What people are saying about A-1

 

A review recently posted on YELP

This place is a Denver institution and beloved by many Denver residents. How has no one reviewed it before?!

My boyfriend bought me scuba diving lessons for my birthday, which is how I came to fall in love with this place. He was very picky about the scuba center that he went through, and after lots of calls and visits to shops all over the Denver area, he finally settled on A-1.After taking the class, I can see why he picked A-1.

I had an incredibly positive experience with my classes. Our instructor Joanne was top-notch and very energetic, and definitely knew her stuff. Everyone else who works there is super-friendly and incredibly knowledgeable, and can answer any and all questions you have. On top of that, their prices on their equipment are VERY fair, and they even give a discount to people who take their scuba classes through A-1. They have an extensive shop - the biggest I have seen in Denver - and their own pool that they conduct confined water dives in.

They also have THE best repair shop in the area, and even repair gear sent in from other states who are not equipped with the correct tools.

On top of that, they have a travel center full of lovely ladies who will coordinate a trip for you, whether scuba or otherwise. And every couple of months the shop does a large scuba trip that is usually all-inclusive and reasonably priced.

Once my BF and I save up enough money, we are definitely doing a trip through A-1. And I wouldn't buy my gear anywhere else. Or take scuba classes anywhere else. Really, it's the only scuba shop I could ever need! They even put out snacks for customers, like brownies and lemonade :) That's just how nice and accommodating they are!

Amanda G.
Durango, CO

Dear A1 Scuba,

My name is Patty. This past June, I participated in the scuba certification program and received my initial scuba license. I am writing you this letter to thank you, more than I can say, for helping me 'slay a dragon" and begin new adventures of a life time.

When I was about 18 (many years ago), I was initially certified. The experience, though, was incredibly stressful and adversarial. It was almost as if ‘you all will get certified, but not if we can help it.’ It was a horrible experience for me, and I swore I would never go scuba diving. Thus, when my husband suggested last spring that I become re-certified, I was filled with dread. It was only my love of snorkeling and beaches across the world that led me to your door.

In class, Aaron, despite my occasional late night whining, insisted we cover every skill thoroughly. Believe me, when I took my first ‘real dives” in Tahiti, I understood why he was so insistently thorough. Although I was nervous, I knew just what to do and felt pretty darned confident, if I must say so myself.

Stosh, who supervised my open water dives at Chatfield, was equally helpful. He also worked with me in the pool, one-to-one, to ‘fine tune’ some skills I thought I was weaker in. Stosh was funny, professional, and very supportive.

Finally, Katie (cashier Katie) was really great in helping me pick out my equipment to buy. She spent a very long time with me and, again, when I was to Tahiti, I was so glad I picked the equipment I did. Katy (in travel) was also very helpful in hooking me up with ‘Bathy’s in Tahiti.’

It is late at night, and this letter doesn’t do justice to the people at A-1 who have worked with me to bring me to this point. I just want, though, to let you and to let them know what a great job they did with me. On my last dive in Tahiti, I was diving (62 feet down, I’ll tell you!) in a place called ‘The Rose Garden.’ At my feet was a tremendous expanse of overlaying big darkish red-maroon ‘petals’ and in front of me was a wall of deep blue. A black tipped shark swam right past me…all I could do was hover there (thanks Aaron!) and say into my regulator, over and over, ‘Wow! Wow! And, of course, I thought of you all.

So thank you more than you could know, for a life of prospective new adventures in my favorite place, the ocean. And thank you also for helping replace an extremely unpleasant memory with such hard-earned, successful, and happy memories.

Sincerely,
Patty

Scott and Lynn,

My girlfriend Amy and I recently did our open water certification (finished August 7th) with Joanne and Carol (and Jade, who assisted on the weekend pool dives). We were getting the certifications in preparation for a diving trip to Grand Cayman and Roatan at the end of last month, and since that trip it's resonated with both of us just how good the training with A1 was.

I don't think until you get out there with other divers that it really sinks in -- I mean we certainly thought everyone at A1 was friendly, that the instructors were awesome and fun, and that after the class we had the basics down enough to take our first tentative steps into the world of diving, but the real proof of the education was in seeing the disparity between ourselves and others when we spent that week in the Caribbean. Having now not only done so but also getting to see some of the risks of diving first-hand (we saw someone run out of air in Roatan -- thankfully he was OK) and the random silly mistakes other newly-certified divers were making, even at our beginner level the difference between our preparation and that of others was readily apparent. In fact it was somewhat shocking, after only 4 dives in 2 days "in the real world," to see so many things go wrong for other divers that we, with nothing but our OW certs in our hands, were more than able to deal with.

Given that this isn't the safest of all recreational activities I think at a minimum a "thank you" is due for that, as well as letting you know how much we've appreciated the experiences with your instructors and the rest of the staff we've met. Their efforts have most certainly created two loyal customers -- as Ryan will attest to, since we're already signed up for AOW in October, the November Cozumel trip with the shop, and mapping out our gear purchases with him for the next six months.

Thanks again,
Rich & Amy

Greetings Carol & Joanne,

Christian and I would like to personally thank you again for helping us achieve something that we can do together through years to come. I wanted to learn and do scuba diving since I was eight living on a lake.  It was on my bucket list for years. I am a pretty active gent who loves traveling,  long distance cycling, skiing, snowboarding, fly-fishing, backpacking, snow-caving and just being outdoors.

I have for years sought out an activity that Christian has a interest and /or passion that we can do together, especially now since he is of college age and has other life pursuits. I do work  around the world, with some extended stays I can now get him to jump on plane, do something that we have a passion for, and spend some quality time between son and father. He is so jazzed!

So thanks again to your skilled  and enthusiastic training sessions to you both, Dan Niblick (class room / confined instructor), and the A-1 staff.

