Rowand's Reef

Awesome shop with very friendly and helpful staff/instructors! I purchased all my gear here and did my open water and dry suit certifications with Allie and I had an awesome time! I 100% recommend paying Rowand’s Reef a visit and scheduling your courses with them!

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff (and doggo)!

I did my dry suit certification with Rowand's Reef. The staff is very friendly, and I look forward to dive with them again for sunday group dives!

These folks are wonderful. Knowledgeable and friendly. I did my open water and dry suit certification courses with Rowands. At this point, I like to think we're friends... Come join the fun, it's a whole new world down there.

Absolutely amazing experience with such a fun group!! I did my open water dive cert and dry suit cert with Paul and couldn’t have asked for a better instructor. I was anxious about certain skills but Paul was always patient and made me feel safe. He was very thorough and besides from teaching us PADI standards, he also gave some tips and tricks from his own experience - clearly a lot of passion for diving! Also shoutout to Taylor and Amanda who were assisting Paul during the course: they were also super helpful and supportive throughout the course. Even though my feet got wet during the dives, the drysuit rental was fairly comfortable and of good quality. I’ll definitely be coming back to join their Group Dives!

Reviewing as an open water swimmer. I bought articles (gloves, socks, wetsuit) so I could extend my open water swimming season into the colder months. The wetsuit I bought was a tad too small and did not stretch to fit me better as the shop attendant advised. The 5mm gloves are amazing (incredibly hard to get on). The 5mm socks are also amazing. One year prior I bought 3mm socks that are too large, the shop worker at the time told me they were the perfect size for me and so on my second visit I had a better idea of fitting. This is the first time I've bought swimming "gear" (not needed in warmer months) and would have appreciated some help getting the sizes right. Bummed with my first sock purchase but I can eat it because they're not super expensive. Especially bummed with the fit of my wetsuit because that was an expensive purchase. I also purchased a pair of training fins for swimming that are maybe a size too small. I don't buy online because I like to try things on and have never shopped for any of these items before. Would have appreciated more of an effort by staff to ensure correct sizing on my first sock purchase, training fins, and wetsuit. I'm not sure they are used to total gear newbs walking in and expect some base level of knowledge by the customer. Unfortunately my base knowledge came at the cost of some ill fitting gear. Otherwise the shop is excellent. Not newbie friendly. Take your time to do research, don't feel rushed, and don't feel bad to ask the staff to try on every size of the thing(s) you want to purchase. For cold water swimming make sure the gloves have a gasket of sorts else water will come into the glove and slosh around. Oversized socks will also slosh with water, ensure a proper fitting. Would be 4 star if my purchases fit better. 5 star if staff had been more proactive in sorting me out.

Guided dives are well organized and so much fun. Everyone at the shop that I have come across has been helpful and patient. It's always a pleasure to dive with the Rowand's Reef gang.

I had my private dive on Aug 26, 2021. I have to mention that it was my first time diving in Vancouver area. Lacey, my divemaster, was very professional, extremely patient and super friendly from the beginning to the end. It was lot's of fun to dive along side with her, as she is quite knowledgeable of marine flora and fauna. She is super proficient communicator under the water and I have learned several new tips from her. We dived at Whytecliff Park, Horseshoe Bay - Amazing experience! Every moment of the event was very pleasant I will definitely do it again, when I am in Vancouver the next time. I will not hesitate to recommend Rowand's Reef store to anyone, who wants to experience enjoyable diving in Vancouver area, and obviously would recommend to choose Lacey as your divemaster. Thank you guys!