Reviews of Nanaimo Dive Outfitters (School)

Chad Pennell

What a great dive shop, my wife and I did our first cold water dives with NDO, and completed our drysuit course. Chris was our guide for the three days of diving, he was great! Very informative and he was an expert at finding little creatures in all the cracks. Brenda was great with communication via email, she answered all my questions and set up our three days of diving. Can't recommend this dive shop enough, I'll be back!

Kathy Tran

Love this place! Staff are extremely kind and welcoming. Always helpful in answering my dive questions. I feel prepared for underwater adventures!

Ryan Dorman

The shop is great and Brenda the owner is friendly and experienced. We rented high quality gear from the shop and went diving with Andrea at Tyee Cove in Nanoose Bay. She is a phenomenal instructor; so knowledgeable, funny and patient. These were my 6th and 7th dives, and my first in saltwater. It was amazing. Looking forward to coming back.

Hedvika Šimková

We took a two-dives trip with NDO. The communication was smooth from the very beginning, we agreed by mail on the equipment needed and presented our qualification so the best suitable dive sites could be chosen for us. Shirley geared us up even off the shop opening hours. Captain Steve was very helpful onboard our diving boat, not only he shared his diving experience and gave us some tips, but he also helped us with the gear. We chose to take guided dives, and it was a very good decision. Without Chris, our dive guide, we would never see as many underwater creatures as he showed us. In case you hesitate, guided dives are highly recommended (especially if you are new to this diving area).

Ron Micjan

A well stocked store with plenty of diver toys from a simple air top off, mixed gas blending, BCD's regulators, and everything a diver needs all the way up to rebreathers. Friendly folks too. Best dive shop in town.

Graham Irvine

Just dove in Nanaimo for the week and used this shop for gas fills. Great service and very accommodating when we needed fills with a short turnaround. Really appreciate the service and how friendly the staff were. Hope to be back soon and book on their boat charter next time.

RB28

Brenda, Theo, Chris and the rest of the staff are great. They are accommodating and have good gear. Will come back whenever I come back to Vancouver Island.

Christy Plommer

Just received my Open Water Dive Cert through Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. What a great group of people! Knowledgable and accomodating. Confined water training in the ocean, as pools are closed. I felt well taken care of. Fantastic instructors. Great vibe. Looking forward to many club dives, organized by NDO.

Dustin Lawtey

They start early, but have a GREAT boat. Steve the skipper is very knowledgeable, friendly and professional. Has spent a lifetime diving and loves the sport. Even if he isn't diving with you, he's happy to tell you all about the site and how to dive it. Knows the areas very well. We had a great experience with them and would recommend this company over any other we've tried on the island

Melissa Vasey

Not a diver myself but took an intro scuba course with them and came here when I was interested in it. The staff are so helpful and enthusiastic! They seem to know their stuff too. This would be my first stop if I was ever going to get more into scuba.

Paul Turner

Awesome dive shop, great staff and excellent service!

Jonah Janzen

Brenda was able to put together a last minute dive for me with Mike. What an amazing dive shop run by incredible people. The sights under water were full of life and color. A couple of shore dives had us finding octopus, nudo branch’s, king crab, flounder fish and much more. Unlike many tropical dive shops that throw you in the water as soon as you zip up, Mike was very professional and detailed. Thanks again for the amazing dives!

Pierre Prevost

Super friendly staff very knowledgeable!

Carl Sorensen

My family just finished our open water Scuba certification with Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. Brenda and the entire team we worked with including Gerald, Sheldon, Scott, and Theo were all amazing and excellent instructors who really took the time to make sure everyone felt confident with the equipment and the necessary knowledge and skills to dive safely. My Wife, and our two sons who took the course with me all had a great time learning and finally experiencing an ocean dive for the first time. If you're reading this and thinking about doing your scuba certification just give Brenda a call right now and get booked in for the next course. It was definitely a bucket list item for me and I am so glad I decided to just finally do it and even better I was able to enjoy it with my family. Thank You!!

David Casanova

Great service. Equipment in great condition. It was easy to access the shop and the dive site was only 25 min away. I’ll be back for sure.

John Clement

Highly recommend, Brenda is awesome concerned with getting you the right gear not just the most expensive thing on the rack. Also rents highly reliable equipment at a good price.

Yuji Hikaru

Always a good experience and fun chatting about the diving hobby. Staff are knowledgeable and are very considerate of safety when it comes to covid.

Gary Kulwicki

Real happy I picked this shop and locale to learn how to stay warm and dry during a dive. Wish I would have stay another day but now I will have to return to explore and this is the dive shop I will call.

Tamarack Currie

Very nice shop. Friendly, helpful and accommodating staff. Quality well maintained rental equipment. Highly recommend

Darren Galbraith

Today I finished my open water dry suit certification diving course at Tyee Cove in Nanoose bay. Due to the clear water and low volume of folks out in the water, we saw lots of life including young sea lions, jelly fish, neat crabs, fish and plants. Jerry and Derrick are awesome instructors! The gear is nearly all new. I recommend you sign up with these guys!

Chilly Jilly

I did a guided shore dive with Mike and had an amazing time. Brenda, the owner, was friendly and set me up before the dive. Mike was encouraging as I’m a newer diver and patient. I had an amazing time and highly recommend them. I will be back!

Luke Mahaney

These guys are great to deal with! Very helpful and friendly, will continue to deal with them whenever i am diving in the area.

Kyle Fodor

Great rental rates, friendly staff and an amazing diving experience!!

Alexei Novakov

Friendly and helpful

Dan Perpeluk

This is the place to go they had a deal on diving lessons that saved us a bunch of money. Nice store that had all the Diving equipment we needed and some nice advice for good dive spots in Nanaimo. Thanks to Shirley for the awesome customer service :)

Galen Campbell

An excellent shop for diving in Nanaimo. We did a two-tank dive and hired a DM to guide us. Chris was very professional and knowledgeable and a great guide. Cpt. Steve is great, too. He also knows everything you need to know about diving in the area. I felt that all the prices were very reasonable. And the shop was very easy to deal with both over email and by phone.

Thomas Huhnold

Very pleasant and very helpful. Thanks Shirley.

DD DD

Steve and Shirley are very knowledgeable and provide great service. They provide a great charter service and shop.

Lucas Smith

Super awesome dive shop, even stayed open for a late return on a rental. First class service! Can recommend

Sheldon Gray

I recently completed my wreck diving course through Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. Brenda was a great teacher and made the course an awesome experience. The course took place on a weekend that started with training and line work on land followed by two days of training on the Rivtow Lion and HMCS Saskatchewan wrecks. I would recommend NDO to anyone looking to get into diving or wanting to upgrade their skillset.

Matt Oakes

Awesome shop!

Julia Smith

I had my first cold water dive with Nanaimo Dive Outfitters and felt very safe. My guide was patient and I had a great time. Would totally recommend going to this diving school !