General Frequently Asked Questions

We previously had a brick and mortar shop on Main Street in Aztec, NM for many years. We have since closed that retail location due to the proliferation of online shopping and our shift to focus solely on training activities as opposed to retail sales. Please disregard the Aztec, NM address as once things are on the internet, they are permanently there forever.

Our current shop is located west of Durango, CO and south of Hesperus, CO. It is by appointment only. Contact us and we would be happy to have you visit! We sell gear on site and can order a variety of items for you, still at competitive prices.

The Farmington Aquatic Center at 1151 Sullivan Ave in Farmington, NM. All classes are held between the hours of 8:30am and 11:30am. We have a contract with the City of Farmington in which we can use the facility exclusively during this time. The result? You have access to an entire facility to include an Olympic sized pool, showers, bathrooms, etc., without interruption from others or the concerns surrounding being around non-involved swimmers.

Navajo Lake or Farmington Lake depending on class type, class size, time of year, and weather. Other, farther dive sites have been used, most frequently Santa Rosa, NM (Blue Hole). Due to logistics, personal schedules and availability of students within a class, and additional cost for students (gas, hotel, etc.) this is infrequently done. We typically host such groups when we have a class being taught at San Juan College where everyone is on the same page.

We do have a compressor at our location west of Durango and arrangements can be made for drop-off/delivery to be made at the pool (or in the Farmington area). Contact us for more details.

We fill scuba tanks for $10/ea. All scuba tanks must be in hydro and have a current visual. If your tank has not had a visual in the last year (but is within hydro) we have a visual inspector on staff who can perform the inspection for an additional $10. Note that if you bring a tank to us that is entirely depressurized, it will require a visual inspection in accordance with DOT and WRTSC requirements and standards.

Tank fills are for 3000-3200 PSI. We will not "hot fill" tanks above that.

We do NOT fill avalanche rescue systems, compressed air paintball guns, compressed air pellet guns, or anything else not related to scuba. This is due to liability issues as we are a scuba operation. We would be glad to offer you alternative options for your other needs, however, we only fill scuba tanks for the purposes of scuba diving.

We only fill tanks for scuba certified individuals. You will need to present your certification card and/or identifying information to verify with your certifying agency that you are a certified diver. We are not responsible for any damages should you provide tanks that we have filled to other individuals we have not verified as certified divers.

If your tank appears to be unsafe for filling, such as a damaged first stage or physical damage, we will not fill it, regardless of visual or hydro dates. This is for your safety and the safety of our staff standing next to a tank being filled.

Outside of equipment for students enrolled in our classes, no. We have discontinued equipment rentals at this time.

Yes. 

We perform tank visuals and BCD checks/maintenance.

For regulators, we have contracted with a staff member who can tune regulators, overhaul, and perform full maintenance depending upon make/model. Contact us for further information regarding your gear and what you need.

Yes. We sell both new and used gear and have a variety of dealerships and partnerships. We are happy to help with finding exactly what you need. We are also happy to guide you in the right direction should we not have what you are looking for or have questions.

This comes up fairly frequently. For all intents and purposes, no. The vast majority of the time, the gear you found at a yard sale or in the purchase or inheritance of a storage unit is extremely old and has not been maintained for decades. We have, on quite a few occasions, had people come to the shop with gear that is from the 1970s. You're not going to find a shop that will buy such items but may take it as a donation to demonstrate the evolution of dive equipment! 

We will take a look at anything made in the last two decades as we do have staff with gear that has held up extremely well over 20 years and holds a certain sense of nostalgia and reliability on a personal level and preference. We will not consider or look at what typically comes in, which tends to be BCDs from the 1970s.

We are happy to give you an idea of what you may have though! Say if you were to come across gear that you picked up at a yard sale. Start by contacting us. We can have you text or email a few images of it and we can give you an approximation of its age, value, and so forth. If you happened across a good find, we are always willing to go the next step and take a look at it!

PADI has a form that you will complete for any class that asks about pre-existing medical conditions. If you have any, you will need to get clearance from your primary care physician. This is not negotiable as we take your safety to be our highest priority. If your physician is unsure, the form does include additional information that they can read to determine if you are medically qualified. There is also a phone number they can call to speak with another medical professional who specializes in dive physiology if necessary.

In our time since 2009 as an established shop, we have only had two medical disqualifications. There is a common misconception that diving is limited to younger individuals who are in good physical shape. The reality is quite the contrary. We have certified individuals between ages 11 and 72.

The most common medical conditions that may preclude you from diving are: diabetes (uncontrolled/poorly controlled diabetes is disqualifying, in addition to the use of insulin pumps,) history of stroke or transient ischemic attack, congestive heart failure, epilepsy, and certain uncontrolled behavioral health conditions that may make you susceptible to having panic attacks or anything else that could put yourself or others at risk while underwater. Jesse is happy to discuss your individual concerns with any physical or behavioral health conditions. 

