SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Bill Lewis and I headed out from AL and met up with biggen(from Panama City, FL) and jlayman w/daughter in tow(from MS) at around 8:30AM this morning at the Destin Jetties. The weather topside was great. Mostly sunny skies, a nice cool morning, and we only hit a few very light showers on the way - no precipitation at all once we got into Destin. The parking lot was pretty crowded and we had to park farther away from the trailhead than we had hoped. The beach had quite a few people on it and there were two pontoon boats onsite with snorkelers/divers as well as a few other diver groups who opted to walk(like us).
The water itself felt great sitting at 80ºF near the surface and in the low-mid 70ºsF at depth. Visibility was lacking quite a bit at 3-7' with alot of particle suspended in the water and tons of algae blooming. We didn't have to fight any real current during the first dive that lasted nearly an hour. We reached 60' around the end of the point and passed up the bicycle and the large concrete moor. Didn't see the anchor, is it still under the bike? If so, its covered in sand now. Its more than possible we just overlooked it with the bad visibility. We also heard dolphins near the point, but never spotted any until we surfaced for our SI. Most of the normal fish were back, lots of juvenilles. Lots of crabs too. The water was choppy and there was alot of boat traffic causing for alot of wake.
After a bit over an hour on the surface, we went in for another. Visibility had improved slightly with 3-10' or so. :11: We hit 43' and the current was getting a good hold on us so we turned and stayed shallow for the rest of our 63min dive - no need to grapple the rocks on the way back in if we can help it. More than a half dozen boats were beached when we surfaced the second time.
Despite the low visibility, we had alot of fun. Went over to Dewey's afterwards for some great seafood. Going back tomorrow, will post again afterwards.
Pics from today(tomorrow's will be added to this link as well). http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album67
The water itself felt great sitting at 80ºF near the surface and in the low-mid 70ºsF at depth. Visibility was lacking quite a bit at 3-7' with alot of particle suspended in the water and tons of algae blooming. We didn't have to fight any real current during the first dive that lasted nearly an hour. We reached 60' around the end of the point and passed up the bicycle and the large concrete moor. Didn't see the anchor, is it still under the bike? If so, its covered in sand now. Its more than possible we just overlooked it with the bad visibility. We also heard dolphins near the point, but never spotted any until we surfaced for our SI. Most of the normal fish were back, lots of juvenilles. Lots of crabs too. The water was choppy and there was alot of boat traffic causing for alot of wake.
After a bit over an hour on the surface, we went in for another. Visibility had improved slightly with 3-10' or so. :11: We hit 43' and the current was getting a good hold on us so we turned and stayed shallow for the rest of our 63min dive - no need to grapple the rocks on the way back in if we can help it. More than a half dozen boats were beached when we surfaced the second time.
Despite the low visibility, we had alot of fun. Went over to Dewey's afterwards for some great seafood. Going back tomorrow, will post again afterwards.
Pics from today(tomorrow's will be added to this link as well). http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album67
