Panama City Beach has been known for its popularity as the most sought-after place to go scuba diving in North Florida. It is second only after the Florida Keys for the most popular state dive destination. For both beginners and more experienced divers, Panama City Beach has a wide range of great dive sites.
Dive Locker offers divers at all levels of difficulty. Their passionate divers can create the perfect experience for you, whether you're on a couples getaway, family vacation, or solo adventure. You will feel the thrill of diving to incredible depths at carefully-chosen locations.
Below is our list of inshore diving sites in Panama City Beach, along with their bottom depths. Our threshold for offshore diving extends more than 8 miles to St Andrew's Pass. These locations require advanced certification. Nitrox certification would be a good idea.
The park's rocky jetties offer a unique opportunity to view ocean creatures like redfish and octopus at high tide. Another charter option is Dive Locker. Their US Coast Guard-certified captain is able to take you on the diving or spearfishing trip of your dreams.
The natural reef she came to rest on was enriched with scrap steel and fiberglass boats, making it an ideal spot for fish. Panama City Beach's latest wreck is the El Dorado. The ship was swept ashore by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. As a constant reminder of Hurricane Michael's devastating wrath, she sat abandoned off the Hathaway Bridge. She began her career as a top dive site in May 2019. She is three stories high and home to an incredible amount of marine life. You could still see the "Happy Holidays", unknown townsfolk, on her deck as of our last trip.
The Hathaway Bridge, where she was left desolate, served as a reminder of the storm's devastating impact on winter and spring. She became a premier diving site in May 2019. It is a three-story tall vessel that has an incredible variety of sealife already living there.
Inshore diving is defined as less than 8 miles from St Andrew's Pass. It is generally safe for open water divers. The Red Sea, a tugboat measuring 125 feet, was installed here in 2009. It is also home to the E. E. Simpson Tug, which sank in 1929. Stage 2 (a Navy platform, which was destroyed in 1984), Fountainbleau Boxcars (2 boxcars with associated reef material) and a pair Voodoo Jets anchoring in Seltzer Reef are other interesting locations. Below is a table listing inshore dive locations in Panama City Beach and their associated bottom depths.
An Average Diver, at an Average Depth, With an Average Tank
Based on personal experience, an average open-water certified diver using a standard aluminum 80-cubic-foot tank on a 40-foot dive will be able to stay down for about 45 to 60 minutes before surfacing with a safe reserve of air still in the tank.
So just to reiterate: don't grab animals, don't hold them for photo ops, don't go for rides on dolphins or turtles, and don't force puffer fish to inflate (it can be fatal to them).