Destin Jetty dive report 3/22/08

It has been tough getting into the salt water so far this year but I made my second dive today with Gulf-Gulper as my buddy. High tide was at about 11:30 am and it is the first high tide after the double on Friday. We decided to let as much gulf water push in as possible so we waited to get in the water until around noon. There were several divers on site and we asked some who were finishing their dive how the conditions were. I hadn't hoped for much since the water was a light green and a little hazy. The divers confirmed my suspicion and said it was pretty murky. We geared up and headed under to find particle laden viz of about 10 feet. Water temp was 64 degrees which felt a little cool in my 3mm full and chicken vest. There were the usual fish - sandperch, belted sandfish, juvenile grouper, and black seabass. There were stone crabs in abundance and the blue crabs seem to have returned in a low number. There were a few male blues out there today with the majority of females. We went to the point and no further due to the viz. Current was pretty slack despite the cruddy water conditions. There was a slight pull toward the gulf that would have made a great drift dive to the anchor. The shell bed on the north side of the jetty is still full of dollars and not covered by sand. When we got out of the water and headed to the car, the 55 gallon buoy in the pass was just beginning to lean toward the gulf. That must have been about 1:30 or 2:00. Not the best of dives but a well needed one for sure.

Here are some pics:

Great report SY, glad to hear you made it back to the water. Sounds like an enjoyable dive regardless of the conditions.

Did you see the anchor? Last time I was there, the anchor was covered.

SuPrBuGmAn:

...Did you see the anchor? Last time I was there, the anchor was covered.

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We didn't go that far. We turned the corner at the point and played for a while on the west rock pile that leads to the anchor. We then went back to the north side and spent some time by the iron box.

The anchor was getting pretty covered the last time I dove the jetties so it doesn't surprise me that it's underground by now. Lots of sand washing out from the renourishment around the jetty itself. The sand has got to go somewhere. I did notice the boats seem to be running closer to the rocks - may-be the sand is filling the whole pass except for the deep channel around the finger jetty?

Here's the tide gauge chart from today. High water was right at noon.

Considering the poor conditions, you got some pretty decent shots. I especially liked the last one (black sea bass).

Nice photos. curious if those are sand dollars in the first non-crab photo. Those crab shots are awesome.

sarita75:

... curious if those are sand dollars in the first non-crab photo...

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The shell bed has a mixture of different kinds of shells but many in the picture are sand dollars.




Hey Dave C, when are you coming back to Florida?

SeaYoda,

I'm making my annual summer trip to Destin again in June. I just got back from Puerto Rico and put a post on the uw photography board. BTW, congratulations on getting your photos in Humann's CD. That's quite an honor. How did he find out about your photos, and did you ever post them on-line? I'd like to see them.

Nice, Ill have to try and hit the jetties in May, skipped them a few weeks ago due to the low vis reports (less than 5 feet) and went to more springs.

Dave C:

SeaYoda,

I'm making my annual summer trip to Destin again in June. I just got back from Puerto Rico and put a post on the uw photography board. BTW, congratulations on getting your photos in Humann's CD. That's quite an honor. How did he find out about your photos, and did you ever post them on-line? I'd like to see them.

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May-be we can meet up at the jetties again.

Thanks for the congrats. ReefNet had the DVD in production and World Publications joined up with them. The book and the DVD are different, but it would be cool if I made the "big time" and got some pics in the next edition of the book. I'm not sure what plans are for the two companies and future ventures. Les Wilk from ReefNet found my pictures in my gallery here on SB over a year ago. Most, if not all, of the pics were from my early days with the C-5050. Several SB'ers have pics on the DVD. I guess it pays to post .