Ocean Springs, Mississippi dive location and shop recommendations please

[SwimAway]

We will be visiting some people in Ocean Springs, Mississippi this Summer and we'd like to take advantage of the warm water to do some diving, but I know nothing about the area.

Does anyone have recommendations for good locations to dive within a reasonable drive as well as dive shops to use for tank and gear rental as well as guidance and even local group dives?

Thank you!

 

[chaad]

The closest decent diving to Ocean Springs is Gulf Shores, AL, two hours east. There's a good shop there called Down Under Diving. They operate a charter boat by the same name, a 46 foot Newton. Pensacola, FL is about the same drive time. There you can check out Dive Pros for tanks and Niuhi or H2O Below for charters. Niuhi is a six pack. H2O is a 36 foot Newton. You can also do some shore diving In Pensacola at Fort Pickens when the tides are right. There's diving in Destin and Panama City too if you'll want to drive even further east. Also check out the Third Coast Divers group on facebook. It is run by Dive Pros shop in Pensacola but people post about diving all along the Gulf coast. Hope you have a great time!