Destin Jetties Night Dive report 4/8/06

[SeaYoda]

I did my first salt water night dive tonight at the jetties. Gulf-Gulper and I joined eight others from our local scuba club (Scubaholics) at the jetties and hit the water at 19:40, high tide was at 19:41. The weather man had been threatening us with rain all day but we only got some wind that had the surface slightly choppy. Needless to say, the viz was dark - Duh!. There was a fair amount of floating seaweed in the water and I would estimate the daytime viz to be 15'-20' considering the difficulty in seeing the other diver's lights. Temperature was 66 degrees at 46'. We entered the water close to the point due to the excess sand that has not changed since my last dive there. By the time we reached the bottom I knew what would be the star of the show this evening - CRABS EVERYWHERE. There were two to three blue crabs per square yard. Many were females with eggs. A few were large but most were medium in size. Another first for me tonight was seeing shrimp. I saw two large white ones and two medium pinkish ones. Several small pinfish were present - their coloration was much darker at night and the blue was more prominent. I saw a couple of fish that looked like knife fish with whiskers (great biologist description). I heard some toadfish and finally saw one at the end of the dive. When we surfaced, the moon was shining on the water and white sand. It was a beautiful walk back along the water, then we headed back toward the entry point across SOFT sand. The walk from the water to the road was a killer, but it was well worth it to have had this dive. Sorry no pictures to share today - camera went to the doctor this week.

 

[DanPHudson]

sounds exciting!! should i take some sort of spec. course before attemping a nite dive? i would take my normal navigational tools and a light of course but anything special?...

 

[SeaYoda]

sounds exciting!! should i take some sort of spec. course before attemping a nite dive? i would take my normal navigational tools and a light of course but anything special?...

I have just an OW certification. I'm not a big fan of collecting C-cards but specialty courses can't hurt.( YMMV )

I've learned most of what I know from diving with experienced friends and practicing in easy conditions. Having a backup light, a tank light of some sort, and strong buddy skills / communication are all things that make for a safe night dive. I'm very familiar with the jetties and so I did not use a compass. I've heard of people clipping a line to the anchor line on boat dives, but I would do a lot of practice before I attempted that in the dark.

My biggest turn off for a night dive was viz. The whole idea of all that dark water where my imagination runs wild had me a little on the freaked out side. It wasn't a problem at all when I got in the water with nine other divers. Even though the clarity of the water wasn't great, there were enough lights around for me to feel comfortable. It was kind of like a very bad viz daytime dive. I still prefer clear water so I can enjoy a more panoramic view but I had a great time focusing on the critters that were in my narrow beam of light and up close.

 

[Nemrod]

I dove the jetties just this past Monday on a rising tide. I used my kayak to access them from the parking area below the bridge on the west side. I estimate viz as high as 40 feet and as low as 20ish. There were a lot of seaweed which did hinder viz. I saw a lot of fish and was gifted with a pod of dolphins that followed me around off and on for an hour. I occasionally saw them underwater. Max depth was about 45 feet.

I dove the Navarre Beach fishing pier the week before with decent viz, about 30 feet. Lot's of fish, a small octapus and box fish and other assorted critters. Easy access by auto from the east end of the Navarre Beach parking lot. I again used my kayak for surface support because I went way out and there were boats trolling for cobia in close. Max depth was about 40 feet.

I also dove the Pensecola Beach reef. I again had 20 to 30 foot viz and lot's of fish. Picked up a a fishing reel that was still in good shape. Max depth was about 35 feet.

We need to have monofiliment banned!!! or made bioderadeable.

For these dives I used a DA Aqua Master regulator, Voit Sug pack with steel 72cf cylinder, 3/2 wet suit with three pounds on weight belt, no BC, no snorkel, Voit oval mask, XL Super Jets. I used my Seiko watch for time and an old Voit guage for depth and a Suunto compass for navigation and of course, my Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro TW.

