Diver’s Den Parkway

I just dove with these guys earlier this week and could not sing their praises more. They were professional, communicative and very knowledgeable about the area. The divemaster, Carlos, was a former Navy diver, then trained fellow military divers before joining Diver’s Den. (In other words, you’ll never feel safer.) Clay was our boat captain, though he’s also a DM. Both had great senses of humor and were very personable – the kind of people you want to be stuck on a boat in open water with for six hours (or more).
Everyone we encountered in the dive shop couldn’t have been nicer. I’ve been diving in 20+ countries, and this isn’t always the case – I’ve encountered quite a few outfitters in my travels that are a bit «salty» and not overly friendly to patrons. The equipment was new-​ish and well cared for, and they had about anything you could need to buy for a dive available in the shop. We dove the Black Bart wreck and Bridge Span 14, and I was impressed by the overall diving in PCB as it never would have jumped out at me as a premier dive destination.

Let me be honest and say up front that I didn’t go diving with these guys, though I really wish we would’ve had the chance on this trip! We decided to take an impromptu weekend trip to Panama City beach from Tampa and didn’t really have time to squeeze in a dive on this visit. We did, however, end up taking a dolphin tour in the morning and realized once we stepped out into the chilly 70 degree air (we are Floridian, after all) that we had forgotten to bring coats to wear on the boat.
Diver’s Den was open earlier than all of the surf stores and was just down the street, so we were lucky we spotted them. We bought a hoodie from them (unfortunately the last on the rack), and even though we weren’t going on a dive with them they allowed us to use their changing room and showers. They also allowed me to borrow a nice, thick jacket for the boat ride without charge.
The shop itself is pretty large in comparison to your average corner dive store and had a little bit of everything, including all of the newest scuba cams! But more importantly, the staff was the among the friendliest people we met while we were in town. You can bet that the next time we come to Panama City that we will be diving with these guys. If only all businesses were as pleasant to visit as Diver’s Den!