Adventure Sports Unlimited

I buy 1 — 2 snorkles a year for lap swimming. Yesterday i decided to shop where the pros shop to buy a new one. Stephen showed me the differences in 3 models, how I might wear this new one more comfortably and how to not get a hole in the hose (like my old one). I really appreciated his interest in what was best for me (a $ 29.00 sale). I will for sure go back ASUnlimited!

I don’t want to even give this place a star. This place is a joke and poorly managed. Thank goodness for Jim Booth Swim School and Simpkins!!!

If you teach your children self respect & values do not bring them here. My daughter was 10min. Into her 1^st class when a male student in her class was grabbing & pinching her bottom, she screamed in pain, when her dad went over to ask what was wrong she told him. He asked who was his parent the boys dad came over my husband told him what his kid had done & then asked «what are you teaching him at home?» My husband went to the office to tell the office mamager Kelly what happened she was shocked & said that was wrong the boy shouldnt of done that & that she would talk to his parents. My husband went back outside to wait for our other daughter when the boys dad came up to him & started to yell at him telling him that thats what kids do & dont ever assume things are going on at his house, my husband told him children dont go around doing that. I called Kelly that evening to tell her about the boys dad being aggresive with my husband & that i did not want that boy in my daughters class because my daughter was very startled & what the boy did was sexual harrasment also the dad trying to fight with my husband was wrong! My husband had 100% right to be upset not the guy who has bad parenting skills, she told me she would call me back, well I had to call her back this is what resulted, she said «boys will be boys» she wasnt gonna switch him out of the class because the schedule didnt work for his parents & if i didnt feel comfortable with that she would just give me a refund. Really?! What this boy did was acceptible to their standards? At any other place this would be 0% tolerable, at school he would have been sent home or to a counselor. Why is it ok here?

Teacher Billy is amazing! He is working so well with my son, listening to his fears and making him feel comfortable in the water. Really believe that my son with break that barrier and get to the next level because of teacher Billy! Thank you.

Where to begin… Should I start with the incredibly passionate and knowledgeable staff? Or their exceptional dive instructors and PADI Certification courses? Or the epic perks… Do you like beer and hot tubs?
I took my open water certification course here because a close friend told me how much fun she had in her class with Steve. ASU is also the most inexpensive place to get certified here in town.
Loved the experience here at this shop. Steve is a fantastic instructor with extensive knowledge, experience, and patience. My classmates were cool as hell and we loved being welcomed to the ASU family.
It’s really nice learning at ASU because you gain additional training for diving from kayaks. Sooooo good for some of the more dangerous and infamous shore diving spots in the Monterey Bay.
The shop has a huge selection of dive equipment, GoPros, rentals, dry suits, and wet suits. They do various trips each year locally and internationally.
You should definitely stop by the shop to pick up your gear and get to know the staff. You like diving. They like diving. It works.
Thanks ASU!

My daughter took private lessons with Kyle and took off with swimming after the first two lessons. He is a great teacher and my daughter really enjoyed the lessons with him. He is thorough yet fun she is a fish in the water now and I feel happy and secure that she can swim like a pro! We will be back with our next baby soon.

Our kids went to adventure sports for swim lessons for years, and we always had good experiences. But over the past year, the quality of instructors has declined. In one 8-​week session, we had the regular instructor only three times. The next session, we had the same teacher for three weeks, but then she never returned and we had subs for the remainder of the session. Lessons are cancelled often, and we were told to arrange our own make-​ups. Instructors also socialize during lessons. The office staff were unreceptive and flat-​out rude. I will not recommend this place for swim lessons anymore. I suggest going elsewhere.

Great swim school. My 2 kids took lessens here and the instructors are awesome. Very patience and build up the kids confidence. The owner and staff is very nice and welcoming. Both of my kids completed 3 sessions and loved it. We tried Jim Booth Swim school first and that was a fail. Instructors were horrible and had no patience. My wife and I spoke with Jim and he was atrocious to speak with. So if your considering between the two go with Adventure Sports…

First experience with swim lessons for our 4 year old and it’s been exceptional! In just 4 lessons, Vana had our daughter swimming independantly and feeling very confident in the water. Missed classes were easy to reschedule too. Signing up for another session and excited for more progression!

I have tried to book adult swim lessons for the last two summers. I emailed them over a week ago and they didn’t respond. So I called to see if I can book some lessons for weekends in July (it’s only May) but they wouldn’t even TRY to schedule me «in case» one of their clients decides to renew for more sessions when they finish their lessons. So, instead of taking the sure thing, I got bumped for a «maybe.» And then he told me that they have a long wait list but didn’t sound like he even wanted to bother to add my name.
Also, when I pointed out that I emailed them nine days ago but didn’t receive a response, he said, sorry, they’ve been really busy. NINE DAYS… Too busy to respond for NINE days?

