Difficulty
Unrated
Viz (last reported 25206h ago)
Max Depth
Unknown
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Destin Jetties
Recently( this February) I did a shore dive at the Destin Jetties in Destin, Florida. I went there because the boat dives were all canceled due to bad weather. Of course that meant there was bad weather at the jetties too but I was so determined to dive in the ocean that weekend. I spent about 12 mins fighting the currents in 6 foot water and went about 9 yards. It was freezing cold and I had about 5 ft of visibility. It was a terrible dive but the locals I talked to said that on good days it can be incredible. I plan to try it again this summer. You are at the mercy of the tides for peek diving conditions. Obviously when I dove that mercy was not available.
There are jetties on both the east and west side of the pass - the east side is where people do most of their diving. To reach them, you'll want to get to Gulf Shore Drive and follow it past where it makes an "S" turn. At this point, be on watch for a gravel lane for public parking on the right side of the road. There will also be a single showerhead and a few signs that can be easy to miss marking the trail that leads out to the beach and the East Pass Jetties.
Access
shore
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Michael Sutton
Jun 20, 2005, 12:00 AM
scuba
This is a great shore dive if you are in the Destin Area. The only real negative I can say about it, is a long walk from the parking area is not easy wearing scuba gear, tanks, weights. (about 50-75 yards in soft sand and another 75 to 100 yards in hard packed sand around the waters edge to where the jetty starts) Find the tide information online and dive this at "High Tide" for the best vis and lowest currents. When the tide starts to go out, then the vis will decrease, especially on the surface. Max depths of around 45 to 55 feet. Vis of 20 to 40 feet. Not many fish, but lots of crabs in the rocks. Beware of LOTS of boat traffic and fishermen. A floatable/towable Dive Flag is a must. Local dive shops offer boat trips to this site if the walk is too long/hard. To find it, look for the public beach access sign and shower on the left of the road. Parking gets full on busy weekends.