Visiting the Panhandle JAN/FEB 2010... looking for local information

Hi. I'll be in your area Jan/Feb 2010 (it's a snowbird thing) and will be looking to do loads of diving. I will be RVing it and staying in state parks ( definitely planning Topsail and St. Andrews ) and will travel whererever to take advantage of diving opportunities. A few questions...

Im sure this isn't the peak diving season in your area, but I am assuming Dive shops and charter outfits run boat trips in Jan and Feb. Is this the case? Can anyone recommend good outfits in the Destin/Panama City Beach/Pensacola areas? Wrecks are my main interest.

I am also interested in shore diving sites. I understand Destin and St. Andrews jetties are worthwhile. Any information regarding these sites or other shore dives would be much appreciated.

What kind of water temps and vis ( I know this is quite variable ) can I exect in Jan/Feb? What do you people recommend for exposure protection? ( I'll be diving wet)

Thanks in advance for all replies.


James

Some of the charter boats do their "winter maintenance" and haul out in the off season months. So I imagine you'll run into some of that. But I doubt all will at once.

But you'll have limited schedules and needing to have minimum number of folks going to get a boat to leave the dock. Might require a lot of calling around to find a trip going out.

Panama City you have several charters to choose from

• Dive Locker
• Panama City Dive Center
• Panama City Dive Charters (Pat Green)
• Better Bottom Time Charters ( 6 pack)
• Wreck Raider Charters ( 6 pack I think)
• Plus a few others.

most of the Panama City trips run to wrecks or to "bridge spans"


Destin you have the choice of

• ScubaTech
• Emerald Coast

most of the Destin trips run to Wrecks or "bridge Rubble". (Bridge Rubble are concrete bridge sections that have broken apart.



For shore diving, you can hit these spots
St Andrews Jetties in Panama City Beach. (dive at high slack tide)
East Pass Jetties in Destin (dive at high slack tide)
Ft Pickens Jetties in Pensacola (dive at high slack tide)
Morrison Spring (about an hour north of Destin or Panama City)
Vortex Springs (about an hour north of Dstin or Panama City)


The springs stay at 68f all year round. I imagine the ocean in Jan/Feb would be in the 50's. Suprbugman might post soon and have some better numbers as he dives wet year round there.


For Topsail State Park, send [user]Photohikedive[/user] a PM. he's a ranger there. he can hook you up with info about that park.

For St Andrews state park. check out this thread. I posted several pics of it and maps/diagrams
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/deep-dixie-divers/293322-panama-city-jetties.html

For accessing the Destin jetties, this thread will be helpful. has pics, maps, etc
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/deep-dixie-divers/295369-destin-jetties-access-question.html





A few other informative threads about the area. (plus several more can be found by searching or in Deep Dixie Divers)
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/228723-diving-panama-city-area.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/196309-destin-florida.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/222944-diving-destin.html

In terms of Pensacola area there are also several shops to choose from to include MBT, Scuba Shack, Dive Pros and Gulf Breeze Dive Center. Our club where you are posting is kind of partial to Bay Breeze dive cneter as they sponsor us. Try giving them a call. Also as stated earlier the boat trips are not as frequent during the winter as many vessels are doing Coast Guard Haul out inspections, so you'll have to do some calling to find a charter, but there are a lot of good captains and boats in the area. Try Bay Breeze once you get a bit closer to your date.

I dove a 5mm with a 3/5mm hood last winter, and almost got chilly a few times. A 5mm with a hooded vest would probably be enough, but a 7mm would not be out of the question.

Looking back at my log last winter...
Jan. 25, temp @ 100' = 64 deg
Feb. 7, @100'= 61 deg

This kind of give you an idea of temps...

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to diving in your area, both Gulf and springs.

I'll work with the recommended shops and charter outfits and hopefully get a fair bit of boat diving done.

Are there many local divers that frequent the jetties in the winter months? Would be great to meet up for a dive or two.

Do Morrison and Vortex allow solo diving?

Again , thanks for the replies.....

James

There are a lot of local divers and the weather in the winter can sometimes prohibit boat diving for long periods of time so many of us do turn to Jetties and Springs. Just give us a shout when you are close to coming and we'll see if we can't get someone in the water with you.

jbm:

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to diving in your area, both Gulf and springs.

I'll work with the recommended shops and charter outfits and hopefully get a fair bit of boat diving done.

Are there many local divers that frequent the jetties in the winter months? Would be great to meet up for a dive or two.

Do Morrison and Vortex allow solo diving?

Again , thanks for the replies.....

James

Click to expand...

I'm 99% sure that Vortex allows solo diving.

Morrison is a public park with no staff or no real diving rules. so you can solo dive there also. Morrison has a lot more overhead in the cavern than Vortex does (not including the cave at Vortex). so make your choices wisely on solo diving there.

MRXRAY:

There are a lot of local divers and the weather in the winter can sometimes prohibit boat diving for long periods of time so many of us do turn to Jetties and Springs. Just give us a shout when you are close to coming and we'll see if we can't get someone in the water with you.

Click to expand...

I'll do that........be great to meet up for some diving.

James