GLENFWB
Contributor
Four of us wanted to dive the Panama City Jetties, at St.Andrew State Park. Conditions did not look favorable today, (Saturday 3/8) but we all decided to make the trip in the hopes that we could somehow dive. We loaded everything in my van, and we made the trip to Panama City Beach jetties. We had an uneventful trip to Panama City Beach. When we arrived, the park had a double red flag flying. The flags were standing out completely straight. A short walk across to the beach revealed that conditions were not favorable for diving. The surf was very rough. Breakers in the pass were extremely large. Not sure if you can make the waves out in the picture I have attached. I would guess the waves in the pass were about 3 to 4 feet maybe, but not sure.
Air Temperature was 48 degrees, with a steady south wind blowing 15-20 MPH. The steady wind made it feel extremely cold. We arrived at the jetties early, high tide was not until 10:15, so after looking at the conditions we went back up the road to the Waffle House for some breakfast. After eating we stopped by a Dive Shop that is right by the St. AndrewsState Park. After eating and shooting the breeze, we headed back to St. AndrewsState Park.
We discussed whether we should make the dive. We knew visibility would be very poor. After determining that the current was not to strong, we developed a dive plan that everyone was comfortable with. Gearing up in the strong, cold wind was not an enjoyable experience. But, once we had our wetsuits on the winds were much more bearable. We geared up and headed to the beach. Curt and Dan were doing dives for their NAUI Master Diver course. They teamed up as buddies, and Becky and I made the second team.
Our dive plan was to go in to the "Kiddie Pool", a pool of water between the jetty and the shore. Then, we would swim through the break in the jetty, turn left and head north, keeping the rocks on our left. We would swim north till we could cross back over at the end of the jetty, and head south back toward the kiddie pool. We would exit at our entry point.
Becky and I headed through the break in the rocks. We saw Curt and Dan briefly once we got through the rocks. Visibility was extremely bad, about 3 to 4 feet at best. After getting through the break in the jetty, Becky and I began to descend .we were searching for the point where the sand meets the rocks. Becky was navigating with her compass to make sure we stayed on course. I made sure we kept the rocks on our left side. After we descended to about 20 feet the sun COMPLETELY disappeared. I have dove in low visibility before, but this was the first time that we went in to a complete black out. With our dive lights on, we continued to navigate north. The current was moderate, and did not provide much of a problem.
Because of the low Visibility, we spent most of our dive shining our lights in the rocks trying to see fish, inverts, and anenomes. Becky spotted two horseshoe crabs. The only fish we saw were some sheephead. We made our way through the bad viz. and looked for the break in the rocks so we could cross back over to the Kiddie Pool and our exit point. We found a place to cross back over the jetty and began to head back south to look for our other two divers. After we swam south for a time, we surfaced and saw Dan and Curt waiting for us in the kiddie pool. They had called the dive after about 5 minutes because of the bad viz.
We quickly got out of our cold suits and headed back home. In spite of the conditions, it was an enjoyable dive. I look forward to summer descending upon the Florida Panhandle. Looks like we are going to head to Cypress Spring tomorrow to see if we can get another few dives in for the weekend. Dive time was 25 minutes, max depth was 30 feet, and water temps were 58 degrees.
Air Temperature was 48 degrees, with a steady south wind blowing 15-20 MPH. The steady wind made it feel extremely cold. We arrived at the jetties early, high tide was not until 10:15, so after looking at the conditions we went back up the road to the Waffle House for some breakfast. After eating we stopped by a Dive Shop that is right by the St. AndrewsState Park. After eating and shooting the breeze, we headed back to St. AndrewsState Park.
We discussed whether we should make the dive. We knew visibility would be very poor. After determining that the current was not to strong, we developed a dive plan that everyone was comfortable with. Gearing up in the strong, cold wind was not an enjoyable experience. But, once we had our wetsuits on the winds were much more bearable. We geared up and headed to the beach. Curt and Dan were doing dives for their NAUI Master Diver course. They teamed up as buddies, and Becky and I made the second team.
Our dive plan was to go in to the "Kiddie Pool", a pool of water between the jetty and the shore. Then, we would swim through the break in the jetty, turn left and head north, keeping the rocks on our left. We would swim north till we could cross back over at the end of the jetty, and head south back toward the kiddie pool. We would exit at our entry point.
Becky and I headed through the break in the rocks. We saw Curt and Dan briefly once we got through the rocks. Visibility was extremely bad, about 3 to 4 feet at best. After getting through the break in the jetty, Becky and I began to descend .we were searching for the point where the sand meets the rocks. Becky was navigating with her compass to make sure we stayed on course. I made sure we kept the rocks on our left side. After we descended to about 20 feet the sun COMPLETELY disappeared. I have dove in low visibility before, but this was the first time that we went in to a complete black out. With our dive lights on, we continued to navigate north. The current was moderate, and did not provide much of a problem.
Because of the low Visibility, we spent most of our dive shining our lights in the rocks trying to see fish, inverts, and anenomes. Becky spotted two horseshoe crabs. The only fish we saw were some sheephead. We made our way through the bad viz. and looked for the break in the rocks so we could cross back over to the Kiddie Pool and our exit point. We found a place to cross back over the jetty and began to head back south to look for our other two divers. After we swam south for a time, we surfaced and saw Dan and Curt waiting for us in the kiddie pool. They had called the dive after about 5 minutes because of the bad viz.
We quickly got out of our cold suits and headed back home. In spite of the conditions, it was an enjoyable dive. I look forward to summer descending upon the Florida Panhandle. Looks like we are going to head to Cypress Spring tomorrow to see if we can get another few dives in for the weekend. Dive time was 25 minutes, max depth was 30 feet, and water temps were 58 degrees.
Hope you guys have fun at Cypress.
