Panama City Beach offers more than diving. It also has outstanding seafood and the largest number of bottlenose dolphins anywhere in the world. This beautiful spot is perfect for a weekend getaway or a long-term trip. Below is our Panama City Beach dive map. You can find more information on the individual pins by clicking on them. This map, while we do our best to ensure accuracy, is only for informational purposes and not for navigation.
Seas around Panama City Beach depend more on the wave interval than the absolute size. Long interval waves create rollers, while short interval waves make the boat rock up and down and divers are hard to spot in the water.
St. Andrews State Park is home to some of the most beautiful beach dives on the Emerald Coast. The channel side, on the west jetty, has depths of 70 feet. The rocks at St. Andrews State park attract and hold many sea life species, including octopus red snapper redfish grouper and other tropical fish. It is possible to get the best diving conditions if you are able to spot an incoming tide.
Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association, Florida Wildlife Commission and others compiled a report to assess the impacts on the coral reefs. They discovered that the Varmar reef (not shown in our dive map, as it is off Mexico Beach), suffered the greatest impact because it was only 25' deep. However, artificial reefs in medium and deep water remained intact. Below is a graph from that report showing how Hurricane Michael passed through Panama City Beach's reefs and wrecks.
Scuba Dive Panama City Beach can take you to famous watery shipwrecks, including Black Bart, or for beachside snorkeling at St. Andrews State Park. At high tide, the park's remarkable rocky jetties allow you to see ocean creatures up close, such as octopus and redfish.
Scuba Diving Magazine names Scuba Dive Panama City Beach one of the best dive operators! Scuba Diving Magazine has ranked Scuba Dive Panama City Beach among the Top 100 Readers Choices for 2011.
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.
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.