Destin Jetties post Ivan dive report

SeaYoda · Sep 25, 2004

The weather was great for a 9:00 am dive today. I met SuPrBuGmAn and two of his friends. I buddied with Seaangel for the dive. Conditions were not great but not bad for post hurricane, I guess. The water temperature was 78 degrees and the viz was mostly 5'. There was a lot of particulate matter in the water. Not much damage was done to the Jetty but sand has collected on the north side and the beach has grown on that side. I got some bad pictures of Seaangel and SuPrBuGmAn at work taking pictures. Seangel and I found a bicycle laying on the anchor at 50' down at the point. I also saw a very wet boom-box. There was some construction junk around but for the most part the jetties looked like themselves. Here are some pics:

mzenzer · Sep 25, 2004

Thanks for that report. My checkout dive (or, re-checkout dive) is supposed to be in Destin on Oct 16-17th, and so far my Dive shop has had no contact with anyone in Destin they usually dive with.

As a result we'll probably just do it in Vortex if things seem to be iffy down there. Are any of the local dive shops back up and running. I think the shop they use is Down Under, or something like that. I'll have to check.

SeaYoda · Sep 25, 2004

mzenzer:
Thanks for that report. My checkout dive (or, re-checkout dive) is supposed to be in Destin on Oct 16-17th, and so far my Dive shop has had no contact with anyone in Destin they usually dive with. As a result we'll probably just do it in Vortex if things seem to be iffy down there. Are any of the local dive shops back up and running. I think the shop they use is Down Under, or something like that. I'll have to check.

I don't know of a shop called Down Under but I drove by Emerald Coast and it looked open. I know ScubaTech is open because I got air there today. Things should be getting back to normal by the time you get here. The viz may still be bad in the Gulf but shore diving may have cleared up some.

SuPrBuGmAn · Sep 25, 2004

The fact that I was able to dive was more than enough reason to make the trip for me - even with the poor vis and all the crap in the water. Nice meeting you SeaYoda, next time we'll have to talk a bit more - the pair with me were itching to get in the water, even though they made for a short dive

I can't complain, it was still pretty fun - I hope we didn't blow too many pictures away from ya! My pics didn't come out all that great either, but I was happy to see the Yellow Tang again and was really happy to see the Queen Angel - I've only seen them in deep water previous to today.

I'll post another report later with some of my attempted pictures

Down Under is one of my LDS's in Gulf Shores, AL. During the hurricane, they had white caps breaking in their parking lot - needless to say, while the building stands, its been gutted out.

Like SY stated, Emerald Coast and Scuba Tech are the primary shops in Destin, both are pretty good too.

mzenzer · Sep 25, 2004

SuPrBuGmAn:
Down Under is one of my LDS's in Gulf Shores, AL. During the hurricane, they had white caps breaking in their parking lot - needless to say, while the building stands, its been gutted out.

Like SY stated, Emerald Coast and Scuba Tech are the primary shops in Destin, both are pretty good too.

Yeah, I must have been mistaken as for the location, but I remember my instructor talking about not being able to reach them and the only thing he knew was that he saw a pic of the shop on the news, under water. I saw the same pic.

Do you guys know of a location in Destin (again, I think) called the Intake Valve? 25ft or so depth and dive shops do part of there OW checkouts there. They were just throwing out possibilities for our dive next month and that one came up.

SuPrBuGmAn · Sep 25, 2004

Doesn't ring a bell, I've only done 3 trips(6 dives) with ScubaTech when our LDS's boat motor was being rebuilt and we were using ScubaTech for chartering instead. All our dives have been on barges, tugs, and bridge rubble while I was offshore in Destin. I'm pretty sure depths were between 50-80' for all of em, I can check my log if you'd like specifics on them.

mzenzer · Sep 25, 2004

SuPrBuGmAn:
I can check my log if you'd like specifics on them.

Thanks, but I wouldn't want you to go through that trouble just yet. I'll see what the status is for our dive in a couple weeks, and if I can offer them some pointers because their options are exhausted, maybe then I could use some alternative locations.

Besides, they are already leaning towards doing the entire weekend at Vortex, expecially since this group will have several kids and they don't want to risk less then optimal conditions in the Gulf.

SuPrBuGmAn · Sep 25, 2004

Alrighty, don't hesitate to ask for the sites we visited though, no trouble at all

SeaYoda · Sep 25, 2004

mzenzer:
...Do you guys know of a location in Destin (again, I think) called the Intake Valve? 25ft or so depth and dive shops do part of there OW checkouts there. They were just throwing out possibilities for our dive next month and that one came up.

There is a place that is called Opal Rocks or the Intake Valve. I did my first checkout dives there. It is not too far offshore from Holiday Island. The depth I recorded was 23'. It is a big concrete box with a cage around the top. The water goes into the valve and under Holiday Island to the Harbor. It is supposed to help flush out all that bad water in the harbor. You would need to get there by boat because the beach access on that part of Gulf Shore drive is private. With all the sand problems from Ivan, you might never make it to the water anyway

. I saw people who swam out to the valve to snorkle but I think it would be a pretty good swim to get there.

seaangel · Sep 27, 2004

I made it home safe and sound last night about 10pm EST. I had a great time diving and look forward to my next trip to Destin whenever that will be.

SeaYoda, your pictures do no harm, water was a bit silty. But, all in all very relaxing dive, even using rental gear. I have not rented gear for years and I now say everyone should rent gear every few years so they can appreciate their gear more.

Hope to see you all again sometime soon. Maybe down again either late Oct. or in November.

Destin Jetties post Ivan dive report

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