Bram and Christian

Just wanted to send an e-mail about the great service I received today. With the assistance of your employee Ryan, I was able to purchase my first set of scuba gear. Ryan was exceptionally helpful. I can't tell you how much I appreciated his knowledge and customer service skills.

Thanks for the help Ryan!
Cory

Kudos to you and your band of pirates from A-1 Scuba! What a time we had at the aquarium! Thanks to you, Carol, Joanne, Jack, Stacey, Stoch, Fawn & Shane (Louise was in there some place). I know the divers with disabilities (Shannon, Matt, and Pat) were thrilled, but so were all the family members (Julie, Jud, Rose, Don and Tracey) and the hundreds of kids, parents and families that wandered by watching all the fun. If you haven't been down to the tunnel to watch yourself, you should. A-1 Divers ARE THE ATTRACTION, not the fish. The divers with disabilities are truly awe inspiring.

Jud Williams

Dear Scott, Please allow me to take this opportunity to let you know how pleased I am with this whole new experience called Diving. I came to you on a recommendation (only given to me because you were close to my home and the person I spoke with drives by every day) to learn to dive. I did NOT take an "intro" to scuba but went for the whole ball of wax and got the entire family (confined water) certified (all 4 of us, including my 13 & 10 year old). Your entire staff there was nothing but pleasant to work with.

Being new to the sport, I actually expected a to have bit of an inferiority complex when I first walked in, but they never once made me feel like I didn't really belong in your shop since I was a "newbie" . So we were in class with Rita, who incidentally, deserves a Nobel prize for her patience and dedication to getting us (especially my 10 year old) over the hurdle of the pool certification, when you walked in and started asking the class questions. You asked my family if we were going to do our open water with you. When I told you we were planning on doing it on our vacation in Hawai'i, you immediately recommended Jack's Diving Locker in Kona. After completing our course there, before leaving the following week on our trip, I scheduled our open water dives with Jack's. I must thank you for the recommendation, because our experience there couldn't have been better. We all successfully completed our certification and are now new members of the diving community! I look forward to going out on many more dives in the near future, and hope to participate in some of your trips as well.

Your company and also your recommendations have created an experience that anyone wanting to give diving a try could only dream of having. I have started off on the right foot and that is always what we hope for in any new adventure. I can honestly say I have spent larger amounts of money on things that really were bad to start and have been turned off from those things because of that first impression, regardless of the costs. Granted diving is extremely expensive but because of your way of doing business, I am much more at ease spending the money (especially in your shop), regardless. In fact, don't be surprised to see me in future classes, such as instructor, adventure, etc! Thank you so much for all you have done and don't change a thing! Sincerely, Kevin Samson

Dear A-1,

THANK YOU! I certified in 2001 with you and since have gotten by Advanced Open water, under water photo and peak performance cards.

On my 57th dive off Cozumel last week I had my first regulator problem at 70 feet.  It jammed up and then free-flowed putting me in a serious low air situation.  All of the training kicked right into place - used the octopus, cleared the mask, got assistance from the dive master, gathered the group and made a safe ascent.  I was ready for the afternoon dive with no reservations.  I know these sorts of things happen, one trains for emergencies but it sure felt good confidently knowing just what to do.

Thank you for the life saving skills!
Sincerely, Donna

We recently got back from our first trip with Explorer Ventures on the Caribbean Explorer II Southern Bahamas trip (booked with A-1). Just wanted to let you know that we had a great time and really liked Explorer Ventures. The boat was not necessarily their most luxurious but the crew was great! Professional, Safety minded but still a lot of fun. Food was excellent, crew was always making sure you had everything you needed, great dive deck! They recognized people for new certifications and that Chris and I both passed our 100th dive while on board. They sent us an email asking for feedback upon coming home. They seem to really have every aspect of their business in order! We will definitely travel with them again and just wanted you to know! I already saw you have them listed for an upcoming Galapagos trip which we'll keep an eye out for!

Thanks A-1! Carolyn, we appreciated the card we received when we got back!

Andrea & Chris

Dear A-1,

I've done a couple of DSD outings and I've decided that it is time too move forward. My recent DSD experience in Belize prompted me to stop at A-1 on a Friday evening late in June. A nice lady by the name of Wendie did a great job of telling me about the open water course, she talked about the highly competent training staff, and she took the time to show me the training area; I was impressed. The next morning I returned and signed up with Ryan receiving nothing less than first class service; again I was impressed. I trust my course experience will go the same way. I can certainly see why A-1 is the oldest dive shop in Denver. So far job well done A-1! It early on but I can see that the staff and the facility clearly differentiate themselves from other dive shop facilities. I look forward to meeting you on Friday evening.

Best regards, Willie

Dear Wendie,

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the trip to St. Lucia. Never having gone on a group trip, I was a bit reluctant to go. I didn't know what to expect. But after having made this trip, I don't think I will hesitate to do it again.

I attribute a lot of that good time to you. You made me feel like we had been friends forever, not just new acquantances. I know it is your job to be nice to the people that you take on these trips, even old guys like me. But it felt, and i'm sure it was, much more genuine than just you doing your job. I like that about you. You, Kate, Steve, and (almost) everyone else, were great to spend time with. It was really a good group.

I thought 8 days might be too long, but now that I'm back to work (only 95 emails waiting on me) I think it went by way too fast. That says a lot about the terrific resort we stayed at, the diving, and the new friends I was with.

If you would like to have the post dive party at my house, we can do that. I wasn't sure if you were kidding about that or serious. I will provide the chocolate ice cream. You can mix the Bentleys. I'll see you at the shop -- maybe in Curacao if my workload permits.

Thanks for everything.
Michael T.

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