Panhandle diving??

[bethbsting]

Are there any good spots for diving in the FL panhandle? Are there any wrecks that are good and what type of visibility for this time of year should we expect? Thanks

 

[Knight1989]

There are tons of wreck on the panhandle area, the biggest being the Oriskany off of Pensacola that was just sunk. Where in the panhandle area are you looking at? I was just out in the gulf yesterday diving and was getting 65ft vis, less in spots closer to shore. All in all, the gulf has been really calm so far with good vis.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Vis can change from day to day, there are thousands of wrecks, yes there is good diving in the panhandle.

Broad answer for a broad question

 

[bethbsting]

Just wanting to find out about driving there from Texas for a long week. What city would be the best to stay in and what dive op would be good? We just need tanks/air. Shore diving and boat diving are both good for us, if the area is good for that.

 

[mike_s]

bethbsting,

pick up a copy of Ned DeLoaches "underwater guide to Florida". It's money well spent on info on sites in florida.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1878348396/

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

There are divable jetties in PCB, Destin, and Pensacola. There's a pier to dive off the beach in Navarre(next to Pensacola Beach) and pier rubble to dive off the beach in Pensacola Beach. Offshore of Pensacola will put you in the area of the Oriskany and several other wrecks. Destin and PCB also have lots of wrecks to dive(PCB probably has more interesting wrecks between PCB and Destin though).

For a good mix of beach dives and boat dives, I'd probably try to stay near Pensacola. Navarre Beach Pier, Pensacola Beach Reef(pier rubble), and Fort Pickens Jetties(hopefully they'll be accessible by road again soon - hurricane destroyed the road) are all fun beach dives and they have more than enough wrecks offshore to keep you busy for more than just a few days of fun - including the Oriskany, the biggest purposely sunk artificial reef in the world.