Posted by Melvin on July 02, 2003 at 07:37:48:
In Reply to: Which LA County Dive shop has the largest variety of gear? posted by Neptune on July 01, 2003 at 18:56:11:
I completely agree with you about some dive shops look like they have not been vacuumed in a year and a tornado has hit them. I even went to one so called LDS dive shop and the person behind the counter (the only employee in the store at the time) was not certified as a diver, and he had been working there a year!
Reef Seekers in Beverly Hills and Sports Chalet get my vote. Both are clean, well managed and know how to display merchandise. I have dove at one time or another with all of the dive shop employees at Sports Chalet in Long Beach. You may also try Pacific Wilderness.
The challenge with dive shops is they don't carry the same brands. If Sports Chalet has it, many of the small dive shops will refuse to carry the brand. If one dive shop has a brand, the next one down the street seems to avoid that brand to avoid head to head comparison.
Shop your local dive shop (for me that is sport chalet)