Anchor Shack

These are great people to deal with. Kevin has taken great care of me setting up training and gear. I got Open Water certified under Mycol and Julie in October 2015 and have since enjoyed 30 dives and counting as well as additional training. I can’t say enough good things about Julie and Mycol’s instruction: clear, patient, encouraging, well-​seasoned, and so much fun. They provide an excellent means to build and refine diving skills and discover and appreciate the wonders of the underwater world.
Anchor Shack includes good quality rental gear with the price of the certification course and enough layers of wetsuits to keep everybody plenty warm in the ocean. I’m glad I gained comfort in the colder waters and kelp forests of Monterey; warm water diving since then (Cozumel, Hawaii, etc.) has been a breeze.

Highly highly HIGHLY recommend this place if you’re looking to get Scuba certified! I just completed the final open water dives in Monterey this weekend and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Mycol and Julie were INCREDIBLE instructors, made everything simple to understand and were very encouraging at every stage of the training. I’m already looking forward to taking another course because they were that good!

I’ve waited a long time to write this review. I believe that it’s best to wait and cool off before criticizing somebody. Well, it’s been years, and I’m still pissed. Get ready because this is a long review.
Years ago I wanted to get my certification to dive. I had always seen the anchor shack and decided to check it out. A friend and I enrolled and paid extra to get the class at our own pace. We graduated in no time, and I wanted more. I proceeded to get my advanced diving and rescue diver certification. I then proceeded to get my own gear. After looking online at sites like leisurepro I had found the gear I wanted. Unfortunately some of the gear I wanted wasn’t available at anchor shack. They offered to order it for me. But just like the gear they had available in shop, it was incredibly overpriced! I considered the fact that it was several hundred dollars more compared to the positives. I wanted to support a local business, they offered a 10% discount on future purchases (including services), and they would provide free maintenance on gear (minus the costs of parts). Ultimately I decided to purchase my gear from the anchor shack.
Since my purchase: I started a career as a diver, and got married. I called the anchor shack and told them I wanted to get certification for my wife who wants to be able to dive with me. They quoted me a price approximate triple what I paid (and she wouldn’t be receiving expedited classes). I told them I had been offered 10% off of future purchases and services. They wouldn’t budge. I asked if they had any military discounts. Nothing. I offered to teach her everything she could ever need to know about diving for them, still 300% pricing instead of 10% off. I spoke with the owner, he refused to acknowledge that they would ever offer future discounts to someone who would spend thousands on gear with them. I told them that sports chalet was cheaper, he seriously didn’t care!
Long story short: did a lot of business with them. They offered future discounts with them for said business. When the time came, they denied and tried to charge triple.

Kevin is so friendly and helpful. I love how flexible he is with letting us use the equipment and pool. Mycol and Julie were fantastic instructors. Very knowledgable and fun. I was very nervous about one of the skill checkoff and had nothing but reassurance from them both. I decided to get PADI certified very last minute not thinking I would be able to get it all done before my trip in a week and they totally got me through the class work, pool work and in the ocean in that same week. They keep my nerves down to a minimum. I felt very comfortable and confident in them as divers and instructors. The best part was the little touches they did to make you feel at home. They always made sure the group was comfortable and understood what each dive would be. After the last dive on day 1 we were all getting out of the cold waters of Monterey, Ca and Mycol came by to get all of us a warm towel to wipe off with. It was top notch customer service and made everyone in the group smile. Amazing people and I would highly recommend them to learn how to dive and the Anchor Shack for any of your diving needs.

Mychol and Julie are awesome instructors and I am so thankful I did my Open Water certification with them. They were laid back, knowledgeable, and had a lot of patients; everything I needed. Other places don’t have their own pool, bark instructions, or have really old equipment. Anchor Shack is none of these. Kevin is great and helpful with signing up for classes or getting gear as well.
Thanks Anchor Shack for making my diving experience as stress free and fun as possible!

A friendly, welcoming, state of the art scuba dive shop with a complete selection of equipment, top notch instructors and great facilities. Really nice, helpful people. Highly recommended.

Very disappointed. Took my regulator in for service. Usually a basic service should be about $ 100 – 120 depending on parts etc. I was never called when it was ready and promised 2 weeks. Finally I called when it had been almost a month. The woman told me it had been ready and that they don’t call. Ok. Then I asked how much it would be, I was told $ 116. Ok. That’s about right. Wrong! I get there and they bring out my regulator and there is no longer an octopus or my computer (yes it’s old and still attached to pressure gauge) attached to my regulator! Uhm, where is the rest of it??? This is all we have. WTF? This woman then gets Kevin and he seems perplexed. He’s perplexed? I’m freaking out! He finally goes into back room searches through some stuff and finds my octopus. Then searches some more and finds my computer. He then proceeds to add up everything and now tells me that my regulator service is $ 234! What? Oh they «serviced» my octopus and computer. Uhm no you didn’t service my computer the only thing I asked for was my reg to be serviced and put new batteries in the computer. $ 60 to «service» my old Aeris computer. Never asked for any of this extra service. Long story short I paid but they lost a customer.

I started my Open Water certification at a local Sport Chalet in December 2014, but due to illness and lack of time never got to do the ocean dive. My boyfriend’s lack of a consistent diving partner eventually got him to push me to try to finish my certification, but this time at Anchor Shack, with which he had had a great experience.
Our instructor Mycol was kind enough to let me join the day before a pool dive, which was a great refresher for many of the skills. Both Mycol and his wife Julie were amazing! They made me feel extremely comfortable in both the pool and the ocean. Morgan and Bruce were also great instructors. All of their skills in scuba diving were apparent and left me excited to dive more in the future! I highly recommend everyone check the store out for their diving needs and questions.

