Diving near the island of St. George, FL

[mcf57]

I am a newly certified diver (Sept. '07). I am going to be going on vacation in the first week of May to St. George island in Florida (zip=32328). Can anybody recommend a place/outfit that offers a good basic scuba trip for beginners like me that is near this area? I know Panama city is a good place down in that area (Gulf Coast), but that is about 2hrs away so I was hoping to try and find something a bit closer. Any suggestions?

Or is there also maybe a good site that has a list of all Scuba outiftters in the Florida area that offer some sort of diving package for beginners?

 

[Diveral]

Panama City is going to be your best bet. At St. George the Appalachicola River dumps out there and the water is shallow and murky. There is a charter in that area, Killfish, that takes divers out to some really good wrecks like the Empire Mica, but these are advanced dives and I would recommend you try them after you get more experience. There are some good springs inland of there and towards Tallahassee that makes good diving but I am unaware of any commercial operations. Maybe someone else can provide better guidance.

That being said for the location you are going to and your experience level I would stick with Panama City. There are serveral outfits that would be good for beginners. They're Panama City Dive Center which runs several charter bots, Diver's Den, and the Dive Locker. Most trips go to the Black Bart, The Strength, or one of the Bridge Spans which are all interesting dives and suitable for beginners.

AL

 

[DandyDon]

You can get better coverage and more answers on the local forum here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/