MAY 18, 2015! Lets dive the Jetty in Destin or over in Panama City Beach.

[Viron]

I should be in good form as my AOW dives should be in March.

I think sharks have Romulan cloaking devices. The last dive I was on no one saw any sharks, until the one spear fisher speared a Sheepshead. He said four sharks appeared out of know where.

The low tide is about 7am and high almost 7pm on Saturday the 19th. One of us could park beach side for unloading and entry from the beach. We could park the other vehicle near the kiddy pool or fishing pier in the lagoon for exit.

If we stay shallow about 35ft-40ft I could probably manage 60-90 minutes of bottom time, perhaps 120 minutes on aluminum 80. Given 60-90 minutes bottom time and surf entry which exit do you think would be better, the kiddy pool or fishing pier?

I like night dives, but I like them better when it's nice & warm

I haven't been in the water in quite a while so I plan on taking it easy getting started up again this year. need to get back in the feel of things.

Entering at the kiddy pool and exiting at the fishing pier in the lagoon where the kayaks launch would involve little walking and eliminate slogging gear across the beach for a surf entry.

 

[Wayward Son]

I know some do the beach side entry/exit, but I don't personally know anyone who's told me they've done it. the common method is to both enter & exit through the kiddie pool.

I have no idea where the fishing pier is. Did they put one in? last time I was at St Andrews was new years day 2012. I've walked around up there & just don't recall seeing a pier anywhere close to the channel.

Once I walked out to where the beach met the jetty rocks & the surf had eroded that part of the beach into a small cliff. Not enough to likely bother a swimmer but I didn't think I'd want to mess with it in full gear. would need to be just a bit farther west to have an easy beach entrance/exit.

 

[Viron]

The pier is in the lagoon. It is where you rent kayaks and pontoon boats. I haven't been there so I'm not sure of the scale but I would guess 1/4 mile northwest of the kiddy pool. It is the same direction you go for tent camping, but not as far.

I'm concerned about blowing through air fighting the incoming tide. If I do that I might get down to 45-60 hour of bottom time. Drifting and relaxing I can sip. Crawling rocks where there are eels doesn't seem appealing either.

 

[Viron]

H

 

[Viron]

 

[Viron]

 

[Viron]

On a beach entry it won't matter which way the tide is flowing until you start around the jetty into the passage. I suspect once you get into the lagoon the tide won't be near as big a deal as in the passage.

My thoughts are either beach entry and exit kiddy pool or pier/kayak launch area depending upon air. If we are passing the kiddy pool with 2250psi-2000psi just keep drifting in and hit the pier.

Or enter the kiddy pool and exit the pier.

The goal being to maximize the use of drifting and minimize air consumption or maximize bottom time.

I suspect the further in the lagoon the less interesting, but I don't know.

 

[bamafan]

Go at high tide and enter exit through the kiddy pool is the sop from what I have seen. The viz will be bad on a low tide. I would think with all the rain we have had the viz won't be all that good right now anyway. The rivers north of here have been flooded for weeks.

 

[Viron]

The tide is basically incoming all day on the 19th. The peak high is 7:52p I believe, so we probably want to enter about two hours early instead of one, unless we are doing a night dive. I would not feel comfortable doing my first dive there at night.

 

[Wayward Son]

oh that pier. I've launched from there many times to go boat diving. that's a lot farther than I want to swim scuba gear, not to mention the boat traffic.

By the time you get to the bay end of the jetty rocks, the water is real shallow & once you get away from the rocks it's just sand.