New Wreck Coming

[Johnoly]

What’s their angle?

It will absolutely ( and already has) driven tourism to Okaloosa County. The economic benefit is huge from visitor spending and sales tax receipts cause tourist spend money. They have sunk several wrecks over the past several years and have the data to show it has increase county revenue. Just a quick google search has really put the county on the news wires and even more coverage to come. Combined with their beaches and realestate, it will pay off nicely. But it's a ton of work to get it done.

 

[SloopCamotop]

I read at least one funnel is coming off for the museum. It would make sense to remove both if it helps placement, along with radar mount, but I’m obviously about as uninformed about the nuances of this deal as one can be

Lots of time and decisions to be made between now and the day it is sunk, based on what I have read about the process for others. I presume there are many delays still to be encountered, and twists in the plot.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I read at least one funnel is coming off for the museum. It would make sense to remove both if it helps placement, along with radar mount, but I’m obviously about as uninformed about the nuances of this deal as one can be

Lots of time and decisions to be made between now and the day it is sunk, based on what I have read about the process for others. I presume there are many delays still to be encountered, and twists in the plot.

You mention NC which I think is a great reference. I don't believe any of the charter operators on the Panhandle have those large, very nice vessels like Discovery and Olympus have. I could be wrong and if so, I'd love to know if there are any. But that is what I meant when I said that I'm not sure there are currently any vessels in Destin that can make that +-20 mile run out and back with a large enough group of divers to make it profitable.

 

[Pi_grim]

I´m looking forward to diving it and, as mentioned above, I´ve heard they are going to lower the funnels to help recreational divers access the site. The panhandle of Florida would be a more attractive diving vacation destination but at more than $70 a tank (over $100 for the Oriskany) with no tanks, taxes, or gear included, these sites will be a one and done for me. Much more cost effective to spend the night in Pensacola and drive to the SE Florida area.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I´m looking forward to diving it and, as mentioned above, I´ve heard they are going to lower the funnels to help recreational divers access the site. The panhandle of Florida would be a more attractive diving vacation destination but at more than $70 a tank (over $100 for the Oriskany) with no tanks, taxes, or gear included, these sites will be a one and done for me. Much more cost effective to spend the night in Pensacola and drive to the SE Florida area.

It is definitely closer for many folks than South FL or the Keys. Florida is a LONG state. Even though I'm in state, I'm every bit of 9-10 hours from Destin/Pensacola. I can get to Pompano Beach in 2 hrs, Key Largo in 3 hrs and Key West in 6 hrs. When I want a "big boy wreck dive", I can hit the deeper wrecks off of Pompano, or the SG or the Vandenberg. I can't see myself driving up to the panhandle to dive the SSUS, although it does have the potential to be a very cool dive!

 

[oldschool45]

I lived in Pensacola for a few years (graduated from UWF). The only diving I did there was some of the stuff dropped in Pensacola Bay by the Naval Air Station and a little east to Vortex Spring. There really is no beach diving there and anything you see on the bottom that attracks marine life is stuff humans put there; old bridges, piers and ships. I was going to take my wife there this Spring for some practice before getting her AOW but Springtime on the Gulf is too dicy weather wise. Now in the future would I rather take a long weekend drive there for refresh dives or hit midwest quaries? Maybe.
I would like to dive the Oriskany probably a one and done as has been mentioned. But unless they find a way to sink the SSUS closer in and a bit shallower it will likely be a "one and done" too.

 

[SloopCamotop]

I was in Gulf Shores for an in-law family vacation 10 years ago or so. Oriskany seems more like a tech dive than anything else, so we didn't bother with visiting it just to tool around the upper bridges. Instead we visited an inshore pile of broken concrete that used to be a roadway bridge, in lime green water. Breathtaking. At that point we wrote the entire area off as a bogus dive destination and haven’t been back since.

Oh well. “Hello, Horizon? …..”

 

[NothingClever]

It is definitely closer for many folks than South FL or the Keys. Florida is a LONG state. Even though I'm in state, I'm every bit of 9-10 hours from Destin/Pensacola. I can get to Pompano Beach in 2 hrs, Key Largo in 3 hrs and Key West in 6 hrs. When I want a "big boy wreck dive", I can hit the deeper wrecks off of Pompano, or the SG or the Vandenberg. I can't see myself driving up to the panhandle to dive the SSUS, although it does have the potential to be a very cool dive!

You'd think in Tampa I have it made to scoot up to the Panhandle.

I planned three dives to the Oriskany with some heavyweights in the dive industry and all three times we were weathered out.

I can get on the Hydro Atlantic with Trimix and knock out a first class, technical wreck dive with DPV without any drama and be back home in Tampa to grill steaks in the evening.

Pensacola and the Orsikany? Not so much.

 

[SloopCamotop]

I think I’m getting the point. This is nothing like the convenience of the keys and $38 a tank. I heard it’s like a 2 hr ride to get that far? I had no idea. What a bummer. A waste of a good ship, really.

 

[Rob9876]

A bit surprised by some of the comments here -- where to start?

• Pardon my candor, but you folks already in south (especially southeast) Florida are frankly spoiled with good diving choices, so I can understand why you might not want to drive to the FL panhandle to dive this. The panhandle does not have the nice viz + blue water diving that many (including myself) prefer, but it does actually still have some interesting dives with plenty of the cool critters to see.
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• However, for a good amount of the U.S., the panhandle is much easier to get to by car, and many people (especially families with non-divers also) actually prefer to be able to drive to the sugar-white sand beaches of the panhandle. Yes, diving in the panhandle can be expensive, but for those that can drive to the panhandle the transportation savings and somewhat more economical lodging options can balance that out.
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• The panhandle has been doing a really incredible job of sinking wrecks and reef modules over the past 20 or more years, and there are already a good number of near-shore, mid-shore, and off-shore wrecks/reef modules that are pretty popular with divers. Here's some good information on existing Destin scuba sites (with nice links to 3D modules, charters, etc.). Here's some info on the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail. And this next map's a little slow to load, but really cool detailed site for Florida artificial reefs: Artificial Reef Deployment Locator (arcgis.com). And check out al of the reef module deployments shown on the Reefmaker Facebook page. You have to give them their due -- they are really killing it with sinking wrecks and reef modules.
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• Yes, I hope the SS United States is not as far out as the USS Oriskany, but even if it is it will probably still be a big draw as a bucket list dive site (with the United States now becoming the world's largest artificial reef) -- seems like there's a good bit of demand currently to dive the Oriskany, despite the expense and long boat ride. For many, the United States will become a bucket list dive.
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• As to the depth, yes, it would be nice if it were not quite as deep as the Oriskany. However, even after the Oriskany had shifted where the flight deck was around 140 feet, there was still plenty to see within recreational limits -- it's really hard to understand just how massive the Oriskany is until you dive it (it's freakin' huge!). So, I'm optimistic that there will still be plenty of the United States to explore once it is sunk.

So, I think the SS United States will be a good addition to the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, and think it's great that this record-holding ship will add a new record as the world's largest artificial reef.