Expect visibility of 30-50 feet with water temperatures ranging between 60s in the winter and 80s during summer. Hands are recommended for sharp edges on wrecks. You also need to bring gloves and a knife in the event of a line being pulled.
1985 saw the sinking a 100-foot long Navy hovercraft. The twin aluminum pontoons can still be seen 10 feet above the seafloor. Although the hovercraft looks unusual, it is unlikely that it will be featured dive site. You can still swim laps of the structure and float down and up the stairs.
The Black Bart is a 180-foot boat that was built as an artificial coral reef. Vulcano del Golfo was established in 1977 to honor Charles' Black Bart Bartholomew who was Navy Supervisor of Salvage Capt. Bartholomew died while diving off Panama City Beach on September 30, 1990. His feats include leading the Navy in the cleanup of Exxon Valdez's oil spillage.
Panama City Beach is known for its white sand beaches, excellent seafood and large population of bottlenoses. It's an excellent destination for a weekend or week-long vacation. Below is our Panama City Beach dive plan. Each pin provides more information about the dive locations. Although we endeavor to provide accurate information and navigation, this map does not represent navigation.
Scuba Dive Panama City Beach is another exceptional charter option. Known for their personalized excursions, their US Coast Guard-certified captain can take you on the spearfishing or diving trip of your dreams. Will you descend at our natural limestone reefs, or an artificial one made from a fighter jet? Would you like to explore an underwater bridge? The choice is yours.
Spearfishing is essentially bow hunting underwater. It is neither easy to master or cheap to get into and it’s more addictive than crack. If you want to get clean, ethical and non-industrial protein that doesn’t have any hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics and you don’t mind wearing life support equipment to “go shopping” – this might be for you. We offer charters for very experienced divers that want to spearfish as well as closely supervised Introduction to Spearfishing classes where we teach you the basics and guide you on a spearfishing dive.
Panama City Beach’s latest wreck is El Dorado. Hurricane Michael brought the ship to shore in October 2018. She stood abandoned at the Hathaway Bridge in October 2018, as a constant reminder about the storm's terrible wrath during winter and spring. She started her life at the top of the dive sites in May 2019.
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.