Tom’s Dive & Swim

My daughter has taken swim classes here for two years. I am very pleased with her progress. The staff, most especially the swim teachers, are friendly and helpful and interact beautifully with the children. The classes are small enough that each kid gets individual attention. I like that I can be inside (air conditioning!) and still watch the class through the window.

I stopped in looking for a pair of goggles I could use for lap swimming. Most goggles I’ve owned have a tendency to cut into my nose due to the way my nose is shaped. When I walked in, I was greeted by a friendly staff member who showed me where the goggles were and advised me which ones to try on. 2 Minutes later, I was walking out with a pair of goggles in hand. I’ve used the goggles multiple times and still no issues — they’re just what I needed!
Enjoyed my experience here and would visit again!

For a mask, snorkel and goggles I tried Academy and they only had the cheap stuff. Amazon had several grades of equipment but their best was not good enough for me. Tom’s Dive and Swim has the mask, snorkel and goggles that are top of the line. The price is high but it is worth it when you are snorkeling and everything works perfect.
I cleaned the goggles as you would clean the mask lens and that was my mistake. The goggles are not tempered glass. It dulled the finish. I went back for another pair of goggles and Tom’s Dive and Swim grabbed replacement goggles off the wall before I could finish my story. They totally supported me.
I use mask and snorkel 2 times per week for the past 5 years at the health club. Good quality equipment makes for a great experience. If you are fortunate enough to snorkel in one of nature’s scenic areas then good equipment is the only way to go.

I took the Open Water Certification course and am overall pleased with the process and glad I am properly certified.
What I liked was the small class size and attention time that the instructors were able to provide. The classroom instruction was clear, and the book and website learning was easy to pick up on.
You will spend about 8 hrs in the class room and 10 – 12 in the water. You will be blowing bubbles the first evening in their pool which was fun.
My instructors Brian B and Gary L were both very knowledgable and experienced!
Also, they do let you use the other equipment you need and it’s all well maintained.
Downside: It’s not cheap. The class is $ 350 plus tax to sign up. After you sign up, you need to acquire fins, mask, and snorkel which is at least another $ 150. On top of that, it’s $ 80 plus gas for two trips to San Marcos for your final two days, plus buying two sit down restaurant meals. So the class is at least $ 600 if you don’t already own mask/​snorkel/​fins. Also, the instructors will try to sell you classes and overseas trips every session.
Try and go with a small class size. The pool is small and you’ll have more instructor attention.
Overall, I’d recommend the Open Water Certification. Thanks Toms!

Tom’s is a top-​notch operation. My husband and I wanted to get certified and decided to go with Tom’s after doing some research. I couldn’t be happier with our choice. Going into the class, I didn’t really know what to expect and was slightly hesitant/​scared. I mean– you’re going deep underwater with just a tank to breath! It’s pretty crazy if you think about it!
From start to finish, the whole experience was great. We bought our gear at Tom’s and probably switched out goggles 3 – 4 times before we got the ones we liked. They work with you to make sure you’re 100% comfortable before you leave the store with all your equipment.
For the class itself, we had Scott with Brian as the assistant (now an instructor as well). Scott was so informative and patient. He made sure everyone understood the class every step of the way and we all learned the gear/​skills/​procedures to ensure we had an enjoyable experience.
I can’t say enough good things about Tom’s. If you’re thinking about diving, don’t look elsewhere!

Captain Mike taught me how to be a dirty pirate. He was the best instructor I could have hoped for and made the whole experience amazing. Now I’m not only SSI certified as a diver, but am a certifiable dirty pirate fit to search for booty.
In all seriousness I’ve been through 4 years of high school & 4 years of college at TX state and Mike was by far the best instructor I’ve ever had. Funny interesting and informative all wrapped into one.

As a seasoned diver/​divemaster, I have been in and worked in my fair share of dive shops. To me, and many others in the industry, it doesn’t matter if they are clean or dirty, cheap or expensive, what matters is the perpetuation of the dive culture — where everyone is friendly, laid back, and eager to chat and act like a friend over a salesperson.
I have been to Tom’s a couple of times in the past and had OK experiences, but recently I booked a trip to Flower Gardens with them and was sorely disappointed.
Paid the $ 600 and received absolutely 0 information. Do I need to rent my own equipment? What should I expect? etc etc. Many other divers on the boat had their dive shops give them an orientation.
I went into the shop a couple of days before to talk to someone about the trip and was greeted by cold employees that really knew nothing — nobody in the shop had even done the dive and they were not keen to help me rent equipment either.
Wanted to find a dive community in the shop in Austin but alas, I just don’t feel like these guys embody was scuba culture really is :(
The divemaster on the trip was really friendly though, and he did call the day before the trip to make sure we were ‘good to go’. But, all in all, not diving with Tom’s again and certainly not recommending the shop to any of my friends.

I’m sure that the instructors, store are top notch — but sadly I didn’t get to experience either.
I have been e-​mailing and telephoning with Tom’s Dive & Swim since April 6^th trying to arrange the completion of my diver certification. It is now April 21^st and I’m still playing a game of phone tag.
Enough is enough and I decided to cancel everything completely. I cannot stand for my time to be wasted and honestly if they are too busy for me they should have made that clear at the get go instead of stringing me along for 3 weeks.
Again, I’m sure the people are perfectly nice and the instructors are knowledgable… but their admin skills leave a lot to be desired… almost to the point of being extremely rude.

An absolute gem for scuba divers in Austin. My go-​to store for classes, equipment and scuba diving trips.
SCUBA CLASSES: Great classes for novices with an pool in the back of the store. Top-​notch instructors. Well-​organized SSI system.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Can’t say enough positive things about this. Props to Kirk for running such a good store and hiring amazingly helpful staff.
EQUIPMENT: Excellent no-​pressure salesmanship with regards to purchasing equipment and finding the best fit for you. Used their rent-​to-​own system to purchase regs and computers where you pay a monthly fee with no interest to pay it off in a year, since scuba equipment can get pricey fast. Super helpful if you need some additional help figuring out learning how to work new equipment. Plus they run a yearly used equipment sale!
STORE ITSELF: Great design with the awesome driftwood motif. Always clean and always well-​organized.
EVEN MORE SCUBA: Run a great local club called the Aquanauts that operate regular local dive trips around Austin and TX. Plus they organize lots of international scuba trips at affordable rates with operators that they have established relationships with. Doing my first blue water dive in Cozumel in a couple months and really excited!
Seriously, check Tom’s out if you ever wanted to learn how to scuba dive!

My girlfriend and I took a SCUBA refresher with Ben yesterday. He’s a first-​rate instructor and everything else was top notch too. Great business. Will definitely shop there again.

Tom service is great in Austin Texas. Both of my children were here to learn how to swim and he provided great professional teaching skills. It took them only one full lesson to start swimming which was pretty incredible to me because I’ve been trying to teach em for a while now. I would recommend this place.

Swim lessons actually work. We did lessons at other places before with little results. The teachers are great with kids. The staff is friendly even when my toddler runs around like crazy while waiting for his big sister to finish swimming. Love that they give discounts during the winter.

Just dove for the first time in Thailand recently. Took a PADI Open Water course out there and was immediately hooked.
I had noticed Tom’s shop driving around the area and headed that direction to follow up on some continuing Ed courses and get info on local dive sites.
I am a gear freak in other fields and know zip about dive equipment. So I destroyed them with questions about everything. From BCD types to the freaking BUCKLE MATERIAL, I really dug into technical detail from the standpoint of a complete uneducated, unprepared moron.
john, I believe was his name — if I’m wrong look for the beard dude.
He was SUPER helpful. So much so I could care less about other dive joints in town or shopping around. I am literally switching to SSI just because he represented Tom’s in a way that was extremely valuable to me and anyone else seeking info on diving certs.
I was surprised to see a pool there. That’s cool. In thailand, controlled training consisted of going backwards off a boat and kicking to shore. I dig the trial by fire method. Some don’t, and those that would appreciate a more controlled environment as beginners, I believe, would dig starting at this facility.
If you’re interested in diving and appreciate super bada$$ service, ask for beard dude. He’ll walk ya through it.
Really looking forward to training with these cats. These are the people that will train me how to operate equipment in an environment that doesn’t support human life. 21 reviews and 5 stars make me cool with that.
Go here.

Great service and friendly staff. I recently performed my kids open water certs in their on-​site pool. The team at Tom’s was very flexible and supportive.
Good selection of gear too — purchased all the gear to get my kids started.

I’ve gone 12 years without Scuba diving. So, I was nervous when I called to make an appointment for a refresher course. So easy! I was asked which day I wanted and what time, and I was signed up!
Matt was the dive con — instructor. Stace was assisting as he is training to be a dive con. There was one other person in my class, so there was one on one attention. These two men are extremely professional. The dive store as a whole was extremely professional. There is a room for lecture. They have their own built in pool with private changing rooms. These men walked us through everything in prepping for pool work. And, were very receptive to questions. They made me feel like I haven’t been out of the water for 12 years.
I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Everything was thorough. What I personally appreciated was how calm and relaxed Matt is in his teaching style. His calm and laid back demeanor helped me relax and not be so nervous. Tom’s Dive & Swim is lucky to have him as an instructor.
Matt and Stace,
Hope to see you two in the future!

