Scuba Schools of America - Montclair, California

Juley N.

I can’t say enough positive things about my experience with Scuba Schools of America. From the moment I walked through the door, everyone was so friendly, welcoming, and incredibly knowledgeable. I had the pleasure of working with Rusty, Devin, Scott, and Trey, who each brought their own expertise and patience to my scuba journey.

When I started my lessons on January 25, I was someone who couldn’t swim, struggled to equalize my ears, and dealt with motion sickness. Equalizing my ears was especially challenging. I just couldn’t get the hang of it. But the team was so patient with me, offering helpful advice, techniques, and constant reassurance. They never made me feel discouraged, and they worked with me step-by-step until I finally figured it out.

Throughout the lessons, they didn’t just teach me how to scuba dive; they showed me how to properly care for my equipment and prepared me with pool training to feel confident for my first open-water dive. Thanks to their guidance, I was able to successfully dive at Emerald Bay on February 16 (less than a month after my first lesson!)

This experience has truly been life-changing, and I owe it all to the amazing instructors who went above and beyond to help me succeed. If you’re considering learning to scuba dive, I highly recommend Scuba Schools of America. They’ll support you every step of the way, no matter how many challenges you face

Steven N.

Went here to get open water certified with my dad. The owner Rusty is extremely knowledgeable and will help you pick out gear that works for what you want to do! Lots of classes online and flexible schedule for in person workshops as well. Plus they have dive trips almost every weekend so you can learn all the skills you need to be safe and have fun diving!

Shayne P.

We have had an incredible experience learning scuba with SSA. Our entire family of 4, including our 9 year old scuba explorer, got trained together. The team at SSA has been so patient and welcoming with our training. Rusty has so much experience and is so knowledgeable, I feel safe having our entire family dive together. This past weekend we had an amazing first dive in Catalina. It’s such a gift to have these adventures as a family, and many more to come. A family that dives together, stays together.

Bethany F.

TLDR: Disappointing Experience - Not a Dive Shop I Can Recommend

I recently had a very disappointing experience with Rusty Barry, the owner of this dive shop. I had hoped to find a reliable, supportive environment to further my dive training, but instead, it became clear that Rusty prioritizes profit over building trust with his customers.

My first warning sign was when he claimed that my existing dive equipment, which I had just purchased elsewhere, was “unsafe” for cold water and dry suit diving. He persuaded me to “upgrade” to a custom BC that was supposedly ideal for women. However, what I received was a Zeagle Ranger, a model typically designed for larger divers and certainly not tailored for someone of my frame. This “custom BC” was identical to the one he offers to a 300-pound male diver, which was hardly suited for my build at 5’2” and 145 pounds. The only thing custom about it was the colors I chose. I later learned that my original BC is actually a preferred model for many women diving in similar conditions. Rusty’s suggestion to upgrade was, at best, misleading and unnecessary.

Adding to the frustration, Rusty removed parts from the items I bought, only to insist that I buy additional parts later, such as hoses and alternate breathing sources. This felt like a deliberate attempt to increase costs after my purchase, something I find highly unprofessional and deceptive.

Beyond the equipment issues, Rusty’s attitude and behavior were also troubling. He made sexist comments, pressured me and other divers into buying products we didn’t need, and badmouthed other divers who weren’t using his services. It was even more concerning to see him encouraging new divers to open large lines of credit with his shop (in the range of $10,000–$14,000) for equipment and courses before they’d even earned their certifications. This approach strikes me as more of a cash grab than a genuine interest in helping new divers succeed.

Diving requires a strong level of trust in your instructor, and starting a dive relationship with someone who prioritizes short-term profits over long-term customer relationships simply isn’t worth it. My advice is to look elsewhere if you’re serious about finding an instructor who will put your safety and interests first. I certainly won’t be referring anyone I know to Rusty Barry’s dive shop.

Nancy M.

This is a great scuba store. The owner and all the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. They have lots of dive trips, equipment. My husband and I have done 3 dives boat trips and they have been amazing.

Erik H.

Great shop… by training here, you not only get great training… you also get a great dive community. Many shops get you through minimum requirements to get you certified, but rusty makes sure the you are actually ready to dive even if it requires extra pool sessions and extra dives to make you ready to dive proficiently. As far as the community, it is like a fun extended family with a passion for diving

Sean R.

Flew all the way from Virginia to get certified with my son who lives in CA. Rusty was able to accommodate a condensed schedule to make sure we could complete all our requirements needed to obtain our open water certification. We ended the week with a two day boat on the Pacific Star chartered by SSA.

Papa& B.

If you are looking for a school that has professional instructors that don't rush you in class and will teach you everything the right way from the start I recommend Rusty and his team!
Not only do they teach you scuba they will teach you the right way of doing even simple things so it becomes 2nd nature from the start.

I love these guys they got me back into scuba and taught me everything I need to know so I can dive better & finaly get to even 100' deep and back safely.

Not only do they teach they have a pool on site so you can go whenever and test new gear or prep for classes, the store has anything and everything you need and I enjoy my custom bcd that can hold double the normal amount of air you buy from other shops, and I quite like it a lot!

Make sure to take advantage of this shop because you will learn a lot, I seen a lot of instructors from other places that just seem beat because they had so many bad students so they have to go up and down with them hurting both instructor and students but because they prep you before the ocean many of the basic open water students seem much more professional than at other places!

I trust Rusty crew with my life and my kids and seen them train many family's the right way to enjoy this amazing sport!