Scuba Schools of America - Montclair, California

Steven Natale

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 Poulin

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.

Nancy Michalski

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.

Bethany Fackler

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.

Sean Reney

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.

Suzette Rivera

I was searching for a way to scuba dive in the Galapagos. I found my dream trip through an ad from Niki Berry at SXT Adventures. As an extra bonus, it was associated with Scuba Schools of America. After being certified 43 years, I decided to do a refresher, Nitrox, buoyancy, limited visibility/night diving and deep diving courses, I purchased the most amazing equipment from Rusty Berry and scheduled my 2 day dive trip. I am so grateful to Niki and Rusty who have trained me the right way and provided numerous opportunities to dive safely all over the world and even in Southern California. Because of them and their organization, I am living my dream to dive all over the world with really fun people that I can trust. I highly recommend this organization to anyone who is interested in scuba diving.

Papa& Baby

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!

Kelli Dugan

Scuba Schools of America is the best dive shop around. They offer many classes and products, including customizable systems. My son and I took the open water course to start. As beginners, it focuses on skills and safety. Allie and Rusty are great instructors who made us feel comfortable in the water. For more practice, the pool is open anytime. Our ocean dives were spectacular. We saw bat rays, sea turtles, horn sharks, lobsters, giant sea bass, and multiple other species of fish. Get out there and dive !