I have 5 kids, our oldest being 21 and youngest 7, so we’ve been to A LOT of different swim lessons throughout Santa Cruz County. I have to say Adventure Sports is the only place that actually TEACHES the mechanics of swimming to kids step by step in a way that actually makes sense! Im a triathlete that has been swimming since 14 years old and have tried teaching my kids to swim and we all became frustrated.
Most other swim lessons just play games with the kids and teach ‘pizza arm’ strokes or just have them ‘kickboard’ their way across the pool. My 7 year old went from not even being able to float by himself, to being able to swim across the entire pool freestyle in one 8 week session.
I learned a lot about breaking down the actual strokes and simple tricks to help you not sink by just watching them! Can’t say enough about how awesome these instructors are.

I have two kids in classes and am taking the OWD SCUBA class and I must say this is such a great place. They truly make you feel like family and go above and beyond any level of service you could expect. Dennis is so incredible and inspiring, and all of the teachers are simply amazing! I feel so fortunate to be learning SCUBA from Dennis, and will continue my learning through ASU.
If you live anywhere near Santa Cruz I highly recommend the SCUBA class!
I would give 6 stars if I could.

Their outdoor adventure shuttle van drivers drive like assholes. Definitely boycotting this business after seeing the stunts they pull in traffic, WHILE towing a trailer. Its unreal.

My little boy is having a wonderful first session at Adventure Sports! His last swimming lessons were in a cold pool where he needed a wetsuit. He is delighted with the warm temps in the pool and is having a great time night swimming! The teachers seem very well trained, enthusiastic and comfortable with kids. My son’s teacher Hannah is great. She is always smiling, clearly knows what she’s doing and I feel very confident in my child’s safety when he’s in the water with her.
I also witnessed teacher Kyle coax a reluctant little guy into the pool. The kid was very scared and the teacher used wonderful logic and understanding to get him comfortable. That alone would have made me sign my son up for more sessions.
I feel very positive about the school and feel like I found the place we’ll stay with for years to come.

Our 3 year old was really excited to take his second round of swim lessons. His first was at Sea Horse and they were great. Unfortunately, they weren’t available during the hours we needed so we hit up a google search.
Adventure Sports was one of the top hits so I thought it must be decent. Long story short, we signed up for a monday/​wednesday class without knowing the times because THEY themselves weren’t certain on when they’d be held. I was reluctant to commit but did. They told me I’d be notified the wednesday prior to the monday class via email with the scheduled time of the class. I wasn’t. I called them at 5:30 the wednesday prior to class and was told that they weren’t able to schedule our child. I told «Steve» that I would have appreciated a notification because our child was REALLY looking forward to his scheduled swim lessons and he said he was sorry. The thing is… they should have told us earlier so we could schedule classes with another school. They were SUPER inconsiderate of us and waited beyond the last minute. Additionally, they also charged us for lessons they weren’t planning on giving?
CONCLUSION: We will never attempt to receive services from this agency again.
RECOMMENDATION: Don’t try them unless your child can tolerate a disappointment.

Chaotic, busy, and somewhat disorganized. Way too many kids and adults for the size of the facility. Had i known, i would have chosen a different place for kids swimming lessons.

My 15 year old daughter and I recently took the scuba open water cert class here. We ended up here through Groupon and since I was in it for the deal, I didn’t have many expectations. That being said, we had a fantastic time. Our instructor, Steve, is very cool, calm and collected. He is ultra patient with the variety of student comfort levels in the class and his demeanor definitely keeps the more nervous folks from getting too excited. I was watching my daughter like a protective hawk, but honestly, with Steve and Dennis (owner), I quickly became very comfortable with them. She came out of it with a great experience and we both thoroughly enjoyed the class. We look forward to taking more classes and jumping into a few trips with these guys in the future!

I bought a SCUBA deal on Groupon for Adventure Sports and was a little apprehensive. I live in Gilroy and would have to drive to Santa Cruz for this. I thought to myself, «This better be worth it.» Wow, it really was! Not only did I have an incredible experience but the staff is more than knowledgeable and very helpful. Jim, was extremely helpful when I was trying to register. Dennis has been a SCUBA instructor in the Santa Cruz area for 40+ years and was a great teacher.
I will continue to shop at Adventure Sports for my diving needs. I can’t wait to join in on monthly dives with the people from ASU!

