Staying in Panama,FL

[wakegirl]

My family and I will be in Florida next June 14-21,2008 and looking for some great places to dive and snorkel.

We would like to see Manatees and not sure where to go for that, we do not mind a little drive to see them.

Our dives in Panama I know we want to do some off shore, 6people boat, which sites r the best for wildlife, we will have a couple of new divers with us, so I have to keep that in mind to.

And I know u people have to eat!! Where to go??

Also we would like to go deep sea fishing any recommendations?

 

[mike_s]

Well.. Panana city and Panana City Beach are mostly condo's, but there are a few hotels also.

for condo rentals check out places like Resort Quest. they handle a lot of the units.


Manatees can be seen in PCB, but not common every day sightings.... You'd most likely have to go over to crystal River or Rainbow River for guarentee'd sightings.

As for dive sites, for shore diving, people dive at the St Andrews jetties. For boat trips, somehow I'm willing to bet that the boat you book will do the Black Bart and Bridgespan #14. The Bart is not a bad dive, it's just "over used" by the charter operators. You have to almost specifically book a trip elsewhere in order not to go there on a charter boat trip.

I'll let the others offer up some places to eat... but everyone seems to like Capt Andersons. The bronze propeller in the fountain out front is from the wreck of the Empire Mica. you can also deep sea fish out of their Marina.

 

[wakegirl]

Thanks , we have actually booked our house The Complete TLC - with luxury vacation rentals. Can't wait

I think St Andrews will defiantly be on the list, everyone on this site says its great! And its free, can't ask for more than that.

 

[PerroneFord]

Manatees in June?

Deep sea fishing should be simple. 99% of the commercial boats on the gulf are fishing boats I think. They sure aren't dive boats.

 

[mike_s]

St Andrews is very nice. it's $5 per carload to get in though, but the diving is free and the beaches are nice and they have lots of parking and public bathrooms, which you don't get at a lot of other locations. you can take the shuttle over to Shell Island also for a small fee.

You'll want to dive St Andrews at high slack tide.
For the dates you listed,

[B]Tides for St. Andrew Bay Channel entrance starting with June 14, 2008[/B]. 
Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon
           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Sa  14     High   6:30 AM     1.5   5:41 AM     Set  2:32 AM      80
    14      Low   5:21 PM    -0.2   7:46 PM    Rise  4:31 PM

Su  15     High   7:00 AM     1.6   5:41 AM     Set  3:06 AM      87
    15      Low   6:04 PM    -0.3   7:46 PM    Rise  5:28 PM

M   16     High   7:39 AM     1.7   5:41 AM     Set  3:45 AM      92
    16      Low   6:55 PM    -0.3   7:46 PM    Rise  6:24 PM

Tu  17     High   8:23 AM     1.7   5:41 AM     Set  4:29 AM      96
    17      Low   7:47 PM    -0.3   7:47 PM    Rise  7:19 PM

W   18     High   9:08 AM     1.7   5:42 AM     Set  5:18 AM      99
    18      Low   8:35 PM    -0.4   7:47 PM    Rise  8:09 PM

The gates don't open until 8am, so that pretty much limits you to Tuesday and Wednesday of your schedule to get in before high tide. I'd be at the gate waiting if it was me.



Perronne. I wondered if they would be around in June as most of the manatee trips are during the winter. Do they migrate out during the warmer months?

 

[wakegirl]

Thank you Mike I have put those dates and times on my list!! Great help

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Manatees in June?

Where else would they be aside from the Gulf/Ocean in the summer? They really only hang around the springs in the winter, when the larger bodies of water get too cold.



The last time I spotted manatees was July 4th weekend in Destin, in '06.



Don't count on seeing them though!

 

[mike_s]

When I was down in Destin in May, the beach patrol was chattering on their radios about one being seen within a hundred yards of the beach.... but I don't bet on seeing them.


Where else would they be?
I thought they all went to Manatee Biker bars in Key West during the off season.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

The ones we saw were cruising just a few hundred feet off the beach, in chest high water.