Wow– was I impressed with this place. The service was stellar– attentive, accommodating and knowledgeable.
To top it off, I brought in my BC and regulator in to be serviced– I received a call that they were ready to be picked up but when I arrived only the regulator was ready– I live all the way south so i wasn’t thrilled that I was going to have to drive back, but really no big deal. Well not only did they have the BC ready for me the next day, but they drove it to where I worked and didn’t charge me a dime. Now that’s real customer service for you!
I will be devoted to this company and if you are looking for a great dive shop– look no more– go directly to Tom’s!

I just completed my Open Water certification class at Tom’s Dive Shop and want to echo the great reviews (and let folks know that as of March 2014 the experience is still fantastic). Our instructor was Helge and he was fabulous. He made sure we learned what we needed and understood the material, but he also made everything fun. He was assisted by Brian and Lauren (for the Open Water portion). All were very solicitous and helpful and took the fear entirely out of the process. I’d had a bad experience years ago after a ‘resort’ course in Cozumel and was afraid I would never be able to scuba. Now, thanks to Helge, Brian, Lauren and this course, I am certified and truly excited about the opportunity to scuba on an upcoming trip. The staff at Tom’s is also very helpful and made sure that we all had properly fitted gear for the Open Water portion of the course.
Even if you are nervous, they can help you conquer all!

I just finished my open water diver certification course at Tom’s and I can’t say enough good things about my experience. Sam was my instructor was he was extremely informative, patient, accommodating, and made the course super fun. I don’t have any experience at other dive shops in Austin, but I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else but Tom’s.

I can’t say enough great things about my experience getting scuba certified at Tom’s. I just finished my open water dive this past weekend and picked up my card today! Whoohoo!
Having a fear of deep water/​things I can’t see/​sharks/​water monsters (i.e every cliched water-​related fear out there) I was VERY skeptic about learning how to scuba dive. But, I was persuaded by some close friends to join my brother in law (BIL) in getting certified for an upcoming family trip to the Keys. Plus it was time to kick these ridiculous water fears to the curb.
From the get-​go Tom’s was accomodating — I was wait-​listed for the class my BIL was in, and even though I was not first on the list, they called me up 30 minutes before class and said they made room for me! With me, there were 9 people in my class, and even though it was cramped (because of me) and I had NONE of the required equipment or a bathing suit when I showed up, I was made to feel right at home and at ease by my 2 amazing instructors — Donna & Paul.
If you have the luxury of being flexible with classes, I would highly encourage you to attend one taught by Donna or Paul. Donna was super laid back and was very encouraging when it came to asking questions and made class relaxing and fun. Paul was our assistant instructor and was very helpful with best practices and tips on how to overcome various issues. Paul was also me and my BIL’s dive partner on the open water dive in Lake Travis and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. He was extremely patient with me (especially when I had a mini freakout on our first descent at the lake!), went really slow, and made sure that my BIL & I were comfortable at all times — even when we reached 65 ft! We were really lucky to have him as our partner.
Everyone at the dive shop was extremely helpful when it came to equipment and gear. I ended up purchasing my snorkle from the shop but got my fins and mask elsewhere. Even though I decided not to get my mask at the shop they still took the time to educate me on the type of mask I wanted to look for when shopping elsewhere — I really appreciated that. If/​when I become a «serious» diver I wouldn’t hesitate to buy my gear from here. When it was time to trade out our cylinders between Lake Travis dives, there was always someone willing and happy to help me unload my gear which is a godsend when you are exhausted after a dive!
I really can’t imagine a better certification experience!
PS/​Heads up to the ladies: I do NOT recommend you color you hair before taking a class at Tom’s — the pool is chemical-​heavy for good reasons I’m sure, but it will fade your color so postpone any appts until after class :)

Frustrated with how little swimming my kids can actually do after months at one of the premier swim schools in Cedar Park, I decided to try this place. So far after only about 6 lessons, I have seen significant progress in their swimming abilities.
The concept is simple, learn to swim freestyle and on your back. Enroll in 2-​week intervals. Each session is 30 minutes everyday (M-​Th). Same place, same time, and same instructor. Consistency is the key for children. Since they are with the same instructor, that instructor really knows your child’s ability and can modify lessons accordingly. I like the fact that they focus on basic techniques such as kicking and breathing techniques. The staff is very friendly.
Nitro seems like a great place to build competitive swimmers, Tom’s is a place to go if you just want your kids to learn how to swim.