Destin Jeddies 7-18-04

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Went to Destin Jeddies this past weekend. The skies cleared up and the sun beamed down on Sunday(Sat. was looking pretty nasty so we were worried). Visibility was about 20-25' and the water was warm. Even though we hit the tides at high tide we still had to fight a fairly decent current that had the majority of our 6 person group clinging to rocks. After breathing our tanks down quite a bit faster than usual do to the increased effort we had to put forth to move forward. Saw quite a few fish, spades, damsels, wrasses(always getting in the way of a photo shot!), couple of large grouper, a handful of jellyfish, lots of bait fish schools, mackeral, pinfish, toadfish, a few tropicals I can't ID(I don't have the books or the in-head knowledge), and stone crabs. Posting from work at the moment, I'll have pics up Wednesday night though!

Had fun, the weather held out, and the vis' was OK.

 

[jlayman800]

I was fortunate to be in the group with the BugMan on Sunday. It was a very nice dive and a good day overall. He left off his list a very pretty grouper at the end of the jetty. We learned that a lot of the best diving is at the end of the Jetty. By the time I got there, I was low and air and my buddy and I had to start heading back. Next time, we will snorkle out to the end of the jetty and then drop down.

I found the best deal on tanks to replace my old pre-1986 aluminum tanks. They are getting harder to fill and get inspected because of the rumors of failures. Luxfer won't do anything to compensate divers for the loss and you are on your own to replace them. Scuba Tech in Destin will take the old tank and give you a new one for $139 each including an inspection. With each tank, they give you a card for $100 in air fills. This makes the net cost $39 per tank. I was very pleased to find somebody willing to help us out with the old aluminum tanks. Thanks Scuba Tech. Talk to Quinn or Steve at (850) 837 2282.

 

[SeaYoda]

Sounds like you had fun. We had the same conditions on Saturday. We'll have to get our schedules together some time for a dive on the same day.
ScubaTech definitely gets two thumbs up from me too.

 

[empyre180]

Went to Destin Jeddies this past weekend. The skies cleared up and the sun beamed down on Sunday(Sat. was looking pretty nasty so we were worried). Visibility was about 20-25' and the water was warm. Even though we hit the tides at high tide we still had to fight a fairly decent current that had the majority of our 6 person group clinging to rocks. After breathing our tanks down quite a bit faster than usual do to the increased effort we had to put forth to move forward. Saw quite a few fish, spades, damsels, wrasses(always getting in the way of a photo shot!), couple of large grouper, a handful of jellyfish, lots of bait fish schools, mackeral, pinfish, toadfish, a few tropicals I can't ID(I don't have the books or the in-head knowledge), and stone crabs. Posting from work at the moment, I'll have pics up Wednesday night though!

Had fun, the weather held out, and the vis' was OK.

Stone Crabs, huh? Do you know if there are laws about Crabbing, like there are for Lobstering? I'm sure there are, but I've never heard about it. Sounds tasty to me.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Pictures as promised

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

...and just a couple more

You finally have an underwater action shot John! Thanks for coming out again, your more than welcome to join us anytime!

 

[FSUgly]

nice. I'll be there Aug 4th thru the 8th. Planning jetties dives on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning (assuming tides allow), and 2 tank boat dive Saturday morning. Planning on going out with scubatech this time. In the past have always used Emerald Coast, and never had any problems, but wanna give this shop some business too. They were very helpful in doing gear services on my sister and her husbands gear this past year (they live in MS). Two great dive shops in one town. Gotta divy up and support both shops, right? Right.

 

[SeaYoda]

...Planning jetties dives on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning (assuming tides allow) ...

The high tide Friday is at 4:05 am - low tide is 3:43 pm. Sunday high tide is 4:37 am. Hope you are an early riser .
It is great having two good operations in the area. Good luck on your dives.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Stone Crabs, huh? Do you know if there are laws about Crabbing, like there are for Lobstering? I'm sure there are, but I've never heard about it. Sounds tasty to me.

The minimum size for stone crabs is a 2 3/4' claw I'm not sure if you're allowed to spear them off the beach closer than 100' though. If you are just grabbin and baggin, you should be within the rules if you have a fishing liscense.

Edit: http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recstonecrab.htm

 

[FSUgly]

The high tide Friday is at 4:05 am - low tide is 3:43 pm. Sunday high tide is 4:37 am. Hope you are an early riser .
It is great having two good operations in the area. Good luck on your dives.

LOL..Nope, not that early Thanks for the info though