Panhandle Residents, how do you feel being a diver?

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AlmightyApkallu

Contributor
Messages
115
Reaction score
21
Location
Phoenix, Arizona.
# of dives
50 - 99
Just recently I took a trip to Florida and spent the better part of two weeks there. I spent time in the Panhandle, went down through Tampa (did not spend time there though) and stayed in Miami for awhile, spending time there and in the Keys. For my diving, I dived in Miami, doing the Neptune Reef (which was probably my favorite dive), Rainbow Reef, then dived in Key Largo doing the Benwood Wreck and French Reef. I also dived in the Panhandle, but sadly the only dive I did there was Vortex Springs...

I went to Florida with the intent on scouting possible places to move to and live in. I must say I really enjoyed and loved every bit of the state. Every part of it has so many things to love and enjoy... Yet, for some odd reason I fell in love with the Panhandle. I loved how it felt laid back, had a beach town feel but on the other hand felt lively and active. I loved how "vacation~y" it felt, like everything there was all about fun. I LOVED the beaches and I LOVED the "southern hospitality" feel I got. I just absolutely loved it so dang much... I noticed that Miami and Broward County felt a lot more like California and Orange county in California. Big huge expensive homes, millionaires, billionaires, rich and famous types, high fashion, rat racing, run-you-over-in-my-bently mentality. I liked how in the Panhandle there was a lot more of a "fishing village" feel, where as in the Miami area it was more of a "these canals are for us to pull our mega yachts up to our mega mansions" feel. Maybe I am wrong, but I didn't see as many blue collar marina's and boating areas, fishing village boardwalk type areas. Again, I still absolutely loved the place and really liked Lauderdale By The Sea, Pompano and Boca. I could very easily live in those areas, but still... I just can't stop thinking of the Panhandle.

I grew up in a beach town, not in Florida, but was used to hanging out at the beach, spending all my time near the beach, doing all my shopping near the beach and oh yeah, going to the beach! In the Panhandle I totally got that feel and loved it. I kept thinking "Man, I just want to buy a home here, settle down and spend my days here Kayaking, fishing and Diving-" Oh wait... That's where the problem lies.

I'm an adventurous person, I love adventure but I really love anything to do with the water. I love Fishing, particularly fly fishing, I love boating, I love kayaking, all of which I've heard can be done with great pleasure in any part of Florida, but then comes the diving... I am VERY in love with Scuba Diving. I've been told by countless people if you love diving, forget the panhandle and concentrate on SE Florida or the Keys. Of course, the Keys would be lovely but are more or less impossible to live in unless I either want to do the studio with 5 people thing and work at some bar or hotel my whole life or some how become independently wealthy, it's less realistic. This leaves the Panhandle and SE Florida.

Now we all know how great SE Florida is for diving, but unfortunately the Panhandle has a "rap" at least that I'VE heard (and believe me I've been trying to find anyone with a good opinion on it) of not being the greatest for diving. I was told there is only 3-4 springs in the Panhandle to dive. Morrison, Vortex and a couple of others. I was told my dive at Vortex would be boring yet... I LOVED it. I had so much fun diving there that I was laughing at the end of my second dive. It was so clear and there were so many fish to see and no, I didn't find it cold at all even though it was 62 outside and the water temp was 67 AND there was a light breeze. We're used to diving much colder and in our 5mm's felt perfectly toasty and comfy. The cold doesn't bother us, but we've been told that after diving the the springs a few times you get tired of it. That leaves the ocean.

From what I've researched and been told, there is only 3-4 shore dives in the Panhandle. Navarre, St. Andrew's Jetties and a couple of other's that aren't as good. I was planning to dive St. Andrew's or Navarre and didn't get the chance, but have been told that the conditions are usually more bad than good at them and that unless you get lucky the visibility is usually crap, especially in the summer? Again, this is just what I've been told or read. That leaves boat diving. I've been told pretty much all the boat diving is wrecks (which is fine by me) but that most of those wrecks are also crappy visibility and get rather boring. So that leaves me confused. I REALLY love the Panhandle, a lot and I'm not super picky, but I also don't want to move to a place where my diving is always mediocre and I get bored/frustrated with it rather quickly.

That's why I made this thread, not just for advice but for OPINIONS from the locals. How do y'all feel about your diving? What is your opinion? How often do you dive? Do you get bored? How often do you make it all the way down to SE Florida and the Keys? I just want to know what the locals think, how they feel and how they live with being a diver on the Emerald Coast.

Thank you much! :)
 
Having just moved from Southeast Florida to Atlanta, and beginning to dive in the Panhandle, I can tell you that Panhandle diving is better than most people think. It's not as good as the southeast or the keys, but it's still pretty darn good, and better than a lot of places in the United States.

My wife and I have been talking about trying to get a small place in the Panhandle for long weekends. Don't know if we'll ever have the money to do that, but it's something we dream about, so I understand why you enjoyed the area so much.

There are places in southeast Florida that aren't quite as fashionable and millionaire club-like: places like Stuart or other parts of Martin County or as you mentioned, LBTS and Pompano (though the latter 2 have major traffic headaches) They have a nice quality of life and they're pretty close to or right on top of very good diving (in Jupiter, WPB, Boynton, Pompano and of course, the Keys).

