paulwall
Contributor
We had some non-diving friends staying with us in Pensacola, and we all wanted to go to the Beach. Since Johnson's Beach is a desert wasteland underwater, and the boats pass very close to the second sandbar, I lobbied for a trip over to the Whiskey Wreck. I was told by Down Under Dive Shop (Brian) that they had run off the Jetski vendor.
I planned to get there at 8am to more easily find a parking space, and hopefully a less crowded beach. The friends kept us delayed until 9:30. The parking lot was empty, but the beach had started filling up, and the jetski vendor had already put up his marking lane directly adjacent to the whiskey wreck. So much for their being run off.
Vis was excellent on an outgoing tide at 20-25' and I had little problem finding the wreck. I tied off my dive flag about 25' from the last jetski buoy, which sat over the west-most part of the eastern portion of the wreck.
The wreck is mostly sanded in, with about 2' of relief on the north side of a 60' section of wreckage. The south side was sanded in to about 1'. A school of spadefish, some small snapper, a largish catfish, and lots of tropicals called the limited shelter home. There were several stingrays about and one was big enough to sport a remora rider. Moon Jellies were abundant, but there were no stinging sea nettles.
I snorkeled around for about an hour and a half before calling it a day. A brief shower and west wind kept things cool until we left close to noon.
I planned to get there at 8am to more easily find a parking space, and hopefully a less crowded beach. The friends kept us delayed until 9:30. The parking lot was empty, but the beach had started filling up, and the jetski vendor had already put up his marking lane directly adjacent to the whiskey wreck. So much for their being run off.
Vis was excellent on an outgoing tide at 20-25' and I had little problem finding the wreck. I tied off my dive flag about 25' from the last jetski buoy, which sat over the west-most part of the eastern portion of the wreck.
The wreck is mostly sanded in, with about 2' of relief on the north side of a 60' section of wreckage. The south side was sanded in to about 1'. A school of spadefish, some small snapper, a largish catfish, and lots of tropicals called the limited shelter home. There were several stingrays about and one was big enough to sport a remora rider. Moon Jellies were abundant, but there were no stinging sea nettles.
I snorkeled around for about an hour and a half before calling it a day. A brief shower and west wind kept things cool until we left close to noon.
Last edited:
