Silent World Diving Systems

I became certified with Silent World in 2013. I needed something positive in my life and craved a new challenge. Craig, Corey, Shannon, and everyone else at Silent World have become what I consider friends and a part of my bigger family. Yes, they ask that you buy things there, but then I don’t mind supporting local business and like the service and advice I receive. Now, I am a regular diver. I have confidence in my abilities due to expert training and look forward to each new opportunity to dive in wonderful places with my Silent World friends.

I was getting ready for a Hawaii trip and knew I wanted to get SCUBA certified. Knowing summer time is the busiest times for the shops around town, I was happy to hear that Silent World offered an SDI program that would allow me exactly enough time to finish my certification before I left.
I jumped in the class a week late but Cory was a rockstar at catching me up to speed. The class sessions were informational and the pool dives definitely helped me ease into my fear of water. By the time we did our open dives in the Sound, I was feeling pretty confident. Cory did a good job at answering questions and explaining things to people of all level.
I would highly recommend this shop to anyone– the staff is professional and Cory is a great instructor. Kudos to them!
Mahalo!

Silent World has all but been my gateway drug to diving.
I took my open water and dry suit classes with Curtis. The classes were fun, laid back, but still full of information that left me prepared. I appreciated the option to go to the pool on additional nights if you wanted or needed more time to get comfortable with the equipment, even if I didn’t end up using it. The open water sessions were great and I always felt safe and well monitored.
Enough so that I decided to take the night/​limited vis class led by Tor and Leah. Again, really knowledge people who are all genuinely excited to share their passion with you. Even more so, after having some buoyancy issues on my first dive of the evening and getting a little frustrated with myself, Leah was super positive and offered constructive feedback in such a way that my second dive was spectacular.
After some hemming and hawing on my part, I decided to go out with Silent World on one of the Bandito charters, and now I’m totally hooked. I honestly can’t think of a single bad thing to say about any of these folks and I know exactly where I’m going for all of my future diving needs!

I’m a PADI OW certified diver, and looking to expand have some redundant training in order to ensure that I have the fundamentals of diving down (I plan on going the divemaster route).
I took a night dive specialty course with Leah. The materials from SSI were very good, we covered the material fairly well (though SSI is wrong on one of them — brand new batteries will always be brighter than rechargeables, but I digress).
Since I’m fairly new, I did have some issues with my drysuit. In addition to teaching the class well, Leah gave me a number of pointers, including dealing with excess air in the lower legs that is different than what PADI teaches. I’ll definitely be taking more SSI classes through Silent World, and will likely get SSI AOW certification in addition to the AOW certification I’m doing through PADI in a couple weeks.

Update and improved rating deserved due to the excellent response to the problems we experienced. Manager (Katie) called me the day of this review to apologize and get the facts straight, offered to make things right. Owner (Craig) called the next day to follow up, also to discuss procedures changed in the shop and with their outside repair guy to prevent these problems from happening again. He offered more compensation than was deserved, we ended up agreeing on finishing the repairs of last 2 hoses and a free refresher course.
Any group can give a bad impression due to one or two individuals’ performance, and mistakes can happen. How people respond in those situations is more important than the problems. I didn’t hear any excuses, just sincere interest to fix problems and make things right for us. I can see my 4 star rating changing to 5 if we get this resolved soon. Thanks!

Just finished the Open Water and Dry Suit classes with my son. They were quite accommodating regarding our start date as we had some scheduling conflicts. We had a few instructors: Curtis, Leah, and Martin. One word: patience. They all were very patient with us and took the time to explain and show us the skills we needed to learn, more than once. They were all cheerful and fun to boot.
Classroom instruction was followed by pool time at Bellevue Aquatic Center. Our dives took place at Alkai and Edmunds on the weekends. We had 8 or so people in our class and never felt ignored or unsafe. Quite a few times my son and I had an instructor all to ourselves even.
Thanks to the wife for getting us a Groupon for this, though it did not include the Dry Water course. They pushed that during the orientation but we were planning on taking it anyway so it was not an issue for us.

Best diving in the pacific Northwest! They know it all and you get the benefit of their experience! Most impressed!!!

