Panama City Beach suffered a direct blow from Hurricane Michael, a hurricane of category 4. It had maximum sustained winds of 154mph and a storm surge of over 10 feet. This storm was the strongest to ever make landfall in the Panhandle. Over 650 artificial islands were affected by hurricane-force winds.
For good reason, the St Andrew's Park Jetties is where you start your shore dive in Panama City Beach. From the parking lot, it's only a short walk to the beach. Once you are in the water, it's easy to get back. The beach-side has very little boat traffic. You should bring your diving flag if crossing to the channel side. The rocks around the jetties are home to many tropical fish. High slack tide is the best period to dive. The visibility and current are also better. St Andrew's Park jetties make for great snorkeling spots in Panama City Beach.
Panama City Beach has a large collection of artificial reef materials. There are many materials available, including bridge pilings, old piers and specially designed reef habitat. These sites won't attract divers by themselves, but if you see a sunken vessel surrounded with reef modules, it is likely that there will be plenty of fish.
Scuba Dive Panama City Beach provides daily dive charters. A 40-foot dive boat can hold up to 18 divers. All charters are friendly, professional, and safe.
Historic shipwreck, the SS Tarpon. The ship sank in 1937, killing 18 crew members including Willis G. Barrow, her captain. Adley Baker, a crew member, managed to swim the 9 miles to shore under gale-force winds. Although it was a long 25-hour journey, Adley Baker survived and lived to tell the story.
The visibility is between 30'-50ft. Water temperatures range from 60s to 80s in summer and winter. It is a good idea to bring gloves for the sharp edges of the wrecks as well as a diving knife to cut through fishing line.
Spearfishing can be described as underwater bow hunting. It is not difficult or cheap to learn and can be addictive. This is the place to go if you're looking for ethical, clean, and non-industrially produced protein. We offer spearfishing charters for more experienced divers. Also, we provide closely supervised Introduction to Spearfishing classes. In these classes, we will show you how to spearfish and give you tips.
Never hold your breath
As every good entry-level dive student knows, this is the most important rule of scuba. And for good reason — breath holding underwater can result in serious injury and even death. In accordance with Boyle's law, the air in a diver's lungs expands during ascent and contracts during descent.
As you become a qualified scuba diver, you learn the basics of an essential scuba system. A cylinder, weights, an exposure suit, regulators, BCD gauge and timing device, mask and fins are the bare essentials.