Best of 2003: Best East County Scuba Training

The Dive Shack
787 Arnele Avenue, El Cajon
619-447-7400

Rod and Tami Tuttle sell everything you need -- wet suits, regulators, buoyancy control devices, tanks and dive computers -- but it's the "instructional classes that are our specialty," says Tami. "There are two to six people per class and each class has an instructor and a dive master. We start in a classroom here in the shop and then we do pool sessions at outside locations, usually in Lakeside. Then we do four beach dives where they actually go in the ocean at La Jolla or Coronado Island, followed by a boat trip in Mexican waters." The cost to get certified to dive in open water runs about $200, which includes the lessons, books or instructional CD-ROM, and the certificate from PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors).