Any Trick to Jetty Diving?

[Aucilla]

As this is the sub-forum for newbies like me, I will report! I had my first jetty dive yesterday, and it was a blast. I went with 5 other members of the Seminole Scuba Club to St. Andrews State Park on Panama City Beach or in that area.

The water, from the beach as far out as one could see, was described as being as clear and as pretty as the Bahamas by one of our divers who had been there. It was pretty calm and beautiful.

We waded in and had a blast.

I will tell a few things I learned:
1. You can get a sunburn diving a two tank dive off a white sand beach.
2. Yes, you were so right about currents. We dove the slack of the high tide, but when it began to shift, and we began our return, I learned how hard it is to swim upstream! We decided to just drift around the end of the reef [it jutted out from the mouth of a big, busy inlet] and then swam up to the outside, otherside beach.
3. You need a dive flag, not only for legal reasons or boats, but for fisherman. We didn't see any until we surfaced; and the it was clear we needed to move back away as they were casting. They were fishing only one side of the jetty, so our second dive we just stayed on the other side. [That other side didn't have the inlet running by, either, so no current to speak of.] I am glad the fisherman saw our flag as we were moving along the jetty, as presumably some of them at least didn't cast there.
4. It was surprisingly deep, as you said, as there was indeed a trough on the inlet side. We went to 60 feet, and could have gone deeper further away from the rocks.
5. There was a lot of colorful life. Small and big fish and other critters. And a lot of shells. Saw some big dinner fish, as in sheepshead and, surprisingly this close to shore, grouper!
6. It is easy for a group to get separated, so it is very important to stick close to your one buddy. Our visability varied, as as clear as the water was as described above, along the jetties it was not so clear, maybe we had 40 feet. So in 50 feet, you couldn't see the bottom from near the surface.
7. I can dive without a wetsuit! And so you should bring a quick dry t-shirt [or I should] as a matter of course, to wear under the BCD.
8. Having a camera is a big distraction for a newbie. A fellow diver and I [she was part of our group, but not my buddy] took a few moments to take pictures of each other; and we had to figure out the camera in the process; and we unwittingly somehow ascended almost to the surface [breathing a lot I guess] from 50 feet and had to scramble back to our group, whom we had lost sight of.



I learned a lot and had a ball. These are just some things that came to mind.
I want to than you all for all the advice! ALL of it was right on point!

 

[jayray]

I think jetty diving is very fun,but i also think boat diving is funner,but as far as jetty diving i only dove in pcb,fla

 

[jjmitch21]

I did a checkout dive there 20 years ago and it was a piece of cake. We walked in full gear except for fins over some flats and then entered the water for a very easy dive with almost no current and spent about twenty minutes on the bottom - less than twenty feet deep. I was surprised at how many tropical fish were on the jetty. The instructor took out his knife and pried open a sea urchin and fish came from everywhere to feed on it.

We did see a lot of baited fish hooks on the bottom as well. I don't suggest you grab a fish hook and jerk on it as a joke. Trust me on this one.

Diver JJ from Daytona.

 

[spectrum]

I am about to go on my first dive after training and with no trainers along. We are going on a "jetty dive," which I gather is a shore dive and shore entry.

I have never done that. I have just jumped off boats into the sea.

Any tips for a newbie?

Honestly, for this guy, this is VERY exciting!

Be very careful with the tides. Jettys are usually there to direct currents and they can get severe quickly. The defined waterways are also prone to real boat trafic so be very careful. More than once I have seen fishermen show up while we were down. Once I was simming along and said "why is that worm hanging there" before I realized I feet away from being hooked myself!

Bring a SMB and a buddy. Have a plan to ride the current together to an exit point if you do get caught.

Other than that have fun and enjoy the stonework and it's inhabitants.

Pete

I guess I should have read to the end and noted the dates, oh well I'm sure it will help someone.

 

[Dv4fun]

I have dove jetties in Jupiter Florida and it is very easy to get caught out too far and swept down/up much further than where you began. Here are some tips. 1. Only dive during the slack tides, scope the place out first and talk to other divers at that location 2. Depending on the location only go out into the jetty as far as its safe from boat traffic 3. Only dive during slack tide 4. If you feel the slightest current building up HEAD BACK IN , I got caught and the current built up to unmanagebable swim within 10 minutes, fortunatly I was only 15 feet from shore and had to get out from a dock. 5. Dive with an experienced diver from that location

 

[Pyromaniac]

MAKE SURE that you are aware of the tides. Depending upon the positioning of the jetties, tides can seem to occur out of nowhere, and they can be killers!!!!

As well as up to date tide tables - it would be a very wise idea to get a hold of a tidal stream atlas if you are going to do an area regularly, this will show you the direction and strength of the tidal stream and currents at any given time each side of high / low water.

The charts they contain look something like this..........................