RaginCajun
Contributor
Here's a late trip report from my Florida gulf coast vacation last week (a week late
been busy).
My son starts shool really late, so we took advantage of a late August trip to the panhandle. All in all, the beaches were beautiful, water pristine and summer crowds were waning so it felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves.
We stayed at St. Andrews State Park. The park always seems to be so well kept so it's always a joy to stay there. Besides its kind of ironic to wake up each morning staring east into the sunrise over St. Andrews bay gleening over the million dollar homes in the distance. It seems to me that the State Park might have better views than Bay Point & Finnistere.
Diving was a major part of the trip so after settling in late Tuesday evening, Wednesday was spent lining up dive trips for the coming days. The plan was for my 15 yr old to do his first salt water dive on a familiar wreck that was nice & easy. He requested the famout Black Bart.
I also wanted to check out Panama City Dive Charters & their new shop and made a stop by to visit. Although Pat was booked up on Thursday he hooked us up with Capt John Luzny at Better Bottom Time Charters. Having dove on his 30 ft Island hopper I knew we were in good hands with him & Kelly. Also while there I signed up for a spearing charter on Friday. Pat had some newbies and a crew of veterans going out, so it was a learning trip for me.
We set out Thursday morning on Better Bottom Time for an inshore dive with NOAA calling for moderate conditions. With 4 divers + crew on the boat we had plenty of room. Rounding the pass into the wind heading to the Bart the waves & wind picked up and the captain was cursing the weather man. Conditions never laid down as expected and the trip was unanimously called in favor of possible calmer seas inshore. We tried to dive some lifeboats in the bay to get my son salty for the first time, but unfortunately an oil spill boat & jack up barge was spudded up right on top them. The dive was called for good and we headed back in. Hats off to Capt John for not pushing conditions especially with the experience level of the divers on board. He offered to reschedule or refund the trip despite the time & effort already put in that day. We ended up rescheduling for Saturday.
I met Capt Pat & crew Friday morning at the Bay Point Marina to board the Steel Slinger. My head was up my @**** and I forgot my gloves and extra dive knife but Tommy the DM saved my neck. The plan was to put us newbies with Pat and split into two groups allowing the more experienced group to dive together. Pat & Tommy were very helpful in going over regulations, size limits and fish identification. With red snapper closed, the first focus was to find Mangroves and legal groupers. Pat shared his spearfishing tips from how to properly live boat to how to approach & search the reef for fish. On the first drop he pointed out a nice Mangrove and I shot it. Later he coached me on how not to wait so long, properly pick the shot, and how to stalk the fish. Since spearfishing is multi-tasking I'll admit that it takes practice to get all of the little things right. I'm still learning.
All of our drops were on natural hard bottom and I think some were new numbers and honey holes. On the 2nd dive Pat hit the lobster jackpot pulling up ~6-8 on the dive. The 2nd group chose to back dive the site and picked up a few bugs but got harrassed by a shark. A few bugs were found nonetheless. One was so big & fat it was full of barnacles.
Dives 3 & 4 were also good. Pat found a ledge and pointed out a shovel nose to me. Now I see how to find them!!! I picked up one keeper (my first lobster!!) and we had a good time picking out 4-5 from under 1 rock. At one point with each of us shoulder deep probing the underside of the rock we ended up grabbing each other. Talk about a surprise when something grabs your hand and pulls back. I'm glad it was another diver and not an eel. You could hear Pat laughing underwater.
Earlier on the same dive I took a shot at a grouper, but goofed it up an he got off. I thought I had anohter chance but he holed up under the tiniest rock. It kills me to lose one, so I ended up gun shy for the last 2 dives.
On the last dive we dove a ledge with a chicken coop on it. The relief was 2-3 ft and I saw the biggest turtle hiding out under the ledge. Towards the end of the dive the fish were getting braver and I saw a fat red snapper sneek out from underneath the ledge .just wait until snapper season opens back up!