I purchased a Groupon that could be redeemed for six SCUBA classes. Three in a public swimming pool and three open ocean dives. Unfortunately my experience with Silent World Diving Systems was not enjoyable.
I was assigned with an instructor named Cory. He talked very fast during the instruction part of the class and there was no testing of whether you understood and retained these lessons. During the diving lessons he gave zero critical feedback. He also made several inappropriate jokes about how he enjoyed urinating in the swimming pool where the diving lessons took place. I found this unprofessional and offensive.
And this entire time they constantly advertised their own goods and diving vacations to the students. And spent significantly more time talking to and instructing students who purchased their gear.
After my second class I needed to reschedule for the third session. When I called the Silent World office they told me I would have to speak to Cory directly and he would call me back. I did not hear from him for six days. When he did finally call me back, he informed me about how behind I was on classes and I had missed some scheduled classes and he wouldn’t be available rest of the week. I found this pretty frustrating since I had basically missed the classes because he had failed to return my call.
To be fair, apparently I could still call back and reschedule my class. But this wasn’t offered to me until after they saw a negative Unilocal review. The entire experience left me frustrated and I am disinclined to go back. Additionally it was tad annoying to be harangued by the owner to change my Unilocal review.

Great intro class. Katie (the scuba princess) was very helpful and informative on all that Silent World offers. When we went to the pool, she helped everyone feel comfortable with the scuba gear and made sure that everybody got the hang of it before letting us free swim. Scuba diving is a expensive sport, but I think the experience will out way the cost. We’re starting our classes in July and I will update my review if it changes, but so far, so good.
I would definitely recommend friends and family to Silent World.

Great intro class! A friend and I have talked about trying scuba forever, and then low and behold, a Google Offer did appear! For $ 25 we got into an intro class where we were showed the basics, and got some time in the pool to figure things out and get the hang of breathing underwater. As other reviewers have mentioned, we could easily have spent longer in the pool, but it was a great intro and definitely got us excited about scuba-​ing more!
Definitely have to give a shout-​out to the instructors — Bryan and Evan were our main teachers for the evening, and both were fun, funny, knowledgable, and obviously love what they do. Other staff that was there (helping with gear, etc.) were all great at explaining the know-​how and equipment functioning to everyone in our group (which included all ages). I would readily recommend to anyone who wants to give it a try! As for my fr

Awesome! Hubby and I really enjoyed an intro to diving class we took with these guys. I am a certified diver, but it had been years since I strapped on any gear. My husband had always wanted to give it a try, so when a Groupon for the intro class came up I had to bite. It was a basic intro and some time in the pool. Nothing amazing as far as diving, but a great way to try it out and spend an evening goofing off in the pool. The staff was fun and knowledgeable. Hubby is now thinking of getting certified, so the class must have made a good impression.

My husband and I have wanted to get certified for year, and when the deal came along on Zozi, we couldn’t pass it up and we are so glad we didn’t. I wanted to go to a top notch training center for my diving, as I know there are a lot of half assed places out there who do weekend crash courses. I have been nothing but impressed with Silent World through the whole experience. Their prime focus is making sure you are comfortable with the equipment and being in the water prior to going into the open water. They make themselves available for evening practice in their training pool so that you can go as many times as you need to before your open water dives. Their instructors are very experienced, many of them having surpassed the 1,000 dive mark, but they still make the main focus of the class having fun and enjoying the water, as all the instructors are passionate about diving. My husband and I have crazy schedules and had to reschedule one of our open water dives and they bent over backwards to accommodate us, it was amazing. Leah our instructor worked so hard to get us in on Labor day which was the only day we had, and went out of her way to make it possible. She also rearranged a dry suit class and came in on her day off so that we could get our dry suit training done when my husband had last minute business travel come up. They are safe, extremely nice, offer helpful info on equipment, and are not pushy. I would HIGHLY recommend going here if you are interested in getting certified! Silent World rules!

