside me, not behind me, look comfortable and demonstrated excellent buoyancy and trim skills - even in the new drysuit. By the way, the visibility last night was one of the worst I'd seen here in hundreds of dives at this site ­ maybe 3 feet.

As we swam up around logs, dock cables, pipes and other marina obstructions, Josh moved through the water at ease, always keeping in good communication with me. Of course, the real test of Josh's training was still to come. About halfway through the dive, Josh's regulator froze up and started free-flowing wildly. Before the dive, we had discussed the signal for a free-flowing reg and the procedure, should it occur. Josh continued to breathe form the reg, calmly tapped me and gave the prearranged signal. I donated my primary to him (Atomic M1, environmentally sealed, on a 7' hose) and he put it easily into his mouth. We exchanged Oks, and then Josh turned to allow me access to his valve, which I turned off. Vis here was maybe 2 feet and silting up quickly. I expected Josh to start rising in the water due to increased breathing due to stress, but he never did. I gave Josh the thumb and we very slowly moved up the ledge toward our safety stop. I like to ascend very slowly (plenty of air for us both in my double 95s), and Josh stayed right alongside me the entire time. I was concerned that Josh (with just one drysuit dive) might have buoyancy issues as most new divers do, and was ready to help keep him down with me should he start to ascend too rapidly. But my concerns were totally unwarranted. I signaled Josh to dump his drysuit air, but he was already on it. He stayed right along side of me in the water column. When we hit 15', he hovered right there alongside of me. He never touched the bottom once during the entire dive. At one point during our stop he started to rise a bit, made a quick little dump and came right back down. After our safety stop, we spent a good minute going slowly from 15' to the surface, which josh did easily.

Yes, you must credit Josh with his ability to take his training and apply it so well to his diving. But he obviously had received exceptional training, and for that you are to be highly commended. I have dived with many new divers, both locally and on warm water vacations (I lived for a year in Kona and will be back next month! J ), and cannot remember seeing someone so well trained.

Wow! Great job! I have been guilty of stereotyping divers who are "vacation trained" as receiving some of the worst training possible. Obviously this is not the case with your shop. How refreshing! I would highly recommend your dive shop to anyone needing Basic Open water certification while on Oahu." Rick - instructor (Spokane, WA)