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Hey there Easyrider, I too am from Alabama. Born in Birmingham. Spent the summers on Cotton bayou, Orange Beach. You have tons of diving around you. In my early teens we used to dive Morrison Springs over in Ponce de Leon Springs. This is a great intro to caves....well sort of. two openings with the deepest at 90-100ft. Viz like the cenotes here...ridiculously clear water (200'+). Off the shore there in Gulf Shores you have the wiskey barge. Go to the local dive shop there in the strip and ask them about where it is. I forgot the name, sorry. Then out of Pensacola, there's an aircraft carrier thats been sunk for diving. Again, forgot the name. Out of Panama City or Fort Walton/Destin area you can dive the "Empire Mica". this is an awesome wreck that is usually an overnighter. Google search it. Growing up around the Redneck Riviera I dove alot. My dive operations name is named after my favorite shop located in Destin, right as 98 passes out of Okaloosa Island. Its called Fantasea Dive. Also if you're in Destin/Ft Walton Beach area, dive the jetties and under the bridge. If I remeber correctly, there were oyster on the pylons there you could chisel off. Might better not do it now, for I am sure there are local laws prohibiting the collection of the oysters...but back in that day it wasn't such a problem. In the winter time you could drive on down to Clearwater, FL and dive with the manatees. Your diving sink holes in not the best of viz but the experience is incredible! They are like big , slow moving, aquatic puppys. On the way down to Clearwater, you could stop off at a few springs like Vortex or Ginnie Springs. Good luck and have fun exploring the emerald green waters of Alabama and the Panhandle. I think about the good old days growing up diving that whole area with all my family. GOOD TIMES!!!
