Question about water temperature at depth at Panama City Beach

[smurf doc]

There is a ocean dive trip planned for August 18-21 in Panama City Beach. My instructor said I'll be able to get my deep dive in for the AOW class. My question is what sort of temperature should I expect at a deep dive depth (I'm assuming between 80-100 feet) for that time period? Doing a Google search turns up links that talk about water temperature in the mid-80s, but I don't know if they are referring to surface temperature or average water temperature.

The main reason I want to know is to figure out if I will probably need my wetsuit or not. I've done a dive to max depth of 78 feet in Cayman and water temperature there was the same at the surface -- about 81-82 Fahrenheit. I did not need a wetsuit there and loved it.

Probably the most direct route would be to get the name of the charter that is going to take us out, and call to ask them. But I figured I might get a faster response on this board.

Searching this forum doesn't seem to answer my question (either that or I'm searching incorrectly).

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[terrylowe]

just got back from there. Surface temp was 86. At 70 feet it was 75. I was comfortable with no dive suit. If I were able to dive several days in a row, I would probably use a shorty.

[jseteroff]

I dove Sunday to 75' and the temp was 75. I wore a swim suit and rash guard and was very comfortable. Both dives were about 35 min, the thermocline was around 40-45 feet if I remember correctly.

[smurf doc]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the replies.