Panama City, Florida 04/22-04/24

Itinerary:

Apr 22: Travel / Check In @ 4p at Sleep Inn & Suites
Apr 23: 2-tank in-shore boat dives with Diver's Den @ 8a / optional family dinner that evening
Apr 24: Check out / 2-tank in-shore boats dive with Diver's Den @ 8a / Travel

Diving info:

Depths from 45' to 80' (Avg 67')
Max temp: 75 degrees
Avg Temp: 69 degrees
Min Temp: 63 degrees

Price DOES include:

-2 days of 2-tank boat diving
-2 nights double occupancy stay at the Sleep Inn & Suites

Price does NOT include:

-travel
-food / beverages
-dive gear / other equipment

About Panama City:

The booty music blasting from beachfront party clubs like Club La Vela on Panama City’s white-sand shores feels a universe away when you submerge in the clear Gulf waters a few miles offshore. The reefs here don’t hose the diversity of tropical species you’ll see in Florida’s southern waters, but sponge-covered limestone shelves attract their share of wrasses, butterfly angelfish and slipper lobster. Panama City’s real calling cards for divers, however, are big animals — whale shark and manta sightings occur in the summer months —-and adrenaline-charged wreck diving, with the best action found on the 30 or so wrecks and spans sunken at depths of around 65 feet and below.
Dive shops classify trips into “inshore” and “offshore” sites, but don’t let the wording confuse you. Inshore sites are typically around three to six miles offshore and bottom out between 60 and 80 feet, while offshore sites are a little farther out (up to 13 miles), offering some solid wreck and span dives at depths averaging between 90 and 105 feet. Whether you’re inshore or offshore, you'll see the same tropical and game species, for the most part—what sharks are more often sighted inshore—but the offshore sites tend to be more abundant with fish life, since they’re lee frequently dived.
Diving inshore, urchins and sponges grow thick on the wreck of the Red Sea, scuttled in 2009. It’s an easily penetrated wreck sitting at 70 feet and holds lots of everything—from goliath groupers pushing the 300 pound mark to smaller jacks and damsels. Look for blue chromes flitting in and out of urchins, and rough-headed blennies poking from sponges in the steel. Spadefish often patrol over the engine room and smokestack.