My son took lessons here and we love it! I am not sure about the other instructors, but I DO know that Jonathan is amazing and has taught my 3.5 year old son so much. He has a wonderful way with kids– the perfect balance of authority and patience, all the while letting the kids be kids without getting off track. If you are considering sending your child here for swim classes, I’d highly recommend it and I would highly recommend Jonathan as a teacher!

Groupon *deal* had to book MONTHS in advance.
The day before my class starts I get a confirmation email from «Jim».I email him back asking the schedule and what the flexibility is if I had to miss a date. No response. I call and was told to «check the schedule on the website». I printed it out and had to tell my boss I wouldn’t be available for emergencies (²⁴⁄₇ on call) during these times. The *deal* also said the only other payment that we would have to make would be the cost of the boat dive for the final open water test, 90 dollars As long as we bring our snorkel gear we are good to go. Day one– I show up for the class and stop into the office/​store before hand. Was then told I had to purchase fins (apparently my fins that I have dove with 2 times prior were not good) boots and gloves. My guy tells the guy, we have extra gloves I just don’t have them with us at the time. To which he replies, «you need them for tomorrow». Um okay sure, I’ll buy them there at the shop since it’s obviously a issue for bringing in your own stuff. Throw down another $ 250 for course materials, boots, gloves and fins. My guy is telling the old grouchy lady in there about his diving experiences and certification and of course she tries to sell him a refresher course. He says he will «piggy back on mine» NOT meaning he would sit in the class with me or even stick around all day, just meaning he will refresh off the course material we just purchased. I walked out for a sec and then back where I heard grump lady, Jim and my «instructor» Steve talking crap. RED LIGHT! Should have gotten a refund for the gear and took my loses on the Groupon. This «classroom» that is more like a sweat shop. No ac, it’s right next to the pool that at any given time any day of the classes I took had 20+ screaming kids taking swim lessons along with screaming teachers teaching them. Your options at being able to hear anything is to shut the doors and faint from the heat. We go through how the class is going to work, he changes the times on the schedule (website schedule) that I had already scheduled my life around and then proceeded to take a vote on who wants to do a kayak dive for the first one. OK, that seems cool but of course there is a catch. More $. Day 2 comes– I’m thinking since this is a «classroom» environment, we would go over at least some of the material in class. We did not.
This was more of a home study, read the chapter– complete the quiz and
then we would check the answers in the class. Sure he explained why
on the questions that anyone got wrong but in a condescending type of
way. This teacher needs to learn how to «teach» and TIME MANAGEMENT.
Anytime I would ask what time does he think we will be finished, I’d get a «it takes as long as it takes» answer. NOT acceptable for someone with a family!
I missed wk2 due to a cold. Steve *mr* negative couldn’t commit to a time to make it up, telling me he’s booked for the next 3 weeks which then I wouldn’t finish the class. After many negative text messages from him got him to confirm a Friday evening class after paying another $ 175. I get there, we go through the ANSWERS of the 3 chapters I missed and started pool work. The pool water is so NASTY! Hair circling the bottom, very foggy like it just had 100 people peeing in there (which I’m sure it did).GROSS for someone learning scuba where is it required you open your eyes underwater and get water in your mouth when you are moving your regulator in and out. I ended up tweaking my pre-​injured shoulder that night which made me not OK to do the kayak dive that Sunday. I took the final on Saturday. Class was supposed to start at 2pm, informed Steve I wouldn’t be doing the dives because of my injury so I was just there to take the test. We had to wait till 2pm for the rest of the class to show up (stuff in traffic). Once they did he had them all go get their gear and set it up for the next days dive, OK, I’ll sit around and wait. He said they would do the equipment rental after the final test and before the pool work. HE DID NOT. He proceeded to stay out there with the class and go through the entire setup and equipment rental process while I sit in pain in the hot classroom. I think asked how long it would be until we test so I can leave and he AGAIN replied «it takes as long as it takes». Absolutely unacceptable behavior from him! He knew I was injured, in pain and considering I waited or everyone for an hour and a half THE LEAST he could have done was let us take the final and I could be on my way. After that, he was just down right RUDE TO ME! Handing out info on local beaches to dive, told me I don’t need it, ignoring me while he was talking about sandwiches when all i needed him to do was sign off on my card! Honestly I wouldn’t trust this brat (I’m sure he lives at home with mommy and daddy) with my life in the open ocean. Can’t wait to complain to PADI about him!
SHOP– LEARN CUSTOMER SERVICE