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.
Even if you can’t physically explore the world, we hope that you enjoy the escape our site provides. Keep your spirits up and your hands clean. There will be time to travel soon enough.
Scuba Dive Panama City Beach has the best Dive Center and Aquatic Training Facility in Florida. Divers have direct access miles of unbroken white sand beaches, shipwrecks natural reefs, freshwater springs, and more at Scuba Dive Panama City Beach. Our staff will prepare you to swim with sharks, see beautiful aquatic life, and visit hidden treasures deep below.
Visibility can be expected between 30'-50ft with water temperatures of 60 to 80 degrees in winter and summer. For boat trips, you should bring gloves to protect your hands from the sharp edges of the wrecks and a diving knife in case you get into fishing line.
Have you ever dreamed of exploring the underwater world of sunken ships and Pirate’s treasure? Sign up for a class at Scuba Dive Panama City Beach and add the new and exciting adventure of scuba diving to your next trip or cruise!
Inshore diving is defined as less than 8 miles away 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), Fontainebleau 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 spots in Panama City Beach and their associated bottom depths.
You can see why Panama City Beach is Florida's second most visited dive site. You can also take a dive in the Gulf of Mexico, where you will find marine life and stunning underwater scenery.
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.