The people at silent world are great as long as you are buying their products, like classes, trips, gear, etc. However, everything is designed to get you to spend more money. Not everyone can afford to blow $ 2k-​10k a year on this stuff. Many businesses located between Bellevue and Redmond (like the Bentley dealer 600 ft away) have this attitude, and it gets tiring quickly. Diving is an expensive luxury sport, but like any other luxury, you should shop around, and be careful when shopping in the «Beverly Hills» of Washington.

It seems like a lot (out of the whopping 3) of the reviewers here have been diving with Silent World for quite some time, so here is the opinion of someone who has never done any water sports and went for the first time ever.
My boyfriend and I bought the Living Social coupon for the Try SCUBA class. It was just one of those things we both always wanted to do and had 0 experience. It was $ 25 and the class is normally $ 50. The sign-​up process was easy. The website didn’t tell me much so I had to call. They were very nice, but I wish the website was more informative of times, locations etc.
Cory told us on the phone that it would be 2.5−3 hours. We first arrived at 6:30 (arrival time isn’t on the website so here’s your info) and did classroom courses before we had to drive to the Bellevue Aquatic Center. This is another tidbit I wish they were more clear about. I have a car, but I noticed some teenagers took quite a while getting to the pool and I think it was because they didn’t have a ride.
At the pool, you take turns «diving.» The instructors were great and it was a lot of fun. I have no athletic ability whatsoever, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. We spent about 20 – 30 minutes in the pool, which disappointed me. The class was nowhere near 3 hours long. We spent a lot of time waiting around. I was in the first group to go and even after my shower, it wasn’t even 9.
I don’t know a lot about diving but I feel like $ 50 is a bit steep. It would be a better deal if you could spend more time in the water. For the deal we got, we were quite happy with our experience. It was a lot of fun and Cory and our in-​water instructor were great. I’m really glad I did it and would definitely go scuba diving again.

I have dove with Silent World for close to 20 years now! Wow! The experience has been top notch. The staff take their positions very seriously. Safety is number one. And it shows in everything they do: providing high quality equipment, the highest quality standards in training and well-​planned, fun diving trips/​vacations. They all continue their education to stay current with new trends which enable them to provide expertise to their customers. They offer a lot of local dives and trips to various parts of the world. I’ve done many of them and they have all been stellar! I caution those searching for cheap and fast with SCUBA training — remember this is a life support system. Your life. If you want proper training that will allow you to feel comfortable so you can enjoy a lifetime of fun, then Silent World is the place for you! I highly recommend Silent World.

What a great store and staff. Been going there for 14 years.
The very best place to learn to dive or to get support once you are diving. Their instruction is personal, safety oriented and fun. They don’t just take your money and leave you on your own.
After the basics they provide all sorts or support and opportunities to keep you diving, whether it is in our fabulous NW waters or dive trips to some of the best dive sites in the world.
They provide the best in service and advice and equipment.
I would not entrust my expensive dive equipment to anyone but the experienced staff at Silent World.
The very best dive experiences for me have been with Silent World.

I’ve been diving for 16 years, locally and around the world. For me, Silent World is the best dive shop in the area. They sell quality equipment, and they stand behind what they sell.
Their instructors are top-​notch at all levels of instruction, from open water cetification to rebreathers and technical diving.
They also offer a wide range of diving trips, from local guided beach dives and local dive charters, to some of the most exotic dive destintions in the world.
And they are just really nice people all the way around. They love to dive and it shows in everything they do for their customers.
My specific experience with them includes training for multiple dive certifications, 2 rebreathers (sales, training and maintenance), 2 drysuits, at least 3 wetsuits, numerous cylinders, several regulators, BCs, fins, masks and just about every other piece of dive equipment you can think of, and several trips to exotic locations. I’ve never been dissatisfied with anything. That’s a pretty good track record.

After I did my research, these people seemed to be the best regarded for diving classes and equipment in the Seattle area.
Also as a tie-​breaker, they offer dry suit training in conjunction with their open dive certification program. This is notable as it is freaking cold as zomg up here and wetsuits are not really enough. Drysuit is, by all accounts, the only way to go.
So if you have a big pile of cash, you too can buy your diving gear and enroll in diving classes here.
I’ll update after I’ve taken my classes.