Scuba Review

Sunday, May 18th

2025 Scuba Store Reviews

Scuba

• Best price guarantee matching competitors' prices plus 5% off on eligible items
• Wide selection of diving equipment from major brands including Shearwater, Aqua Lung, and Atomic
• PADI 5-Star facility in New York City offering certification classes and dive club
• Extensive used gear inventory with significant discounts on professional equipment
• Multiple shipping options for US and international delivery to over 200 countries
• 30/90-day satisfaction guarantee with extended return window for store credit
• Full-service repair facility with manufacturer-certified technicians
• Air fill services available at physical location
• Staff includes experienced divers with international diving expertise

Scuba is one of the largest online dive gear retailers and has been around since 1996. While they started as an independent company, they were acquired by Adorama Inc. (parent company of Leisure Pro) in late 2019. They offer a wide selection of diving equipment from major brands like Aqualung and Scubapro, and their staff includes experienced divers who've logged time everywhere from the Florida Keys to the Maldives. They maintain a physical flagship store in New York City that's a PADI 5-Star facility with certification classes, a dive club, and air fills.

Gear for all kinds of divers

When you're shopping for scuba gear on Scuba, you'll find a good range of diving equipment from top brands like Shearwater, Aqua Lung, Atomic, and many others. The website makes it easy to browse through everything from basic gear to specialized equipment, with detailed categories covering essentials like BCDs (in various styles including jacket, back-inflated, and technical), dive computers (from basic wrist models to advanced air-integrated systems), and all the accessories you might need.

Price match plus 5% off

Scuba's prices are pretty much identical to other major retailers - which isn't surprising since they're an authorized reseller. They do offer a best price guarantee that beats competitors' prices by an extra 5% off, but another retailer we looked at offers 10% off, so you might want to shop around.

Great used gear selection

One of Scuba's best features is their selection of used scuba gear. You can find some serious deals here, like an Atomic Z2 Regulator going for $399 instead of $600, or an Aqualung i330R 2-Gauge Imperial Console going for $399 from $575 - and if you're an experienced diver, you know those are some sweet deals on pro-level gear. They seem to maintain a larger used inventory than many of their competitors, which gives you more options when you're trying to stretch your diving budget.

Shipping options that cover land, sea, and air

Scuba ships their gear just about everywhere - from the continental US to over 200 countries worldwide. For US orders, you've got several shipping speeds to choose from, ranging from the budget-friendly Ground Delivery (5-7 business days) to Next Day Air for those last-minute scuba gear emergencies. There's free shipping available, but only on select items.

Return shipping is expensive

Scuba offers what they call a 30/90-day Satisfaction Guarantee on their scuba gear. Here's how it works: you get 30 days to return items for a full refund, then another 60 days to return them for store credit or exchanges. They even let you return certain used items within 90 days for store credit, including things like BCDs, regulators, and dive computers. However, there's one significant catch to consider: return shipping can be pretty expensive (we're talking $49 for a return label in some cases). While there's no restocking fee for most returns, they might charge a 15% fee if items don't meet their condition requirements. Also, it's worth noting that the returns timeframe used to be 60/120. This might be a change made after Scuba was acquired by Leisure Pro.

Average customer rating has tanked

We're sorry to report that Scuba's recent track record reads like a "what not to do in e-commerce" manual. They've dropped from an "A+” BBB rating to "Not Rated” - and there was even a "suspected to be out of business" alert on their BBB page. Want to hear about the potential customer service nightmares here? Customers say that Scuba's support team is based in the Philippines with limited resources, and good luck reaching their US offices despite having locations in both California and New York. Think you'll get pristine scuba gear? Think again - they're known for shipping previously-opened returns without much effort to restore that new-gear shine (or to make sure the manual is in the box). If you get as far as placing an order, expect a chaotic delivery with items split across multiple boxes. And if you need to return something? One customer had to wait three months and resort to posting negative reviews online just to get their refund for a cancelled tank order.

Don't buy from Scuba right now

While Scuba once earned a high rating from us, its recent track record has knocked them down several pegs. With plummeting customer service ratings, expensive return shipping practices, and lengthy refund delays, we can't recommend purchasing from them at this time - especially given the possible "out of business” alert from the Better Business Bureau. You'll definitely find better service and similar prices at other authorized scuba gear retailers.