Pinellas shore dives?

Oceandvr · Nov 24, 2005

Hi Everyone!

I'm supposed to go diving tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 25), but the boat may not be operational (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!). As a backup plan for some out of town divers, I thought of shore diving, but then thought...are there any good shore dives off Pinellas county? Anclote Keys maybe?? Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

eandiver · Nov 25, 2005

None in Pinellas. The closest is the Sugar Barge down in Bradenton.

Oceandvr · Nov 25, 2005

Thanks. I figured our shelf was too flat, shallow, and extending too far out for anything interesting. Really need a boat to get to the sites, though I do see some neat things snorkeling around the Bays and Fort Desoto.

Dr. Doug Ebersole · Nov 25, 2005

I agree with EANDiver. I think you're stuck with the Sugar Barge, the springs, or shark tooth diving down in Venice. Of course, you could always drive over to Jupiter/West Palm!

Oceandvr · Nov 25, 2005

debersole:
I agree with EANDiver. I think you're stuck with the Sugar Barge, the springs, or shark tooth diving down in Venice. Of course, you could always drive over to Jupiter/West Palm!

Jupiter/West Palm or a weekend in the Keys would've been nice! My friends' boat had a few maintenance issues and we didn't want to push it so far out...so, we didn't make it to the Gulf sites that I wanted to dive. We ended up in 10 feet meandering about Boca Ciega Bay (St. Pete). Visibility was about 15-20 feet, chilly 69 degrees and not much of a current. Lots of swimming crabs, seastars, and small gobies or blennies or darters. They were too quick to ID. And of course, lots of muck and algae too.

Oh, the places we will go to get our fins wet! lol :05:

Dr. Doug Ebersole · Nov 25, 2005

I grew up in St. Pete diving the Gulf. Believe me, I know what you went through in Boca Ceiga Bay. But, at least you got wet! Me, I'm headed to West Palm in the morning. I live in Lakeland now, so I'm about an hour closer to the east coast than you are. If you're ever headed that direction, I'm always looking for dive buddies!

eandiver · Nov 26, 2005

15 to 20 feet of vis in BCB.......................that doesn't happen often. Try around the jetties on the southeast side of the skyway just before the south side rest area. Watch out for the people fishing and use a flag.

Oceandvr · Nov 27, 2005

eandiver:
15 to 20 feet of vis in BCB.......................that doesn't happen often. Try around the jetties on the southeast side of the skyway just before the south side rest area. Watch out for the people fishing and use a flag.

I know! I was surprised when we dropped anchor that I could see the bottom (10'). While down there the horizontal vis was pretty good, again I was surprised since there was so much particulate matter above us.

Thanks for the jetties reference. We'll have to check it out.

francousteau · Nov 27, 2005

Oceandvr:
. . . chilly 69 degrees . . .

LOL . . . . my warm this year was 57 deg and the "chilly" was 42 deg.
There's a possibility of coming down to Ft. Lauderdale and diving some of those chilly waters in a couple of months. Can't wait :05:

eandiver · Nov 27, 2005

francousteau:
LOL . . . . my warm this year was 57 deg and the "chilly" was 42 deg.
There's a possibility of coming down to Ft. Lauderdale and diving some of those chilly waters in a couple of months. Can't wait :05:

Ft.Lauderdale (Atlantic) is going to be much warmer than St.Petersburg/Clearwater (Gulf). More to see too.

Pinellas shore dives?

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