SeaYoda
Contributor
Gulf-Gulper, SeaSquirrel, and I met the sun this morning standing on the West bank of the Destin Pass. High tide was 6:04 and we were in the water by 6:30. We looked at the site to figure out where to do our clean-up dives. The walk (or swim) to the West jetty seemed far so we decided to check out the bridge pilings under the Destin bridge. I've never dove that area so I wasn't sure what we would find. The sun was peeking out of some clouds by the time we started, so light underwater was good. Viz was about 25'-30'. I didn't check the water temp but it was like bathwater. We started with close pilings that were very shallow and soon got the lay of the bottom figured out. Around the pilings the water cuts a trough and between the pilings a sand ridge forms. It was a lot of fun going back and forth through the troughs and up and down over the ridges. The deepest we got was 19'. We got about 3/4 of the way to the area that boats pass under the bridge by the time we finished our second dive. On our second dive we were at the farthest piling that we got to when the current changed direction. We noticed the fish starting to line up behind the pilings and then the push started coming from the bay. We decided it was time to call the dive but it was almost too late. Gulf-Gulper was carrying a mesh bag with trash and the dive flag. The flag line got wrapped around a piling and he had to struggle a little with it to get it free. I was carrying a large black tarp (rolled up the best I could for underwater) and I held GG's bag while he worked on the line. I took the line and gave him the bag when he got everything loose. We headed for the beach against a current that you could kick full tilt against and still only make slight headway. As I was swimming along, the tarp was unfolding behind me - what a drag 
. I gave up on trying to stay on the bottom and surfaced to do a back float to shore. As I got to the beach a fisherman said he saw that "large black shape" and wondered what it was. I guess I'm lucky I wasn't harpooned or shot thinking I was a shark. GG made it back safe and after breathing heavy for a few minutes we climbed on to the beach and piled up our trashy treasures. All in all we collected 3 bags full and some boards. I guess the troughs around the pilings get a little deeper as you get closer to where the boats go through, but we never made it that far. This would be a fun dive once in awhile, but there were not tons of interesting things to see. After the dives we shed our gear and walked to the jetty - yes it is a long walk, even longer than the walk to the East jetty where we normally dive. When we got to the jetty we noticed that the sand piles up on the Pass side so all along the jetty it is very shallow. We did not go all the way out to the end so some diving may be possible out there if you go by boat. Attached are pictures of our day.
. I gave up on trying to stay on the bottom and surfaced to do a back float to shore. As I got to the beach a fisherman said he saw that "large black shape" and wondered what it was. I guess I'm lucky I wasn't harpooned or shot thinking I was a shark. GG made it back safe and after breathing heavy for a few minutes we climbed on to the beach and piled up our trashy treasures. All in all we collected 3 bags full and some boards. I guess the troughs around the pilings get a little deeper as you get closer to where the boats go through, but we never made it that far. This would be a fun dive once in awhile, but there were not tons of interesting things to see. After the dives we shed our gear and walked to the jetty - yes it is a long walk, even longer than the walk to the East jetty where we normally dive. When we got to the jetty we noticed that the sand piles up on the Pass side so all along the jetty it is very shallow. We did not go all the way out to the end so some diving may be possible out there if you go by boat. Attached are pictures of our day.
