bamafan
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Check out the Spring Hunters page on Facebook. Just North of Panama City Beach is probably one of the prettiest springs in all of Florida. Google Cypress Springs. I never thought I would like cave diving either but I am addicted.
Panhandle Residents, how do you feel being a diver?
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Check out the Spring Hunters page on Facebook. Just North of Panama City Beach is probably one of the prettiest springs in all of Florida. Google Cypress Springs. I never thought I would like cave diving either but I am addicted.
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Just for fun I looked through my log for the coldest dives--various places on the panhandle, sometimes Gulf, sometimes bays:
March 4, 2006--61F
Feb. 5, 2007--53F
2008-- 6 dives at 60F each
Jan.8, 2013--50F
Jan.23, 2014--44F
(also dives at 45, 47 & 49--that was the few days when the sand on the beach at Destin was literally frozen--
you could punch through it with your boots). They closed the bridges because kids were sliding on them with
boogie boards. Interstate 10 was closed to the AL line because only Alabama used sand.
Jan. 9, 2017--51F (although that was an anomaly--most dives were 60-65 even in Jan. & Feb.--closer to 65, which are usual for March).
The dive sites--well, the 4 I mentioned (Destin 2, PCB, P'cola) are OK. Nothing great. I hear lots more tropical fish to see once warm weather comes. I've found some good shells, being a collector. Lots of sand. Rocks here & there. Nothing I'd call a reef really. Currents bad at inlets (jetties)--must dive at slack (preferably high) tide. Diurnal tides not too predicatbale or reliable at times. If we had the money we'd snowbird in South FL instead for sure. Warmer and better shells.
Boat charter diving is another story. Lots of wrecks and boats go out often (but unfortunately for me very unoften in winter).
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sportxlh
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Almighty: search for threads started by Skeptic14...... he's posted quite a few dive reports and pictures from his panhandle dives. Water in the gulf tends to be more green that blue colored, but the dive sites can still be enjoyable. While I've done about 700 dives, only a bit more than a dozen are in the gulf.... but I've enjoyed the following sites:
PCB:
Blackbart: Wreck: Has several resident goliath grouper and pretty good fish life. I've dove it twice: once had 60+ feet of vis and another time about 30. I understand that 50+ vis is pretty unusual for the area.
Red Sea: Also a wreck: it has several goliath grouper and decent fish life.
Hovercraft: this is a small site, but if you're into macro photography its great. In the sand on the north side of the wreck, you'll find half a dozen to a dozen mantis shrimp lairs. It also has a couple of resident goliath grouper.
Bridge Spans: I've dove a number of these. They are interesting enough but not very big sites. I've found that if you can be one of the last divers up to the dive boat, the goliath group will come back in closely. I was diving solo and had four move back from the sand, after the other divers who chased them away surfaced, and had two come within a few feet of me as they slowly swam around watching me. It was a pretty cool experience, not unlike what I've experienced in Jupiter and WPB. There are also a ton of blennies on the spans so this is a good place for macro photography.
Gulf Shores:
LuLu: this is a newer wreck but has already had goliaths make residence. I slowly and calmly climbed into the wheelhouse with one and stayed with him for quite a bit of time until other less-calm divers showed up and chased him away. Another really cool experience not unlike Jupiter or WPB. The site also had two bull sharks wandering around hull. Vis was OK, but not great.... maybe 35 feet.
Navy Tug: Small site, not all that interesting if you're in a big group. But this would be pretty cool with just 2-4 divers. Prolific fish life but they'll scatter with a big crowd of divers. This is also good for macro photography in that there are a ton of blennies. Vis was OK but not great at 30 feet.
Barges: There are several barges off of Gulf Shores: I found them all to be pretty boring, but I've heard that bulls sometimes hang around them... I didn't see any. Vis was terrible.
Springs:
I've only dove Vortex and Morrison. Vortex is OK, but felt very 'commercial' to me. I'll use it again for new gear set up practice dives. I like Morrison better: its not far from Vortex (you can rent tanks at Vortex if you don't have your own) but its a very natural setting..... almost spooky with big moss filled trees surrounding the spring. I'd only dive this with a group, since I'd be a little concerned with 'gators in the area (I have no proof that there are any, but it feels like there could be). The cavern is filled with fresh water eels which are pretty creepy but interesting to watch.
That's the bulk of my experience..... haven't dove the jetties, though I plan to, and I haven't dove the natural reef off of Destin, which I also plan to do. Skeptic14's photos of the natural reef line in Destin remind me of some of the reefs in SE Florida.
Here's a few pictures: these are all screenshots from GoPro videos so aren't great quality. As you probably know, the fisheye lense on a GoPro makes things look much farther away than they really are. In the first shot, I was 24 inches from the Goliath
in the wheelhouse with the GG
on the LuLu exterior
on a bridge span
PCB:
Blackbart: Wreck: Has several resident goliath grouper and pretty good fish life. I've dove it twice: once had 60+ feet of vis and another time about 30. I understand that 50+ vis is pretty unusual for the area.
Red Sea: Also a wreck: it has several goliath grouper and decent fish life.
Hovercraft: this is a small site, but if you're into macro photography its great. In the sand on the north side of the wreck, you'll find half a dozen to a dozen mantis shrimp lairs. It also has a couple of resident goliath grouper.
Bridge Spans: I've dove a number of these. They are interesting enough but not very big sites. I've found that if you can be one of the last divers up to the dive boat, the goliath group will come back in closely. I was diving solo and had four move back from the sand, after the other divers who chased them away surfaced, and had two come within a few feet of me as they slowly swam around watching me. It was a pretty cool experience, not unlike what I've experienced in Jupiter and WPB. There are also a ton of blennies on the spans so this is a good place for macro photography.
