Florida Gulf Coast

[billt4sf]

Hi there fellow divers,

My extended family and I are considering a family vacation on the Gulf Coast (somewhere?) and I wondered if there is any good diving there. Is it shore diving or boat diving?

Most of the family would do beach and tourist activities (both of which I have little or no interest in) and my wife and I would like to dive, and also we would like to take them for an intro dive. (We did this a few years ago and it was a big hit).

I looked at various maps and posts, but it was hard to tell if the Gulf Coast diving is good, and if the conditions are reasonable (not too much current, not too deep).

Thanks,

Bill

 

[RamblinManta]

Your best bet is either Panama City Beach or Pensacola. I've never had the opportunity to dive in Pensacola, but I have in PCB. There are numerous wrecks and various forms of artificial reefs to dive there.

I went out with Panama City Dive Charters and couldn't have been happier. Great boat, great captain, and all around great operation.

Plenty for the family to do while you're diving, too. Not much to dive in Destin but a few natural reefs.

Hope this helps.

 

[T.C.]

Panama City Beach and Pensacola. PCB has more surface options in my opinion, but Pensacola has more sites (not an issue if you're only there for a few days). Pensacola is also a longer boat ride.

Lots of good options around there; I recommend Dive Locker in PCB.

 

[billt4sf]

Thank you both.

Maybe I was mistaken in my wording. Right now we are open for anywhere on the west or south shore of FL. That is, anywhere from Pensacola to Cape Coral. I would have thought that there would be better dive sites around Sarasota or Clearwater, or something. Is that not called the "Gulf Coast" ? Or does "Gulf Coast" only refer to the panhandle?

Thanks again.

Bill

 

[T.C.]

Well, generally when you say "Gulf Coast" that's what people understand it to mean. I don't know how the diving is on the southwestern coasts.

 

[bamafan]

The gulf coast of Florida is okay for diving. The Tampa / St. Pete area diving in my opinion is not as good as Panama City Beach. The middle grounds off of Tampa are great but they are 90 miles offshore so only chartered boats make the run. The water gets deeper closer to shore as you go west towards the Alabama line. If you are looking for beaches and a vacation spot as well as some okay diving I recommend Panama City Beach. If you want a high end laid back area the towns along 30A such as Seaside are nice but pricy. The drive to go diving in Panama City Beach will take about an hour from there. There are more dive sites in Panama City Beach than Destin. With the navy dive center being there and all the artificial reefs that have been sunk there is alot to dive. The Oriskany is out of Pensacola but it is a big wreck and only the superstructure is within recreational limits. Now personally I like the springs that run from just North of Panama City Beach to the Tampa are.

 

[robandliza]

I have dived out of Clearwater a few times with www.diveclearwater.net and would thoroughly recommend them
The diving is not in the same league as Atlantic side but for getting wet it ticks the boxes. Very easy diving with little to no current in my experience

The boat rides are about 45-60 mins from memory but you will need to take time of year into consideration as conditions are very changeable in the summer months and trips need to be confirmed in the morning

The beach at Clearwater ticks the boxes for non divers too(although it's a bit of a misnomer in that the water is anything but clear) and my kids love fishing off the pier in particular. You've also got Busch Gardens just the other side of Tampa and the Rays baseball just down the coast in St Pete's

 

[SOFDiver]

I suggest you consider the Venice area. Here you will have the unique opportunity to fossil dive, as well as to dive on the extensive artificial reef system and natural ledge systems in South Sarasota County. Beach diving is also a very popular activity here. Check out our web site (floridawestscuba.com), we are the only full survice dive shop in the county (NAUI, SSI, and PADI Dive Centers) with USCG inspected vessel docked behind the shop. Give us a call and we would be happy to work with you. Regards.

 

[terrylowe]

The further southwest you go into to Florida, the less beach and more everglades you'll see on the Gulf side. I use the Dive Locker out of Panama City and couldn't be happier.

 

[diversteve]

As far as beaches go, some of the nicest are in the Sarasota area. Siesta Key especially. There's also excellent snorkeling in a couple of spots. But all the diving is further offshore and a lot of it centers around wrecks. The gulf in that area is pretty sandy and flat for a long way out. Here's some details - if this link doesn't work it's from the Florida Underwater Sports website. http://032393e.netsolhost.com/WordP...1/Florida-Underwater-Sports-Dive-SIte-Map.jpg You'll notice the two words in most of the site details are shallow and sandy - it is.