??? diving in the Tampa area

jbd · Aug 18, 2003

Can anyone tell me about the diving in the Tampa area?

What are the conditions? What is there to see or do while UW?

Any natural formations UW?

pchelp · Aug 19, 2003

Depends on if you want fresh water (caves, caverns, sink holes, etc) or salt water. In the ocean, vis. may be limited unless you go 15-20+ miles offshore, better vis. in the winter. There are a variety of artificial reefs, natural ledges, fresh water springs (in the ocean) and wrecks, in depths from 30'-130' (10-40 miles offshore). Current water temp. is around 88. Finding Goliath Grouper is easy :rolleyes:

, they usually get in the way on most of my dives. Not a lot of shore diving options in the Tampa area, but with a boat, it's not bad. Last weekend, the dives in 120-130' had 50'-75' of vis. Saw half a dozen nurse sharks, each 6'-8' long, 20+ goliath Grouper in the 300-500lb range, schools of baitfish, baracuda and amberjack.

Knavey · Aug 19, 2003

pchelp once bubbled...
Depends on if you want fresh water (caves, caverns, sink holes, etc) or salt water. In the ocean, vis. may be limited unless you go 15-20+ miles offshore, better vis. in the winter. There are a variety of artificial reefs, natural ledges, fresh water springs (in the ocean) and wrecks, in depths from 30'-130' (10-40 miles offshore). Current water temp. is around 88. Finding Goliath Grouper is easy , they usually get in the way on most of my dives. Not a lot of shore diving options in the Tampa area, but with a boat, it's not bad. Last weekend, the dives in 120-130' had 50'-75' of vis. Saw half a dozen nurse sharks, each 6'-8' long, 20+ goliath Grouper in the 300-500lb range, schools of baitfish, baracuda and amberjack.

What site were you at last weekend?

There is a whole lot less color on our reefs over in Tampa than down in the Keys or the rest of the carribean, but we do have a good variety of options. Reef, wreck, cave, beach, cavern all within a few hours drive.

ew1usnr · Aug 19, 2003

I live in Tampa and enjoy making beach dives at Venice Beach. It is an hour south of Tampa. Venice Beach is the fossil sharks tooth capital of the world. You can pick up 100 on a single dive. The depth is about 20', an air tank will last an hour, and its FREE!

CBulla · Aug 21, 2003

I can't tell you much about natural formations, but I can point you in the direction of finding all the artificial formations that are available (with gps or loran coordinates).

http://marinefisheries.org/ar/index.asp

Pick your favorite county.. the neat thing with "rubble" piles is that you never know what you'll see. On M1 in Sarasota I saw the biggest grouper (not a goliath, but a black!) I've ever seen just staring back at me from inside a large concrete culvert box.

pchelp · Aug 21, 2003

First stop was the mexican pride wreck (about 40 miles west of the skyway), that's where the nurse sharks, baracuda and the first pack of Goliath Grouper, max. depth 120, 26 minutes bottom time. 2nd stop was a spring (further west), top of the spring was about 130-135, long way down to the bottom of the spring, also some Goliath's in the spring, schools of AJ above it. It was my first ocean spring dive, kinda neat, bottom time 30 min. We were competing in the St. Pete Open, so we moved around a lot. From there we started moving back toward shore, 3rd stop was in 105', also around 30 minutes, this was a small reef (not much for color), 4th dive in the same area (10 minute mandatory deco, on that one), 5th dive in 95', small 1-2' ledge, 6th dive at 60', wreck, vis. down to 10'-15', didn't see much, although this spot has been good in the past.

jbd · Aug 23, 2003

the diving is worth the 900 mile drive to Tampa?

Knavey · Aug 24, 2003

jbd once bubbled...
the diving is worth the 900 mile drive to Tampa?

No...but it would be worth driving to the east coast for the stuff over there. There is a lot more variety over there. Of course, there are some things to see off the Tampa Bay coast, but just not as many as on the east coast. When I get home tomorrow, I will try to put together a short list of the stuff off the west coast of the east coast for you. Give me a few hours to sleep though!

CBulla · Aug 24, 2003

jbd once bubbled...
the diving is worth the 900 mile drive to Tampa?

Like I tell people, it depends on what your after. I personally know of two people who have hauled their own weight several times over in spear fishing prizes. One of those was a 103# grouper speared 15 miles out on the ledges.

If you want pretty reefs and bright sunny waters and colorful fishes, the Gulf coast is not for you.

If you like hunting/spearing, fossil collection (not geriatrics in rubber swim trunks swilling martinis), odd anomalies such as a fresh water spring in the middle of the gulf (Blue Hole off of Naples), diving among the largest goliath (jewfish) grouper nursery in the world, and in general not know what you'll find next (sometimes vis isn't so good..sometimes it is

) The gulf is for you.

Its all about "what do you want to see today?"

jbd · Aug 24, 2003

for the responses. For me the viz doesn't have be any more than a few feet to have a good time. No need for sunny, bright clear water. I'm not into spearfishing but maybe some fossil hunting and the groupers would be nice. Also interested in archeology and geology/natural formations.

??? diving in the Tampa area

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