This is a long overdue (and long!) post. I took my usual trip to Destin in early June and got in quite a bit of snorkeling at the jetties. I also made it twice to Panama City Beach, one day at the jetties by the kiddie pool in St. Andrew State Park and another where I rented a pontoon boat for snorkeling the seagrass beds behind Shell Island. Visibility in Destin was consistently about 20 ft each day, not fantastic but acceptable. It may have hit 30 ft on the one day I went to the Destin Bridge (much better than I have seen there in the past). It's been several years since I have experienced really good viz at the jetties in Destin. Five or six years ago I remember a bunch of days where the visibility was often 30-40 ft.
This was the first time I ever snorkeled at the PCB jetties, which may seem surprising when you consider how often I have been to Destin. However, in the past I was never able to break away from family activities. Viz at the kiddie pool by the rocks was less than in Destin, about 15 ft. Is this usually the case? I didn't venture out much on the channel side because I was concerned about current in a place I was not familiar with. As I expected based on posts from this board and from photos, there was a lot more stuff growing on the rocks at St. Andrew than in Destin. Lots and lots of anemones, urchins, sea pork (tunicate), and some coral. There were also more black sea bass than I have ever seen before. The highlight was a huge school of what I think were cownosed rays that cruised through. This was at the very end of the snorkel and I had my camera turned off, so I didn't have time to compose a shot.
The real underwater highlight of the trip was when I rented a pontoon boat in PCB with Shell Island as the destination. This was the third year in a row I have done this, and I highly recommend this activity, even for jaded scuba divers. It would be particularly good if you have kids and want to get them excited about snorkeling and the underwater world in a very safe, shallow environment. This time, I decided to stop near Shell Island not too far from the pass because I though the visibility might be better. We cruised around the grass flats for a while looking for a place to anchor, eventually found a patch of sand, and tossed the hook. As the boat swung around the line, it drifted over what looked to be rocks underneath; I remember thinking what the heck is that? My 16-yr old nephew excitedly jumped in with a mask to check the anchor placement, and immediately came back up and yelled "there's a wreck down there!" Sure enough, by pure chance we had stumbled upon a sunken cabin cruiser about 50 ft. long on the bottom in 8 ft of water. Although the wreck was mostly flattened, parts rose 5 ft. off bottom. Fish were everywhere, mostly small pinfish as you would expect, but also white grunt (a tropical species), belted sandfish, a stingray, damsels, and the first cubbyu I have ever seen were hiding under the partially buried propeller. There were also a bunch of arrow crabs that posed nicely for some shots; it's been quite a few years since I have seen these in Destin. Urchins and anemones covered parts of the wreck. I am surprised no one had marked the wreck with a buoy, since it was such an interesting snorkel spot. Unfortunately, I highly doubt I could ever locate the wreck again. There were no features on Shell Island that I could orient to.
Here are some photos, all taken with ambient light. Camera was a Canon S95:
Typical Destin Jetty scene: rather murky, 20 ft visibility, non-descript pile of rocks, but tons of fish. These are mostly pinfish and slippery dick wrasses. Slippery dicks were very common this year.
Spadefish at the Destin jetties:
More spades at Destin. These have always been some of my favorite fish.
Spottail pinfish at the Destin jetties:
Gulf toadfish at the Destin jetties (an easy-to-photograph fish):
Anemones at the Panama City Beach jetties at the State Park (kiddie pool):
Black sea bass at the Panama City Beach jetties at the State Park (kiddie pool). For some reason, this picture makes the visibility look better than it actually was:
Boat wreck off Shell Island in St. Andrew Bay. The viz was good for inside a bay - maybe 20 ft.
Arrow crab at the boat wreck. This one is best viewed in the larger original size:
Finally, I went to the old Crystal Pier pilings in Destin one day. After all the hurricanes 5-6 years ago and subsequent beach renourishment, there isn't much here anymore. It's mostly a place to get wet, although a series of submerged piling stubs are still there. Here's a bunch of juvenile pinfish and one juvenile jack schooling around one of the stubs:
I have more photos from this and other Destin trips on flickr: Destin Florida snorkeling - a set on Flickr
This was the first time I ever snorkeled at the PCB jetties, which may seem surprising when you consider how often I have been to Destin. However, in the past I was never able to break away from family activities. Viz at the kiddie pool by the rocks was less than in Destin, about 15 ft. Is this usually the case? I didn't venture out much on the channel side because I was concerned about current in a place I was not familiar with. As I expected based on posts from this board and from photos, there was a lot more stuff growing on the rocks at St. Andrew than in Destin. Lots and lots of anemones, urchins, sea pork (tunicate), and some coral. There were also more black sea bass than I have ever seen before. The highlight was a huge school of what I think were cownosed rays that cruised through. This was at the very end of the snorkel and I had my camera turned off, so I didn't have time to compose a shot.
The real underwater highlight of the trip was when I rented a pontoon boat in PCB with Shell Island as the destination. This was the third year in a row I have done this, and I highly recommend this activity, even for jaded scuba divers. It would be particularly good if you have kids and want to get them excited about snorkeling and the underwater world in a very safe, shallow environment. This time, I decided to stop near Shell Island not too far from the pass because I though the visibility might be better. We cruised around the grass flats for a while looking for a place to anchor, eventually found a patch of sand, and tossed the hook. As the boat swung around the line, it drifted over what looked to be rocks underneath; I remember thinking what the heck is that? My 16-yr old nephew excitedly jumped in with a mask to check the anchor placement, and immediately came back up and yelled "there's a wreck down there!" Sure enough, by pure chance we had stumbled upon a sunken cabin cruiser about 50 ft. long on the bottom in 8 ft of water. Although the wreck was mostly flattened, parts rose 5 ft. off bottom. Fish were everywhere, mostly small pinfish as you would expect, but also white grunt (a tropical species), belted sandfish, a stingray, damsels, and the first cubbyu I have ever seen were hiding under the partially buried propeller. There were also a bunch of arrow crabs that posed nicely for some shots; it's been quite a few years since I have seen these in Destin. Urchins and anemones covered parts of the wreck. I am surprised no one had marked the wreck with a buoy, since it was such an interesting snorkel spot. Unfortunately, I highly doubt I could ever locate the wreck again. There were no features on Shell Island that I could orient to.
Here are some photos, all taken with ambient light. Camera was a Canon S95:
Typical Destin Jetty scene: rather murky, 20 ft visibility, non-descript pile of rocks, but tons of fish. These are mostly pinfish and slippery dick wrasses. Slippery dicks were very common this year.
Spadefish at the Destin jetties:
More spades at Destin. These have always been some of my favorite fish.
Spottail pinfish at the Destin jetties:
Gulf toadfish at the Destin jetties (an easy-to-photograph fish):
Anemones at the Panama City Beach jetties at the State Park (kiddie pool):
Black sea bass at the Panama City Beach jetties at the State Park (kiddie pool). For some reason, this picture makes the visibility look better than it actually was:
Boat wreck off Shell Island in St. Andrew Bay. The viz was good for inside a bay - maybe 20 ft.
Arrow crab at the boat wreck. This one is best viewed in the larger original size:
Finally, I went to the old Crystal Pier pilings in Destin one day. After all the hurricanes 5-6 years ago and subsequent beach renourishment, there isn't much here anymore. It's mostly a place to get wet, although a series of submerged piling stubs are still there. Here's a bunch of juvenile pinfish and one juvenile jack schooling around one of the stubs:
I have more photos from this and other Destin trips on flickr: Destin Florida snorkeling - a set on Flickr
