. . "1"^^ . "2016-03-02T00:00:00"^^ . . "1"^^ . "3"^^ . "5"^^ . "Found these guys on Groupon and made the plunge (hehehe) based on Yelp reviews. What an awesome scuba shop!!! Chris and Nichole are the nicest and most patient scuba instructors; Fins Up Scuba literally could not get any better! I am headed to Australia in a few weeks and wanted to get scuba certified so I can dive on the Great Barrier Reef. To be honest, I was terrified of scuba diving before going through these classes. I don't even like snorkeling, but my friend who I'm traveling with insisted that we dive on the reef. Happy to report that I am now PADI certified, and feel confident enough to get out and dive while in Australia!!!\n\nAfter seeing Fins Up Scuba on Groupon, I decided to call and get more information. I had about 20 questions and Chris answered everything without missing a beat. From our initial conversation, I felt comfortable with him and confident that I would be well taken care of. I stopped by the shop to sign up for the e-learning class - it's about $20 more than the Groupon, but you can do all the learning online rather than spending an entire Saturday sitting in their classroom. There are 6 online modules to go through before you take a quick test in-person. You have to do the online modules and test before you can do your pool dives and lake dives. The package price includes all your gear rentals for all of your dives.\n\nFast forward to the dives - we spent an entire Sunday at a pool in East Mesa (literally 8am-5pm). There were two instructors, one dive master/instructor-in-training, and 5 students total. What a great student-teacher ratio!! You have a lots of skills to learn, and 5 short dives in the pool to practice the skills. The next weekend, we all gathered at Lake Pleasant to do our lake dives (2 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, 4 \"open water\" dives total). While Lake Pleasant isn't necessarily a diver's paradise, it's such a rush to be diving for real!\n\nI would highly recommend Fins Up Scuba to anyone who is considering scuba lessons. I could not be more impressed with Chris and Nichole and the shop that they run. They are fantastic teachers, truly passionate about their sport and they make safety a high priority. From starting as a terrified student to now being PADI certified to dive up to 60 feet, I can say with confidence that I couldn't have done it without them! Thank you Chris!!! Thank you Nichole!!!\n\n5 stars for service, 5 stars for convenience, 5 stars for professionalism. Do yourself a favor and call them now!"^^ .