I think you can find plenty of laid back and at least semi-affordable places in the northern part of South FL, Pompano and the Panhandle. Good luck in your search
 
Thanks for the reply XLH. That's what I'm trying to figure out, if it's better than the gloomy picture most people paint of it. As much as I love diving, life is about more than JUST diving and the Panhandle had the exact everything I was looking for, in every way. Yes, the traffic everywhere from Jupiter down was INSANE. It was like every major holiday was happening every day, but then again I noticed that once I got to Boca Raton it lightened up a bit more. I don't mind it so much but I wouldn't want to deal with Miami traffic on a daily basis. I still felt kind of a lack of the boardwalk, fishing, everybody-welcome type boating areas that were plentiful in the Panhandle. Again, probably would just need to experience it more. Still, I can't get over my love of the Panhandle haha.
 
The springs basically run from just north of Tampa to just west of Panama City Beach along the Gulf Coast. There are way more springs than you could possibly imagine. There aren't the coral reefs close to shore in the Gulf like there is off of SE Florida. The Middlegrounds are awesome but being 90 miles or so offshore they are not seen by most recreational divers. The Gulf is generally better for spearfishing and there are plenty of wrecks and natural bottom areas in the re recreational dive limits. If you are interested in cave diving or spearfishing it is a good place to live.
 
I learned to dive in Panama City and the "Redneck Riviera" holds a special place in my heart because of that. There is some good diving near PCB . In addition to the springs which you have already experienced, there are a lot of wrecks off-shore. Don't think of them as wrecks in the traditional sense, but more as artificial reefs. Everything from nice shallow wrecks such as the Black Bart which is a suitable platform for open water training dives. (IIRC, the fly bridge on the Black Bart is at about 40 feet.) to deeper bridge spans and if you go a little to the west, the USS Oriskany is off Pensacola.

One word of caution about PCB though, it is the "Go to location" for spring break. Only you can answer whether you will see that as a positive or as a negative, but for about a month each spring, thousands of college aged kids take over the city.
 
We've "snowbirded" in Destin 6 years total since 2006 when I was starting out with diving. You have the St. Andrews Jetty in PCB, the Destin Jetty and Destin Bridge dives, and Fort Pickens in P'cola. There are also numerous not very good dives both in the Gulf and on the bay(s) sides. And a couple of dives in Alabama just over the line. Anything West of that sucks. Water temps. in winter usually bottom out around 55, but I have seen as low as 45. By March it's usually around 65. Suggest checking out some threads in "Deep Dixie Divers".
 
The springs basically run from just north of Tampa to just west of Panama City Beach along the Gulf Coast. There are way more springs than you could possibly imagine. There aren't the coral reefs close to shore in the Gulf like there is off of SE Florida. The Middlegrounds are awesome but being 90 miles or so offshore they are not seen by most recreational divers. The Gulf is generally better for spearfishing and there are plenty of wrecks and natural bottom areas in the re recreational dive limits. If you are interested in cave diving or spearfishing it is a good place to live.

You say there are many more springs, is there a good source of information online where I could better inform and familiarize myself? Any videos or anything you would recommend checking out? I was under the impression that as far as "divable" springs worth any time diving there were only 3-4. Cave diving kind of freaks me out. Not saying I wouldn't do it some day but I wouldn't count on it and spearfishing I'm not really a fan of.
 
I learned to dive in Panama City and the "Redneck Riviera" holds a special place in my heart because of that. There is some good diving near PCB . In addition to the springs which you have already experienced, there are a lot of wrecks off-shore. Don't think of them as wrecks in the traditional sense, but more as artificial reefs. Everything from nice shallow wrecks such as the Black Bart which is a suitable platform for open water training dives. (IIRC, the fly bridge on the Black Bart is at about 40 feet.) to deeper bridge spans and if you go a little to the west, the USS Oriskany is off Pensacola.

One word of caution about PCB though, it is the "Go to location" for spring break. Only you can answer whether you will see that as a positive or as a negative, but for about a month each spring, thousands of college aged kids take over the city.

I know there are a good number of sites, but what are they like? I've heard they are just a cloudy abyss with low visibility regardless. Also, I think I could put up with the college kids for a short while to enjoy all the rest of my time there. Here in Phoenix I have to deal with all the ASU students when they take spring break and while I'm sure it's a lot more centralized in the Panhandle, I kind of know what that whole scene is like. I don't like it and it's annoying but there are worse things to deal with out there.
 
We've "snowbirded" in Destin 6 years total since 2006 when I was starting out with diving. You have the St. Andrews Jetty in PCB, the Destin Jetty and Destin Bridge dives, and Fort Pickens in P'cola. There are also numerous not very good dives both in the Gulf and on the bay(s) sides. And a couple of dives in Alabama just over the line. Anything West of that sucks. Water temps. in winter usually bottom out around 55, but I have seen as low as 45. By March it's usually around 65. Suggest checking out some threads in "Deep Dixie Divers".

55? 45? Fahrenheit? I was told the lowest it gets there is the low 60's in the winter and that it warms up to the 70's and 80's by summer. Hmmm. What is your opinion of those dive sites though?
 
I know there are a good number of sites, but what are they like? I've heard they are just a cloudy abyss with low visibility regardless. Also, I think I could put up with the college kids for a short while to enjoy all the rest of my time there. Here in Phoenix I have to deal with all the ASU students when they take spring break and while I'm sure it's a lot more centralized in the Panhandle, I kind of know what that whole scene is like. I don't like it and it's annoying but there are worse things to deal with out there.
I wish I could be of more help, but it has been more years than I care to admit (without looking at my old log books, I'm guessing 15-20 years) since I have dove in Panama City. Hopefully someone will respond who is more up to date and can discuss specifics rather than in general terms like me.

Sorry I can't be more help.
 
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