The profiles for this trip were:
Dive 4 - 94 ft 70F
Dive 3 - 97 ft 71F
Dive 2 - 87ft 71F
Dive 1 - 77ft 72F
On Saturday morning my wife, son and I boarded the Better Bottom Time again for another inshore trip. We ended up hitting the Red Sea and LOSS pontoon. Seas were rough. I did not necessarily feel unsafe, but a few folks got seasick including my wife who sat out both dives and my son who had a bit of monkey see-monkey do, he chose to sit out the 2nd dive after getting sea sick. Despite the challenging conditions he safely ascended onto the Red Sea on the firstdive. We swam around the bridge and explored the wreck a bit. The thermocline was just below the wheelhouse. He thought it was cool to hang one arm in cold water and the rest of his body in the warm water. This a dive I'll probably always remember since it was our first saltwater dive together. I'm really proud that he safely made it down to the wreck and safely back up on the boat up up the ladder in the rough seas. Kelly's excellent coaching really helped out on both descent & re-boarding. A first class DM for sure.
Our second dive that day was the LOSS pontoon. Wife & son were green and sat it out, but I made the dive. The Mrs won't dive if I'm spearing so I left the gun. I'm never leaving he spear gun at home from now on because I saw a fat grouper on the wreck. All in all it was a good day on the water. My lesson learned is that with my two, I'll have to be more selective about picking my days better and try to dive only the calmest days.
Sunday morning we got to the St. Andrews jetties nice & early and were in the water just before high tide. It was just my son & I. We made it over the rocks to ~55 ft before an equipment issue ended the dive early. His new regulator started chattering and breathing wet so he thumbed the dive. I thought it was just a tuning issue and adjusted it in the shallows and thought I had it figured out. Since the tides were also good for Monday morning we decided to try again but he had the same issue and thumbed the dive. The wife & I decended over the rocks and she got nervous and bugged out on me early. I went back down for a few minutes and saw a few nice grouper a school of redfish and a few other cool things. Didn't make the turn around the rocks but it was a nice dive nonetheless. Diving is a buddy sport and you're always diving to your partner's abilities. More training for these two on nice & easy shallow reefs.
All in all it was a good trip to PCB. I had a great time diving with Better Bottom Time & Panama City Dive Charters and can't wait to get back. Hopefully the rumors of a fall weekend Snapper Season are true and I can make it back in October some time!
My son starts shool really late, so we took advantage of a late August trip to the panhandle. All in all, the beaches were beautiful, water pristine and summer crowds were waning so it felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves.
We stayed at St. Andrews State Park. The park always seems to be so well kept so it's always a joy to stay there. Besides its kind of ironic to wake up each morning staring east into the sunrise over St. Andrews bay gleening over the million dollar homes in the distance. It seems to me that the State Park might have better views than Bay Point & Finnistere.
Diving was a major part of the trip so after settling in late Tuesday evening, Wednesday was spent lining up dive trips for the coming days. The plan was for my 15 yr old to do his first salt water dive on a familiar wreck that was nice & easy. He requested the famout Black Bart.
I also wanted to check out Panama City Dive Charters & their new shop and made a stop by to visit. Although Pat was booked up on Thursday he hooked us up with Capt John Luzny at Better Bottom Time Charters. Having dove on his 30 ft Island hopper I knew we were in good hands with him & Kelly. Also while there I signed up for a spearing charter on Friday. Pat had some newbies and a crew of veterans going out, so it was a learning trip for me.
We set out Thursday morning on Better Bottom Time for an inshore dive with NOAA calling for moderate conditions. With 4 divers + crew on the boat we had plenty of room. Rounding the pass into the wind heading to the Bart the waves & wind picked up and the captain was cursing the weather man. Conditions never laid down as expected and the trip was unanimously called in favor of possible calmer seas inshore. We tried to dive some lifeboats in the bay to get my son salty for the first time, but unfortunately an oil spill boat & jack up barge was spudded up right on top them. The dive was called for good and we headed back in. Hats off to Capt John for not pushing conditions especially with the experience level of the divers on board. He offered to reschedule or refund the trip despite the time & effort already put in that day. We ended up rescheduling for Saturday.
