Fabulous experience with Blue Planet Scuba!Blue Planet recently assisted me in ordering some new scuba equipment. Jonas and staff advised me on my choices then made sure I had my new gear in time for my upcoming trip and were fabulous all around with regard to customer service.Jonas ensured I knew the ins and outs of my new equipment and spent a good deal of time with me ensuring I could duplicate usage and assembly and was happy with my purchase. I noted that he made no assumptions with regard to my level of training, and I thought his phrasing showed incredible thoughtfulness. Jonas managed to educate in a manner that would leave a new diver comfortable and safe without coming across in any manner that would be condescending to a better experienced individual.Two thumbs up! Responsive, kind, and knowledgeable. Ill be back!

Very helpful and honest. They also run trips, I think they have plans as close as NC and as far as the Philippines

The BESTI am genuinely in awe of the community Heather, Jonas, Jeff, and the rest of the Blue Planet crew have built. BP is so much more than a dive shop. It’s a community of kind-hearted people with a shared passion. I started diving when I was a teenager and was already a semi-experienced diver when I took a scuba refresher course with Blue Planet. The passion of instructor, Mickey, helped inspire me to finally go after my Divemaster certification. I’ve been on 3 trips with Blue Planet and they are my go-to spot for gear.If you’re looking for the cheapest option for classes and gear look elsewhere. Buy cheap snorkeling equipment on Amazon and come back to Blue Planet after your vacation with blisters and a leaky mask. As a former employee/customer/student I can’t express how many hundreds of time I saw this happen. Blue Planet sells top notch gear at fair prices and has excellent service technicians to keep your underwater life-support equipment in tip-top shape. I’ve been to and worked at other dive shops and there’s truly no comparison. When you join the Blue Planet community you become part of the family and you can trust you are receiving the best travel, gear, and instruction around.Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t been able to dive in over a year that’s got me missing Blue Planet but truly they are THE BEST dive shop in the DC area and I’d even say one of the best dive shops in the country.

Dont look anywhere else to take scuba classes or buy gear from other than BLUE PLANET! My experience with this school and shop has been off the charts!The staff is fantastic - competent, respectful, patient, adaptive to your learning needs, very experienced and a lot of fun! Any rental gear that you will be using is up-to-date and quite effective for your learning requirements.PADI Lead Instructor Sarah Pratt and PADI Instructor Mike Hassoun were sensational to learn from! You dont have to worry about what kind of training youre going to get with these two instructors! They are top-notch and they do an outstanding job of teaching and working with every student individually and corporately! They care about each person and where they are at and what their weaknesses and strengths are! They both made my time of learning so much fun and very safe in the water! Their leadership and experience as divers and instructors is apparent in their teaching skills and how well organized they are during the training! I had a fantastic class weekend experience because of Sarah and Mike!Owners Jonas and Heather are the kindest and sweetest you will ever meet! You feel like your part of the Blue Planet family from the get-go!Shop Manager and Master Instructor Jeff Peterson along with Instructor and Sales Associate Anthony White are two more amazing employees that I encountered and received plenty of support from during the paperwork process, registration and gear rental orientation process! They are extremely helpful and competent in every way! They are very knowledgeable on the latest gear out there and will hook you up with what you need and what you can afford!Choose BLUE PLANET and youll be extremely happy with what you get out of your scuba diving educational experience and gear! I certainly have!

I’ve taken a series of certification classes with Blue Planet (AOW and specialties). The basic open water class could be a bit more “warm and fuzzy,” but I’ve realized in hindsight that the instructors are first and foremost teaching you to be safe.Jonas and Heather are amazing. Their passion is infectious and they do a wonderful job of introducing scuba diving and clearly explaining the class procedures. The classes are convenient as are the certification dives. In addition, the staff was useful as I picked out gear.What I truly love is their attempts to make diving affordable. The staff recommends purchasing your own gear, but they do not make it a prerequisite. Their rental gear is high quality and affordable, and their clearance sales are impressive. Moreover, their sponsored dive trips fit every budget.The dive trips are great. They attract a diverse set of divers (age, gender, experience level, etc) and are well run. I felt informed before and during the trip. Blue Planet partners with solid dive operators.

Learned a lot about exotic scuba fish yay!!!

