It's easy to see why Panama City Beach is second in Florida for divers. To experience the beauty of the Gulf of Mexico's marine life and beautiful underwater landscapes, you can also jump fin-first.
Sport Diver wrote a wonderful article about us during the summer.
Panama City Beach has the highest number of bottlenose Dolphins in the world, as well as white sand beaches. It is an ideal destination for weekend drives or long trips. Below is the Panama City Beach divemap. The pins provide more details about each of the dive sites. While we make every effort to provide accurate information, the map is intended only as a guide and not for navigation.
The report was created by members of the Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association (Mexico Wildlife Commission) and assessed the impacts on the reefs. The reef near the Varmar, which is not shown on the dive map due to its location off Mexico Beach, had the greatest impact. It was only 25 feet deep and contained 35% of the original reef material. The artificial reefs in deep and moderate water were unaffected. Below is a graphic taken from the report that shows the path of Hurricane Irma through the wrecks and reefs of Panama City Beach.
1985 saw the sinking of a Navy hovercraft 100 feet long. The twin aluminum pontoons rise 10 feet from the ocean floor and remain in good shape. Although the hovercraft may be unusual, it would probably not make an excellent feature dive site. It's still fun for swimmers to do laps around this structure and to float up the stairs.
Our threshold for offshore diving extends more than 8 mi from St Andrew's Pass. These sites require advanced certification. It is a good idea to get a nitrox cert. These trips don't run every single day because of their distance. For information on when the next trip will run, contact the dive shop.
St. Andrews State Park has the best beaches in the Emerald Coast. The channel side of West Jetty reaches 70 feet in places. The rocks attract and host a variety marine life, including red snappers, redfish, grouper and other tropical fish. It's possible to time your dive to catch an incoming tide.
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.