Panhandle Florida Diving

[Underthesea81]

Hey all, im headed up to the panhandle in a few weeks for a business trip and would like to get one afternoon of diving in while I am up there. I live in S. Florida but am looking forward to getting a little gulf diving in
I will be everywhere from Pensacola to Destin to Fort Walton Beach to Panama City Beach and looking for one good afternoon dive. Preferable to boat dives as that is what i do down here, but if i had a buddy for a shore dive that wouldnt be too bad.
any "cant miss" dives up in that area?
background-cert 2.5 months ago, 16 dives already, doing my advanced and nitrox in three weeks. max bottom was 85 feet.

thanks!

 

[Randy43068]

Good question. I too wonder what the diving is like there.

 

[paulwall]

An absolute can't miss is the Oriskany, of course. In general, the further east you go the better the vis, especially with the Mississippi high like it is. I also love the Navy YDT's and the hard bottom out of Destin. Vis can be a murky 20' to a clear 80'. I've once had 50' vis off of the beach in 13' of water. This time of year, there's usually a murk layer to about 20', making sites shadowy and dim, adding to the ships' spookiness. There are tanks, planes, Liberty Ships, oil and gas platforms, tugs, freighters, turn of the century Paddlewheeler debris (the Brass Wreck), Bridge Spans, Bridge Decking, You'll see Amberjack, Spades, Grouper, Snapper, lesser jacks, frogfish, toadfish, lizardfish, sea robins, gunards, tropicals, big Angelfish, and nudis, bristleworms, arrow crabs, and maybe a few lionfish.

 

[atlas750]

Any recommendations of dive shops to dive with? I will be there 9/10 to 9/17 and would like to dive 3 or 4 days.

 

[Native Spear-It]

Hey all, im headed up to the panhandle in a few weeks for a business trip and would like to get one afternoon of diving in while I am up there. I live in S. Florida but am looking forward to getting a little gulf diving in
I will be everywhere from Pensacola to Destin to Fort Walton Beach to Panama City Beach and looking for one good afternoon dive. Preferable to boat dives as that is what i do down here, but if i had a buddy for a shore dive that wouldnt be too bad.
any "cant miss" dives up in that area?
background-cert 2.5 months ago, 16 dives already, doing my advanced and nitrox in three weeks. max bottom was 85 feet.

thanks!

There are a lot of diving opportunities in all of the areas your visiting. They all have shore diving as well as boats. The majority of the shore dives are tide dependent, sometimes they are good and the rest of the time not so good. There are wrecks from shore to out beyond 20 miles, hundreds of them. I would recommend that you book your boat well in advance, they sell out weeks ahead of time this time of year.

Check out Home for a good local dive shop.

When are you planning on coming up this way?

 

[jacksonbogner]

Yes my husband and I are also going up to stay in Fort Walton/Destin for 3 days and then 3 days in Panama City Beach in August. We are looking for a good reputable dive shop. Any suggestions?

 

[jacksonbogner]

I just spoke with a guy from one of the shops and he said a couple of weeks ago it was like 100 foot viz which is unheard of. He said it has been running about 50 feet viz and temps between 76-80.

 

[Wayward Son]

dunno where the 100' viz was, but not out of panama city beach. I did 2 tanks on may 28th, maybe 30' crappy viz. Did 2 tanks at St Andrews jetties saturday, maybe 25' crappy viz.

Temps inshore were 80 on top, 70 at depth. Yes, a 10 degree thermocline. At the jetties is was 82 on top, 80 at 70 FSW.

Diving out of PCB? See the link in my sig line.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Hey all, im headed up to the panhandle in a few weeks for a business trip and would like to get one afternoon of diving in while I am up there. I live in S. Florida but am looking forward to getting a little gulf diving in
I will be everywhere from Pensacola to Destin to Fort Walton Beach to Panama City Beach and looking for one good afternoon dive. Preferable to boat dives as that is what i do down here, but if i had a buddy for a shore dive that wouldnt be too bad.
any "cant miss" dives up in that area?
background-cert 2.5 months ago, 16 dives already, doing my advanced and nitrox in three weeks. max bottom was 85 feet.

thanks!

You're going to have a difficult time finding a dive charter going out midweek in the panhandle. There usually isn't enough interest. I would also not even consider the Oriskany at this point in your diving. It is an advanced dive, even pushing the limits of being a recreational dive.

 

[Underthesea81]

dunno where the 100' viz was, but not out of panama city beach. I did 2 tanks on may 28th, maybe 30' crappy viz. Did 2 tanks at St Andrews jetties saturday, maybe 25' crappy viz.

Temps inshore were 80 on top, 70 at depth. Yes, a 10 degree thermocline. At the jetties is was 82 on top, 80 at 70 FSW.

Diving out of PCB? See the link in my sig line.

Is it 80 for an inshore dive with two tanks included? Are you going out Monday or Tuesday afternoon?
I agree dive-aholic, upon checkg the oriskany out it is well beyond my skills at this point, however it looks amazing and maybe within a year if I keep army current dive pace I will be back on another trip and dive it then.
The prices have shocked me a little bit...maybe it is just the area or that I am spoiled in s Florida with two tank dives for 75 bucks but if someone could choose one of the best areas with best reef diving or best 80 foot and shallower wreck diving that would be great. Thank you!