Recently got my certification through these folks and couldn’t be happier! The course was fun and engaging, and the instructors were fantastic. Very supportive and professional when we were in the water, and I’m super excited about diving more! Five star no doubt — I’d recommend it for anybody.

So I’ve been out of the water for 4 years now and decided to get my gear service and get back in. I discovered that both of the previous dive shops I used were no longer in business and luckily the Anchor Shack is. I haven’t drove my regs yet but the service looks like it was done very professionally. This store is small but pretty well stocked and it’s very cool that they have a pool. Customer service was excellent and I’m happy to say this is my new dive shop.

I recently got open water certified on 1÷18÷15 thru Anchor Shack by Mycol Holton. I cannot say enough about Mycol and his wife Julie, they are AWESOME! Mycol is very professional, detailed and focused on safety. I felt completely comfortable thru the entire course. The open water section was completed at San Carlos Beach in Monterey and Mycol even had a nice place to go and grab some pizza and learn to fill out our dive log books after our first dives, it was nice to relax grab a bite and learn to fill out the dive logs. Mycol’s wife Julie was also there for our open water dives in Monterey and she is extremely helpful and also very professional just like Mycol. I will continue to build on my dive training and will be using Mycol and Julie to complete my advanced courses.

Excellent job on providing the appropriate didactic and practical training for dive certification. I feel very confident that I can go to Hawaii and dive safely! Highly recommend Kevin, Mycol and the other dive masters that provided a great learning environment.

My wife and 12 yr old son took a PADI certification class with Mycol Holton at Anchor Shack in August 2014.
They did the pool work at Anchor Shack’s own pool and the open water dives in Pleasanton and in Monterey Bay. Mycol was outstanding and tremendously supportive. This was particularly true of the extra effort with my son, including getting him a regulator and wet suit that was smaller than their small sizes. They were extremely knowledgeable and good-​humored through the entire process. All in all, I thought it was a great experience for my family and I would recommend them strongly.

Great shop, amazing help. Came in to rent a wet suit and buy some booties for abalone diving. Kevin was super helpful. Love that they have a weekend rate too. When the boots turned out to be uncomfortable, Kevin immediately offered a refund even though they were used once. I instead exchanged for a more comfortable pair (I recommend a soft toe vs hard tow on the boots). Kevin took the time to ask me about my trip and was super encouraging and seriously such a nice guy. I will definitely be back to rent a suit again and to buy a mask from this shop.

This is a very professional dive shop. We felt safe with our confident and knowledgable dive instructor. Most recently we did a refresher course and feel excited to get back im the big blue. We haven’t been on one their dive trips yet, but are looking forward to it in the future.

I haven’t been diving in more than 10 years, but a dive is planned for an upcoming trip to Hawaii, so I was looking for a refresher class. A friend recommended the Anchor Shack, and they were terrific.
The lesson was one to one. Julie began with a test to see what I remembered from my classroom training. It turned out that I remembered most if it. Who knew? We then went to the pool deck where we went over equipment.
The pool was warm and it felt great to get back in the water. We reviewed hand signals, clearing the mask and putting the mask back on underwater. We reviewed rescue breathing and safe ascent. I was allowed a LOT of time to redevelop my buoyancy skills and to play in the water.
At all times i felt respected and stress free. I left feeling secure in my readiness to resume my dive vacations. I’d use the services of the Anchor Shack again in a heartbeat!

Awesome little dive-​shop! Kevin is super-​friendly, and Mycol, one of the lead instructors, is personable, knowledgeable and a terrific teacher. I’ve taken both Open Water and Advanced Open Water from this place, and both courses were professionally executed, and left me with the confidence to go diving in Cancun and Cozumel. It proved to be a good idea to get certified at home, so I could jest spend my time relaxing and sightseeing in Mexico.
It’s also nice that it’s an official PADI shop, which is the international standard for certification programs.
Finally, the courses are done so well, building on each other nicely, so ANYONE in reasonably good health can learn how to scuba dive. Lots of novices in my first class, and all made it through just fine.

I received my certification today. Anchor Shack was the vehicle to the fulfillment of a dream. Anchor Shack is a wonderful place to take classes, get certified and go as far as a person wants to go in the wonderful underwater world. My instructor, Mykol, was absolutely tremendous in his mannerisms, his professionalism as a diver.
The prices were reasonable, facilities were impeccable, and it was an outstanding experience.
I highly recommend Anchor Shack for anyone wanting to learn how to dive or someone looking to purchase equipment or rent equipment.

Great place to learn how to dive! I was very nervous at first but Ryan Smith was a wonderful instructor and taught at a pace I was comfortable with. We were able to go back and use the pool for practice and felt very welcome. The price is reasonable and we decided to buy all of our equipment there too. I highly recommend Anchor Shack if you would like a relaxed, fun, and educational diving experience!
— Jenna and Evan

I was certified to dive here last year. The price was reasonable, and the owner and his dive instructors were great guys. They are very comforting because they know that it is pretty creepy the first time you go underwater with the equipment and you’re expected to breathe. They were very thorough with the instruction, and made me feel comfortable learning to scuba dive. And there is a heated pool on site, so that’s nice.
Matter of fact, my first open water dive after being certified was in Thailand. When I went, the dive guide asked me how long I’d been diving. When I told him it was my first dive, he was shocked. He said he thought I had been diving for years because my buoyancy control was so good.
Kevin and his staff do a great job. I recommend getting certified here to anyone!