Gulf Shores:
LuLu: this is a newer wreck but has already had goliaths make residence. I slowly and calmly climbed into the wheelhouse with one and stayed with him for quite a bit of time until other less-calm divers showed up and chased him away. Another really cool experience not unlike Jupiter or WPB. The site also had two bull sharks wandering around hull. Vis was OK, but not great.... maybe 35 feet.
Navy Tug: Small site, not all that interesting if you're in a big group. But this would be pretty cool with just 2-4 divers. Prolific fish life but they'll scatter with a big crowd of divers. This is also good for macro photography in that there are a ton of blennies. Vis was OK but not great at 30 feet.
Barges: There are several barges off of Gulf Shores: I found them all to be pretty boring, but I've heard that bulls sometimes hang around them... I didn't see any. Vis was terrible.
Springs:
I've only dove Vortex and Morrison. Vortex is OK, but felt very 'commercial' to me. I'll use it again for new gear set up practice dives. I like Morrison better: its not far from Vortex (you can rent tanks at Vortex if you don't have your own) but its a very natural setting..... almost spooky with big moss filled trees surrounding the spring. I'd only dive this with a group, since I'd be a little concerned with 'gators in the area (I have no proof that there are any, but it feels like there could be). The cavern is filled with fresh water eels which are pretty creepy but interesting to watch.
That's the bulk of my experience..... haven't dove the jetties, though I plan to, and I haven't dove the natural reef off of Destin, which I also plan to do. Skeptic14's photos of the natural reef line in Destin remind me of some of the reefs in SE Florida.
Here's a few pictures: these are all screenshots from GoPro videos so aren't great quality. As you probably know, the fisheye lense on a GoPro makes things look much farther away than they really are. In the first shot, I was 24 inches from the Goliath
in the wheelhouse with the GG
on the LuLu exterior
on a bridge span
sealark
Contributor
Pensacola Video spearfishing last week. Great place to live I have been all over Florida and for me the Diving is the best in Pensacola. I travel to the Keys every summer.
Bubblesong
Contributor
We also did a 10 day home hunt in Florida, every day checking out a new town. Landed in Pensacola during Spring Break-thousands of young men and no women visible at least out walking around.
I loved the town's on the Gulf coast, nicer weather than the Atlantic side, and way more peaceful and inexpensive. Yeah some local diving.
But living near Miami opens up the whole world of diving, especially as Cuba opens up, but cheap, fast trips to whole Caribbean compared to Northern part of state.
I would like to buy a tiny place at retirement between Keys and Miami, while I can still dive and travel, and get my sister to buy the relaxing place, so we can visit each other and basically get both worlds. She can't dive, but her husband likes boats.
I loved the town's on the Gulf coast, nicer weather than the Atlantic side, and way more peaceful and inexpensive. Yeah some local diving.
But living near Miami opens up the whole world of diving, especially as Cuba opens up, but cheap, fast trips to whole Caribbean compared to Northern part of state.
I would like to buy a tiny place at retirement between Keys and Miami, while I can still dive and travel, and get my sister to buy the relaxing place, so we can visit each other and basically get both worlds. She can't dive, but her husband likes boats.
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I've mentioned in a few places that the sign warning of Alligators at Morrison Springs that was there in 2006 was stolen a year or two later (or removed?).
Bubblesong
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OP
AlmightyApkallu
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Thanks for the replies everyone! Sorry for my late reply.
I don't mind the green coloration. In fact I think it's kind of cool, as long as the visibility isn't always crap, which I heard it is? I like the green color. Those high res pictures above look fantastic, but I'm guessing that is a rare occurrence and absolutely as good as it gets?
I don't mind the green coloration. In fact I think it's kind of cool, as long as the visibility isn't always crap, which I heard it is? I like the green color. Those high res pictures above look fantastic, but I'm guessing that is a rare occurrence and absolutely as good as it gets?
sportxlh
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Almighty: the first 2 photos were in only about 30 feet of vis on the LuLu near Gulf Shores AL.... the third is a span off of PCB and vis was 60'ish feet.
With my slightly more than a dozen gulf dives between May and Sept last year (e.g., not enough to be an expert), the worst vis was about 30 feet and I've been told it doesn't usually get too much worse than that. That's not as good as Jupiter or the Keys average vis but I've done plenty of dives in SE Florida where it's not much better. I've always found that 30 feet of vis is quite diveable if your not dealing with a swift current.
I still get down to the Keys because I travel to Boca and Miami for work and can take a side trip to the Keys. When I'm diving on my own nickel, I'm going to the gulf..... the diving is perfectly good for me.
With my slightly more than a dozen gulf dives between May and Sept last year (e.g., not enough to be an expert), the worst vis was about 30 feet and I've been told it doesn't usually get too much worse than that. That's not as good as Jupiter or the Keys average vis but I've done plenty of dives in SE Florida where it's not much better. I've always found that 30 feet of vis is quite diveable if your not dealing with a swift current.
I still get down to the Keys because I travel to Boca and Miami for work and can take a side trip to the Keys. When I'm diving on my own nickel, I'm going to the gulf..... the diving is perfectly good for me.
@AlmightyApkallu you can checkout my flickr North Florida diving albums from the last few years to get an idea on the marine life and visibility. I post dive reports here with some regularity and I've also recently started an emerald coast diving blog (that's what happens when you don't dive for 3 months) 
that might be helpful in getting an idea on the diving here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skeptic14/albums/72157665292725934
Emerald Coast Underwater
that might be helpful in getting an idea on the diving here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/skeptic14/albums/72157665292725934
Emerald Coast Underwater
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