Bear in mind, this is just an example of certain conditions that may not be conducive with diving. Your condition and treatment will vary amongst others with the same condition. You will need to discuss with your primary care provider whether or not it is safe for you to dive.

Pregnancy: Very little research has been done into the safety of diving while pregnant. It is generally believed to be safe, particularly in early stages. We personally would not recommend diving for any pregnant female after halfway through the second trimester. Again, consult your primary care physician, but with the medical knowledge of our staff we, out of safety, may delay your starting a class until after you have had your child and recovered.

We do, both domestically and internationally. At this time, we have suspended all trips in light of the COVID-19 pandemic due to various country international travel restrictions. We fully intend on restarting dive trip packages once restrictions have been lifted.

Our typical international dive destinations include; Grenada, West Indies (where we once took a group to complete their IDC and become instructors,) Panama, and Honduras. We also have a relationship with the Aggressor fleet of liveaboard dive boats. As such, we are able to get discounts for a group of divers. Our staff will join you and we can conduct a wide variety of classes, should you so choose, during your trip!

We tend to cater to international travelers. We have, however, had dive trips domestically. Typical domestic trips include Catalina Island off the coast of California and the Florida Keys.

PADI is particularly specific about what they will classify as a "dive shop." This includes having a designated parking area and foot traffic outside (which our previous shop in Aztec, NM had.) As our compressor, student equipment, and retail shop are now located rurally, there is no foot traffic or a parking lot which precludes us from being eligible to be listed in the dive shop locator.

Our instructors are all PADI certified and we teach to PADI standards. Your certification from Trinity Diving is a valid PADI-issued cert, but if you come to the our shop, don't expect a sidewalk outside!

Obviously, we follow the common safety measures for recreational diving. Outside of that, we do have a few ground rules:

-We foster a respectful learning environment. Our students come from a very wide range of ages, cultures, races, belief systems, physical abilities, and so forth. In absolutely no way will we tolerate disrespectful behavior within our classes. Our staff treat each other and students with respect and the expectation is that everyone else do the same toward fellow students and staff. This is very, very rarely an issue (since 2009 it has only come up twice,) but when it is and if the behavior is egregious enough, we do reserve all rights to immediately drop someone from the class and have them immediately leave. This includes anywhere we are holding class, whether it be pool or open water four hours away. ALL staff members are permitted to terminate a student's enrollment on-site if need be.

- Obviously no criminal activity is permitted. We will immediately take action and remove you from the class. If deemed necessary, we will contact police. (This has never been a problem.)

- Any unsafe behavior that may threaten the safety of yourself or others will not be tolerated. Depending on what it is, we will let you know and ask that you recognize that safety is our number one priority. If it is something that presents an imminent danger to the safety or lives of yourself or others, we will intervene and immediately remove you. (This has never been a problem.)

Be aware that we have written this section to let you know that we take safety as our absolute highest priority. We have a former police officer and medical professionals on staff and frequently have members of our military/police/EMS/Fire (thank you for your service in protecting our country, freedom, and liberties) as students. It's a pretty safe environment...

We encourage students to come to staff with any concerns or issues and we will act on them accordingly. The above list is not all-inclusive and they really nearly never come up, however, we want to make known our expectations and that there are certain things that will not be acceptable or tolerated in order to keep our students and staff safe. We hope you understand!

No.

We believe in freedom of choice and that the vaccination is a personal decision which is not any of our business. You will not be asked about your vaccination status at any time. If it were to come up in general conversation, your vaccination status will have no impact on your enrollment. Additionally, we will not permit any sort of discriminatory behavior between either students or staff regarding vaccination. 

If that is a conversation you would like to have with a fellow and willing student or staff member, we kindly ask that you keep it separate from the rest of the group.

Yes, depending on your situation. We have enough staff that we are able to provide a typical ratio of 2:1. We do this to provide an experience in which we can focus on two or three students per instructor rather than eight per instructor.

If you want truly private instruction (no other students and your own dedicated instructor from start to finish,) you will need to provide your own private pool or other confined water location for training. Class cost will be different from the normal fee for private instruction. Email us if you are interested in this and we can take a look at your request.

This is on a case-by-case basis. It depends on what you lost, where you lost it, depth, ease of access, and several other factors. When asked about this, it is presented to the entire team. Individual or groups of staff can then decide if they would like to proceed and do so on a contract basis. 

So, yes, we do sometimes work search and recovery situations. To date, we have recovered an iPhone, a GoPro camera, and happened across a stolen 4 wheeler frame in 30 feet of water at Navajo Lake that was subsequently handed over to police. We come across a lot of other items during our dives, especially in the coves where houseboats go. It's amazing what people drop overboard!!! Just part of the scuba diving adventure!

If you have the need for search and recovery, send us an email and we can discuss the terms of your situation and give you an idea of cost to include an initial payment, hourly rates, number of staff, etc.