Chaz_owner

Chaz Kafer

OWNER, INSTRUCTOR TRAINER

Originally certified at Divers Den in 1971, Chaz fell in love with the sport of scuba diving! His love of diving and interest in education lead to pursuit of a leadership role and by 1975, he became an NASDS instructor and began teaching at Divers Den. During this time as a local dive educator, Chaz developed a passion for underwater photography and over the years honed his artistry in capturing underwater images, locally and internationally.
After 10 years as a diver—6 of those years as a professional scuba diving instructor—he took the plunge and ventured into island life. In 1981, Chaz accepted the position of resident photo pro for Anthony’s Key Resort on the beautiful island of Roatan, Honduras. He fell in love with the island, the people and the lifestyle, living and working on Roatan until 1989.
After Chaz returned to Baltimore, he was back to working and teaching at Divers Den, continuing to return to locations throughout the Caribbean, the Red Sea, the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans and many other bodies of water in between. By 1995, he became owner of Divers Den and has since continued his pursuits of photography and educating new and returning divers to the sport that pastured his heart all those years ago. As he rebuilt and improved the dive shop into what it is today, he continued his own professional development, receiving numerous awards and certifications including the prestigious SSI Pro 5000 Platinum certification, also in 1995. Chaz has remained a certified scuba instructor since 1975, not only with NASDS, but also with PADI and SDI. He obtained certification as an SDI Instructor Trainer in 2017, along with his best friend and partner. Divers Den is proudly Maryland’s oldest, professional dive center under continuous operation since 1958 and Maryland’s only SDI 5-Star Professional Development Center!