This place is wildly inconsistent. They have some great instructors, they have some instructors with horrible attitudes that yell at their students and don’t seem interested in teaching.The same applies to the retail experience. I’ve dealt with people in the store who do everything they can to help. But then you get someone who’s trying to finish writing an email instead of helping you buy a dive computer.We have a choice to buy online now (unlike the old days) and we also have other stores to get instruction from. The problem is that you never know what you’re going to get, which makes it hard to pick this place as your main dive shop.The caveat is that if you KNOW you’re going to be working with the owners, you should, because they’re excellent teachers and people. They will be very accommodating and they are very chill as well as some of the instructors. The problem is not all their people are up to the same standards.

I love Blue Planet. Great owners and staff who are passionate about diving. The trips are fantastic - not too posh, not too rustic - a really good, affordable balance of the two extremes. The folks at Blue Planet are wonderful, down to earth, and also very safety focused. Highly recommend.

If youre thinking of choosing a scuba diving shop, this is the one. Blue Octopus is legit. Theyre staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. I just finished the PADI Open Water training over a weekend at Lake Phoenix and their instructor, Eugene, was sensational. I highly recommend this place.

Checking an item off my bucket list was easy with Blue Planet Scuba. Jonas, Heather, and the rest of the team at Blue Planet are pretty much perfect! Lots of new friends!I had a short time frame to complete my Open Water certification and I did not read the website correctly so I completely misunderstood the process. Rather than tell me they didnt have room to accommodate my needs, they said give us 30 minutes and we will call you back with a solution and they totally came through.My instructors for the confined water portion of the certification were Evert and Valerie with the help of several other Blue Planet staff. Evert and Valerie are AWESOME! I felt completely safe and confident the entire time. They explained things clearly and were the definition of patient. We worked through both days of this portion of the certification at a very appropriate pace, I never felt rushed. Evert stayed after the session on Sunday to help my dive buddy get more comfortable with a skill and from what I understand, came back a third night and helped again. Valerie worked with me on the free-flowing regulator skill (which was probably the one I was the most nervous about) and I got through it with ease! They are both exceptional instructors.For the open water portion of the certification I selected a weekend at Dutch Springs in Bethlehem, PA. I decided to head up earlier on Friday to avoid traffic and arrive at the shop right at 11AM (when they open) to pick up all my gear, the team at the shop that morning had everything ready and helped me load it all into my car. When I arrive at the scuba park the next morning, Blue Planet had everything well organized and ready to go, a well-oiled machine for sure. There were Open Water, Advanced, Dry Suit, and Dive Master Candidates all being juggled over a three day weekend, overall maybe 22-25 people with varying skill levels and very different needs expertly coordinated. I lucked out and got Valerie and Evert for this portion of my certification as well, and they continued to blow me away with their expertise and patience, allowing everything the time they needed to ask questions and understand each of the plans for the dives we were to complete. A fantastic dinner was even part of the plan, coordinated by the Blue Planet team, at a local brewery which allowed all the students (from all levels) to interact and exchange stories and I feel, make some lasting friendships!I almost forgot to mention, Sarah and Walter, two Dive Master Candidates that were with us! Sarah was at both the confined and open water dives for me and was AWESOME! She was confident and knowledgeable and helped make sure I was successful! Walter joined the group at Dutch Springs and his great attitude helped make the process of planning and executing the open water dives an easy one.In the end, I am not a certified Open Water diver with plans to complete my Dry Suit and Advanced certifications in the next several months so I can check another bucket list item - Diving the continental divide in Iceland next year (a Blue Planet Dive Trip). I wouldnt have made it without Evert and Valerie and the rest of the Blue Planet Team!If you need a dive shop in the DMV, Blue Planet is the way to go!

My husband just got certified with Blue Planet (we can finally go diving together!) and he has nothing but good things to say. We outfitted him with gear at the shop and everyone there was super helpful. Then, we packed our bags and took a trip to Mexico with Blue Planet and had a really great time! Cant recommend them enough!

Blue Planet is a great dive shop - super staff and management, good selection of high quality gear, and they do a great job with training and trips. We have taken classes, purchased gear, and are about to go on our third trip with them. They are very knowledgable about all aspects of diving and marine life, care strongly about providing great customer service and amazing experiences, and have a strong focus on the environment. I highly recommend taking your scuba business here if you live in the DC area... Two fins up!

My wife and I completed our Open Water Certification with Blue Planet and the experience was excellent. Heather, Jonas, Caesar, Andrea, and John were all excellent trainers that were supportive and patient as we learned our skills and braved the cool clear waters of Dutch Springs for our checkout dives.This is a group that genuinely cares about your successful completion of the training as well as your safety throughout the program. I would recommend them to anyone that is looking into SCUBA certification, and I myself look forward to future classes with Blue Planet to increase my skills.

