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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.
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Corey Calvert
Feb 6, 2004, 12:00 AM
scuba
I must begin by saying that I am very partial to the Destin Jetties, as I was an instructor in Destin for 5 years. However, in that period of time I witnessed the best and the worst of the Jetties. I logged somewhere in the neighborhood of 350-450 dives at the Jetties, if not more. I have seen everything from a sea horse to a school of spotted eagle rays there. The best time to dive the jetties is at high slack tide (least current at that time), and only on an incoming tide (best vis). The Jetties can also be an exciting night dive, especially with a full moon. Having logged over 1100 dives in the Destin waters, I can honestly say the Jetties are one of the area's best dives, and one of its worst if you don't get a good day. To make the walk easier, Scuba Tech and Emerald Coast Scuba offer trips there, by boat. I first dove the Jetties in June 1998, and last dove there, August 2003.