Hurricane Blues

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I'm really bummed about the storm too. I've had a trip booked to WPB since June for this weekend as well. I'm supposed to have a 2 tank charter on Saturday afternoon, a night dive at BHB Saturday evening & a 2 tank charter Sunday morning. Even though the NWS marine forecast calls for a west wind & 3-4 foot seas on Saturday afternoon, I've heard from other folks that were heading to S. Florida this weekend that their charter was cancelled & that visibility will be terrible. What's your take on this Dan?

I've only been certified since the beginning of June & have only gotten to dive fresh water (springs & Rainbow River) so far & was SO stoked for my first dives in salt water. Not to mention that this is the last weekend I'll have to dive for the next couple of months due to kids & other family obligations every weekend. :(
 
Well, scratch that last marine forecast I had. Now it's 5-7 foot seas near shore both Saturday & Sunday. :(

Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations for a good charter out of either Clearwater or even Panama City Beach? I used to live in PC years ago & as well as the Bay area so I'm very familiar with both places even though I wasn't diving when I lived there. I really want to hit some salt water this weekend if possible. The 1 charter I checked in Clearwater last night was booked as was the one I checked in PCB.
 
I'm heading too the keys Labor Day weekend. Wonder what this may do to vis.

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I'm heading to nassau on sunday or what will be left of it.... debating if it will even be worth diving. Any idea what the vis may be like? I am guessing not good, but I can always hope (lol)
 
I live in Southwest Florida near the Bradenton/Sarasota beaches. All of our dive forecasts are dreary.. The problem is all the rain. The seas have been churning for weeks now and the vis anywhere near shore is 0 to 5'. I've been told that once you are in 50' of water in the Gulf that it is 10-15'. That requires about an hour boat ride off shore. Scuba Quest has tons of dive excursions in Sarasota for reasonable fees, like $90 to $150. Check them out on the web site, it is where I went for certification and they are very helpful, not to mention they will not rip you off.
 
I like Dive Locker, Panama City Dive Charters (Capt Pat on Scubaboard) and Better Bottom Time. Also lots of good springs close to Panama City. Check out Scubaboard Deep Dixie thread for more info.

Dive Locker - Panama City Beach Florida Dive Store
Panama City Dive Charters - Scuba charters & classes
Scuba Diving Panama City Beach

http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/gm/gmz750.txt The seas don't look great this weekend either 3-5 Saturday but only 2-3 Sunday.
 
Understand your blues we came over to West Palm Beach to dive the bridge and do a couple of charters...viz way bad today at the bridge and charters are iffy. If you plan another trip to Florida and want to check out the Springs, we are right in the midst of it all. We can definitely assist with your travel plans and find a few dives that may be of interest and not cost too much. Our website Scuba Dream'inn and we can map something out for you while you stay with us or if just want to come up for a day we can advise you on the best bang for the buck while limiting you’re driving and maximizing your diving. Some of the springs can get pricey and they are scattered all over the place. Devils Den is fun, not very deep and some cool swim troughs, couple of training platforms, lots of OW checkout divers on weekends ($37). Blue Grotto is 10 mins away, deep and fun when the viz is good, some training platforms, air bell, lots of OW checkout divers on the weekends ($40). Forty Fathom Grotto, Crazy deep, need a dive guide to dive it. Ginnie is fun for the day, Ballroom is groovy, ($33 after tax). Troy is good, getting to 67', ($5 a carload), manatee and catfish hotel, well its a place to get wet and for $6 a carload cant complain. I love Rainbow river, cool drift dive, not deep at all, but lots to see...If interested in thinking about cavern or cave, then Ginnie, Blue Grotto and Orange Grove Sink are great places to check out.
 
Everyone expects the vis to be much better tommorow ( sunday). The gulf stream cleans out silty water quite quickly here.


Of course, at the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park, this is a place yopu go for spectacular marine life, in mostly macro sizes....

For this, 80 foot vis is no real benefit, so a storm like this has no real negative consequence to your finding and photographing or videoing, nudibranchs, octopus, blennies, sea horses, mantis shrimp, sea robins, star gazers, squid, and dozens of other kinds of rarely seen marine life...
If anything, a weekend like this should be an opportunity for you to focus down, and to see more. Visit www.sfdj.com and look at the BHB Marine Park article, which details a large diversity of the life found there...WHERE to look for it, and also even suggest a few names of what you could think of as "SAFARI GUIDES".. divers who are spectacular at finding anything in the park, and who are willing to help others see what they may miss, otherwise!

I dove the BHB on thursday, at peak low tide ( usually the worst vis ) , during the 50 mph wind gusts and torrential rain. Vis then was only about 8 feet, but would have been much better as we began to approach high tide. Even 8 feet can be awesome for nudibranchs, sea horses, octopuses, and the vast majority of macro life there.....PROBABLY ALL YOU ARE MISSING IS AN EXPERT TO SHOW YOU WHERE EVERYTHING IS :-)
 
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