I have been diving with ISD for almost 10 years now. During that time I have gone on almost every dive trip they had with both Ron and Joe, and I have enjoyed them all. When it comes to personalities I don't know any one who is perfect. At times Joe may have a rough edge to him, but I find it useful, like when a dive master says 60 for 40, I don't think so. All you need to do instead of arguing with him is look at Joe, problem solved. If you are on the boat and have equipment failure, Joe will either fix it or give you his, I've seen him do it. Joe takes a camera on his dives like many of us, on one dive we had a newbie with us and after the dive I asked her how she did, she just shook her head no, she was scared. I told Joe about it and he left his camera on board, took the diver literally by the hand the entire next dive, what a difference. She is now one of the best divers in the water. Like most of us I some times wait until the last minute to check my gear before a trip, if something doesn't work, I bring it to ISD take a new one off the shelf and give the broken item to Joe to return to the manufacturer and go on my trip. You simply cannot do that at Leisure Pro or any other mail order company I know of. This type of service is worth a few extra dollars to me. This is a locally owned and operated shop where you can stop in and try your gear on for fit and comfort, not a massive mail order operation that makes its money on volume. Although they both have their place in the market, I'll take ISD any time. As far as perks with dive trips, usually Joe and Cheryl, his wife, invite every one into their home for a party which they provide a full hot buffet, drinks etc, the charge is $0. So as I mentioned earlier, no one is perfect but I will continue to dive with ISD, and I like it enough that I am not interested in looking else where.
Pros: Personal service, great dive trips
Cons: none
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