Also a picture of the worlds greatest future wreck dive in Pensecola and after viewing the USS Mass. battleship resting one mile from the inlet in 30 feet and marked by a permenant bouy, I wonder, do you guys ever dive it? It should be a great kayak or small boat, paddle board dive. N

 

[ReefHound]

sounds exciting!! should i take some sort of spec. course before attemping a nite dive? i would take my normal navigational tools and a light of course but anything special?...

A specialty wouldn't hurt but at least you need to get in a few easy night dives with an experienced mentor to get used to the unique aspects of night diving, i.e. how to signal, how to read your gauges, special equip. (always carry a backup light), etc.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Thanks for the update SY, sounds like you had fun and the evaded the sharks that surely were circling your area, atleast in your imagination

Nemrod - I've been wanting to get out to the Mass for a dive from my 10' Zodiac, just waiting for the right day and the available time. Looks like fun. Also thanks for the reports on the Navarre Pier and P'Cola Beach Reef, I've yet to dive either site, but I'm looking to hit them soon. Would be great to run into you diving the area in all that oldschool gear quite a site, I'm sure!

 

[SeaYoda]

I dove the jetties just this past Monday on a rising tide. I used my kayak to access them from the parking area below the bridge on the west side...

WOW, I thought I was brave walking across all that sand but you have me beat . How was it getting across the pass with all those fish crazed tourists heading out to sea? How hard was it to paddle all the way over to the other side? The walk in the sand is harder now that there is new sand there. It was bad enough before.

 

[Nemrod]

SY, I am not trying to get y'all into kayaks but I see no way I could walk all the way out where I went much less swim. Kayaks are a skill to themselves and sometimes a rather challenging one--lol. It took about an hour to get from the parking area out past the tip of the west jettie. Probably another 30 minutes across the pass where some large waves compounded by large wakes washed over me submerging the entire kayak up to my neck. I made a couple of hour long dives and then crossed from the east jettie back to the west and beached at the end of the rocks and caught some sun before returning to the truck.

The Navarre Beach pier is easily accessed from the west end of the parking lot. There is a small kayak/beach shop at the east corner with friendly information. I think he may be responsible for getting the marine sanctuary status--? The kayak was very helpful here as a surface float to keep the fisherman/boats off me and when the longshore current resisted my best effrots to swim/drag the kayak and myself back to my entry point I just reboarded and easily beat the current.

The Pensecola Pier dive was kinda fun. Two Christmas Tree divers waded in just as I waded out---they were surprised to see a frogman appear from the water. I watched them dive while I warmed up in the sun. They flounced and flailed their way past the breakers and had a fun dive. Speaking of flailing about, two ladies watched me enter the water after a short conversation about what I expected to see--typical non diver questions--then right in front of them fell on my face!!! Salty sand tastes good. Yeah, I was just testing out the water--I planned that! Be sure to stay at least 100 feet from the active fishing pier at Pensecola Beach--or more. The rocks had an interesting collection of critters and stuff. Nothing to drive 1,000 miles for but heck, I was already there.
The USS Mass.maybe a bit to far for a kayak but a small powered inflatible boat would get there easy--not sure where the best entry point would be. Be careful, the gun turrents are at or just below the surface!! Looks like it would be a fun shallow wreck dive. N

The

 

[SeaYoda]

...It took about an hour to get from the parking area out past the tip of the west jettie. Probably another 30 minutes across the pass where some large waves compounded by large wakes washed over me submerging the entire kayak up to my neck. ...

Did you choose to go to the end of the west jetty to cross because of boat traffic or just exploring? The water is normally the roughest right where you crossed at the end of the two long jetties. The walk on the sand still seems a good deal to me . It is only a torture for a few minutes. Have you ever walked to the jetty from Gulf Shore drive without gear? It just gets a little harder with 100 lbs on your back. When the water temps get up a little higher and I shed the wet suits, it really isn't all that bad.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Yeah... looking forward to diving in a Tshirt again.