Must not miss dive site in West Florida?

[Thrasherg]

My wife and I find ourselves in Florida (Destin) for a week and thought it would be nice to get some diving done. We bought a book listing dive sites in Florida and all the shore dives appear to be just to man made reefs (lumps of concrete sunk to let coral grow on them, so we took a boat dive, the crew was great but they took us to 2 wrecks (both at about 80 foot depth), but visibility wasn‘t that great, and not a lot to see (thousands of small fish, but not much else). Are there any « must not miss » dive sites on this side of Florida, so far we have not been very taken by what we have seen in the book or from the boat, thought I would ask here, rather than miss something spectacular (assuming there are some great dives on this side!).

will search this site for more ides, but figured there was no harm in asking directly.

cheers Gary

 

[grantctobin]

Is Destin in East Florida?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Is Destin in East Florida?

Not the last time I checked.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

My wife and I find ourselves in Florida (Destin) for a week and thought it would be nice to get some diving done. We bought a book listing dive sites in Florida and all the shore dives appear to be just to man made reefs (lumps of concrete sunk to let coral grow on them, so we took a boat dive, the crew was great but they took us to 2 wrecks (both at about 80 foot depth), but visibility wasn that great, and not a lot to see (thousands of small fish, but not much else). Are there any « must not miss » dive sites on this side of Florida, so far we have not been very taken by what we have seen in the book or from the boat, thought I would ask here, rather than miss something spectacular (assuming there are some great dives on this side!).

will search this site for more ides, but figured there was no harm in asking directly.

cheers Gary

I hate to tell you this, but the best diving in FL begins about 8 hours from Destin. Destin is known for the beaches, not the diving.

I'm referring to the stretch that begins in Jupiter and runs south to Key Largo.

 

[CuzzA]

Destin is the upper Gulf Coast, not the East or the West for all intents and purposes.

Most of your true reefs are going to be on the South East and West coasts.

It's a hike to the Florida Middle Grounds if you can find a charter, otherwise there's likely some natural ledges, but for that area I believe the main attraction is the Oriskany Wreck.

 

[Rob9876]

I'm not sure if there are many natural reefs in the Florida Panhandle, which is the term I hear most often used to describe where you are (from about Pensacola to Apalachicola). That said, Florida has really done an amazing job sinking artificial reefs (reef modules, bridge spans, ships, etc.) all along the panhandle. These sites often have an array of critters from the small stuff through sharks, barracuda, and 800 lb. Goliath Groupers, etc. Most of my panhandle dives have been Panama City Beach or Pensacola based, though I have hear decent things about Destin diving (including the Destin Jetties being decent).

The main drawbacks are no natural reefs and viz that is usually not great until you go far offshore (like the Oriskany). But usually there's a lot to see. I thought this was funny when I first heard it, and now I use it: the Gulf has some good diving if you can get past the viz. It's true, just don't expect the Caribbean and you can still have some really fun dives.

Off of Pensacola, the Oriskany is a bucket list dive being the world's largest artificial reef (air craft carrier) and is quite impressive - both in size and the amount of coral and sponge growth, and creatures around it. It's a long ride out and back, so not all dive ops go every day (or week) and it's a bit of a pricy dive. There's plenty to see even within recreational limits, so don't worry that the flight deck is at around 140 feet. Nitrox helps a lot, and we were able to get 27% I believe from the local dive op to avoid MOD concerns (disclaimer: that fit our profile, check tables for yours). I believe there are some Midshore dives that may be in your book that may also be good in this area.

Crossing over to SouthEast Florida (say Jupiter and below) will get much better visibility and more Caribbean-like reef diving in many places.

​

 

[Thrasherg]

Thanks everyone.. will look into the Oriskany..

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I understand there is some good artifical reefs near Mexico Beach, on the big curve. The diving association there is very active.

 

[CycleCat]

Underwater Museum of Art is nearby.

 

[schuylerclark]

I’ve done around a dozen dives around Panama City Beach so far, and the main draw seems to be wrecks and spear fishing.

St Andrews Park jetty in Panama City Beach is a nice shore dive and has more smaller life. You’ll want to go around high slack tide for best viz/lowest current. My experience is the shallower wrecks in 50’-75’ have more ocean life than the deeper ones. Same for older wrecks vs newer ones. It’s quite different than South FL or the Caribbean though - I’ve had dives with 50’ viz, but 20-30’ is more common. No big reefs than I know of. That said, we’re looking forward to going back later this month for more.