Mem weekend - Panhandle

Sweet, I just found a reasonable room (<$100) in Ft Walton and decided to make a weekend trip. I'm bringing the family but I'm the only diver so I'm looking for buddies. I can do the beach dives solo if I have to but it's more fun with a buddy. Destin tides look good for early dives all weekend (high tide ~8:30am).

Here's my ideal diving plans though I can compromise as needed. Arriving early Sat morning at Pcola/Navarre/Destin, do a few dives then break for lunch and see if room is ready. Later in the afternoon, whatever. Maybe a few more at Destin or Navarre Sun morning.

Dive as dive can in the afternoons. Maybe Pcola/Navarre. Maybe Morrison for a few. Or maybe rest up and do some night diving at Navarre/Pcola.

Check out early Mon morning and stop in Gulf Shores for a few on the Whiskey around 9am. Maybe pole for flounder. Shower off, have a nice lunch at BB's then hit the road. I could do Destin that morning and just check out afterwards but GS puts me a few hours down the road to home.

I've been out of town diving the last two weekends so I'll be sticking local this weekend. If you head this way, give me a call, I'll be up for diving as long as conditions allow. Alabama Point Jetties might be the only option(protected water) as the surf looks to be up all weekend.

You should be fine at any of the jetty dives within the passes.

I'm probably up for a couple tanks on the Destin Jetties on Saturday. How early are you going to be in town? We will be coming off a double high tide day so water exchange will be lower (tide swing only goes from .2 to .5 feet). Going in earlier than high tide would buy the most time for a second dive before the next swing out. Parking will be better too .

SeaYoda:

I'm probably up for a couple tanks on the Destin Jetties on Saturday. How early are you going to be in town? We will be coming off a double high tide day so water exchange will be lower (tide swing only goes from .2 to .5 feet). Going in earlier than high tide would buy the most time for a second dive before the next swing out. Parking wil be better too .

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I can be there whenever I need to be there. I'm leaving Friday evening and driving thru the night, with lots o help from my better half. It's a feat I've done several times now so I'm comfy with it. It's just a matter of setting the departure time.

If we got to the parking area about 07:00ish we'd be in great shape. Will you be in great shape ?

SeaYoda:

If we got to the parking area about 07:00ish we'd be in great shape. Will you be in great shape ?

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I'll be fine. I can do 7 but am I reading the tides wrong? I thought they read High at 8:42AM Sat on Scubatech's website, and 8:35AM on saltwatertides. Or is the best time a little before the high tide?

Best to get in early when you are doing multiple tanks, that way you catch a current incoming, rather than outgoing, if any

Gotta hate the outgoing stuff... low vis, next thing you know... Cuba!

Tides and currents used to be very predictable at the jetties. After the hurricanes and dredging , the patterns are strange. Before, the water would push into the bay from the Gulf with a strong current up to about an hour before high tide. The current would slow for a couple hours at slack tide (this would change with the size of the tidal swing). The water would then turn and pretty quickly become ugly bay water with a strong push out to the Gulf. Now you can get slow currents before and strong ones at high tide and after. The cycle still has the bay water come back out but I can't figure out when. On days when the tide is recycling, we get two high tides instead of one and the water exchange is lower. Friday and Saturday are those days. I'm being careful to take into account the less push into the bay on our high tide. It could mean the bay water coming back out sooner (that's the way it used to work). By going early, We'll have better Gulf water before high tide for the first dive and we'll have a better chance of getting the second dive in before the tide swings.

Sounds good to me, if I wanted to dive in ugly brown bay water I could stay home, and I'm not ready to visit Cuba just yet. See ya at 7. Anybody have an underwater coffee mug I can borrow?

Anybody else diving this weekend?