I met Capt Pat & crew Friday morning at the Bay Point Marina to board the Steel Slinger. My head was up my @**** and I forgot my gloves and extra dive knife but Tommy the DM saved my neck. The plan was to put us newbies with Pat and split into two groups allowing the more experienced group to dive together. Pat & Tommy were very helpful in going over regulations, size limits and fish identification. With red snapper closed, the first focus was to find Mangroves and legal groupers. Pat shared his spearfishing tips from how to properly live boat to how to approach & search the reef for fish. On the first drop he pointed out a nice Mangrove and I shot it. Later he coached me on how not to wait so long, properly pick the shot, and how to stalk the fish. Since spearfishing is multi-tasking I'll admit that it takes practice to get all of the little things right. I'm still learning.
All of our drops were on natural hard bottom and I think some were new numbers and honey holes. On the 2nd dive Pat hit the lobster jackpot pulling up ~6-8 on the dive. The 2nd group chose to back dive the site and picked up a few bugs but got harrassed by a shark. A few bugs were found nonetheless. One was so big & fat it was full of barnacles.
Dives 3 & 4 were also good. Pat found a ledge and pointed out a shovel nose to me. Now I see how to find them!!! I picked up one keeper (my first lobster!!) and we had a good time picking out 4-5 from under 1 rock. At one point with each of us shoulder deep probing the underside of the rock we ended up grabbing each other. Talk about a surprise when something grabs your hand and pulls back. I'm glad it was another diver and not an eel. You could hear Pat laughing underwater.
Earlier on the same dive I took a shot at a grouper, but goofed it up an he got off. I thought I had anohter chance but he holed up under the tiniest rock. It kills me to lose one, so I ended up gun shy for the last 2 dives.
On the last dive we dove a ledge with a chicken coop on it. The relief was 2-3 ft and I saw the biggest turtle hiding out under the ledge. Towards the end of the dive the fish were getting braver and I saw a fat red snapper sneek out from underneath the ledge .just wait until snapper season opens back up!
The profiles for this trip were:
Dive 4 - 94 ft 70F
Dive 3 - 97 ft 71F
Dive 2 - 87ft 71F
Dive 1 - 77ft 72F
On Saturday morning my wife, son and I boarded the Better Bottom Time again for another inshore trip. We ended up hitting the Red Sea and LOSS pontoon. Seas were rough. I did not necessarily feel unsafe, but a few folks got seasick including my wife who sat out both dives and my son who had a bit of monkey see-monkey do, he chose to sit out the 2nd dive after getting sea sick. Despite the challenging conditions he safely ascended onto the Red Sea on the firstdive. We swam around the bridge and explored the wreck a bit. The thermocline was just below the wheelhouse. He thought it was cool to hang one arm in cold water and the rest of his body in the warm water. This a dive I'll probably always remember since it was our first saltwater dive together. I'm really proud that he safely made it down to the wreck and safely back up on the boat up up the ladder in the rough seas. Kelly's excellent coaching really helped out on both descent & re-boarding. A first class DM for sure.
Our second dive that day was the LOSS pontoon. Wife & son were green and sat it out, but I made the dive. The Mrs won't dive if I'm spearing so I left the gun. I'm never leaving he spear gun at home from now on because I saw a fat grouper on the wreck. All in all it was a good day on the water. My lesson learned is that with my two, I'll have to be more selective about picking my days better and try to dive only the calmest days.
Sunday morning we got to the St. Andrews jetties nice & early and were in the water just before high tide. It was just my son & I. We made it over the rocks to ~55 ft before an equipment issue ended the dive early. His new regulator started chattering and breathing wet so he thumbed the dive. I thought it was just a tuning issue and adjusted it in the shallows and thought I had it figured out. Since the tides were also good for Monday morning we decided to try again but he had the same issue and thumbed the dive. The wife & I decended over the rocks and she got nervous and bugged out on me early. I went back down for a few minutes and saw a few nice grouper a school of redfish and a few other cool things. Didn't make the turn around the rocks but it was a nice dive nonetheless. Diving is a buddy sport and you're always diving to your partner's abilities. More training for these two on nice & easy shallow reefs.
All in all it was a good trip to PCB. I had a great time diving with Better Bottom Time & Panama City Dive Charters and can't wait to get back. Hopefully the rumors of a fall weekend Snapper Season are true and I can make it back in October some time!