Fantastic small shop that offers a full range of certification courses, from basic to divemaster. I looked around and picked Blue Planet because the staff and teachers are professional, helpful and friendly. No up selling on equipment. Most of us dont need the priciest gear, and theyre quick to steer you away from it, even if thats what youre leaning toward. The community of divers who have found Blue Planet hail from around the world. Theyre fun and fascinating to hang out with and are staunchly loyal to the shop. That loyalty says something.

Great staff, owners, and instructors. They run great diving trips with lots of cool interesting people. The shop is really easy to work with.

Awesome customer service. Not rushed, they provide common sense solutions to your scuba questions. They dont push products on you.

Hand down the best shop/class and staffs ever. Im so excited to do my open dives in Hawaii. Thanks to you guys 👍👍👍👍

Incredible dive center with knowledgeable, caring, and patient instructors. I was also on an amazing trip they organized to Bonaire and had a blast!

Friendly staff which is knowledgeable and experienced. Its great to have a local dive shop in a city.

Best Dive Shop Ever.I just returned from my 4th trip with Blue Planet DC, a great dive shop. Jonas Furberg and his wife Heather Tallent and their staff run a great operation, and I once again recommend people visit the shop and use them for dive trips and other resources. The trip to Baja California in November of last year, to Turks and Caicos in January of January of this year, and this latest trip last week, to Cayman Brac, were all superb. In Cayman Brac, as in the other two, the trip planning, organization and the resort and dive operators were great and, including on this trip, the weather cooperated. As before, on this trip the group was well-led; Jonas is really good guy and a superb instructor (I completed my deep diver certification). I think we all learned a lot from him as an instructor (3 of us were taking courses) but also in general – lots of good tips and knowledge passed at meals and just hanging around.The other thing about Blue Planet is that when the weather doesn’t cooperate, they don’t stop trying. Last June I went with Blue Planet to North Carolina for wreck diving. As you all should know, the weather there is very unpredictable, so for a frustrating 3 days, we weren’t able to go out at all. Well, that’s a test of a good leader, and he passed, because Jonas quickly organized some fun things for us to do (go-cart racing, a group barbeque at the AirB&B house that was rented, a trip to the beach, group dinners, everything). Blue Planet made a frustrating time tolerable and sometimes enjoyable.So, as many stars as possible to Jonas, Heather, their employees, and Blue Planet

My son (age 12) and I wanted to get certified as O/W Divers. My overall recommendation is quite high and I would recommend Blue Planet to anyone starting out as a diver. I cant speak to their trips, but I can attest to the shop, their test center, and several instructors, which I will do below.The online course was effective, easy, and most important fast and prompt. As a business owner, and a son with various activities (school, soccer, etc) I cant tell you how helpful this portion was. The online sessions were great and effective. We then needed to visit the shop to schedule the final review. It was a breeze -- it was kind of fun in a machocistic way. My son and I purchased fins, mask, snorkel, and while Im sure there are cheaper things on the internet (as there always are - but do you really want to buy things that you will need underwater without an expert advice and without trying them on?). As such -- equipment was reasonably priced, and having Jonas and Heather there to help you with any selection was, in my mind, more than worth the price.We then went to the pool portion. We had about 8 in our class. Matt and Jeff were knowledgeable, patient, and easily juggled keeping the class moving, while simultaneously helping any diver who might have struggled with a random skills, as appropriate. I further saw (and eavesdropped) on several private lessons going on, and that seemed to be equally effective, if slightly more expense, should that be your route.At the end of the weekend, my son was enthusiast about our upcoming vacation, and actually asked if we could do a trip (locally --> to Lake Rawlings) -- so hes becoming enraptured with the idea of scuba diving (Note: Diving in a pool is NOTHING like diving on a reef, or being on a sandy bottom in the Caribbean -- but the idea in the pool is to learn, so use it as a teaching event -- you will NOT see fish).Id give Blue Planet a solid A, the instructors are good with all levels of capabilities, have tons of practical advice and instruction, patient with kids or anyone who is feeling a bit less than sure, and hopeful will be part of the larger DC Dive community for a long time to come.Thanks!

Great place, good people, awesome prices.

Helpful, knowledgeable and engaging.

Very nice!!!!!!