Your confidence and knowledge will increase as a diver. Dive Locker offers a full service dive center and aquatic training facilities. They have more than 50 years experience as instructors, and they can share that knowledge with students in their heated pool or on a variety of open-water courses.
Dive Locker Panama City Beach will teach you how to scuba dive and make your next trip more exciting. Dive Locker has been named the top PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors.) Training Center along the Gulf Coast. Come to Panama City Beach to experience more joy in your life. Join the Dive Locker community and become a certified Scuba Diver.
The Black Bart is a 180 foot vessel that was built as an artificial coral reef. Vulcano del Golfo, which was christened in 1977, is dedicated to Charles' Black Bartholomew, Navy Supervisor for Salvage Captain. He died in 1990 while diving off Panama City Beach. His accomplishments include the Recovery of Space Shuttle Challenger, and the cleanup of Exxon Valdez's oil spillage.
SCUBA diving offers serious excitement and we hope you have as much fun. NAUI, PADI & SSI have entry-level SCUBA training programs that can get you, family and friends into the sea. We have a wide range of high-quality brand names available to rent and purchase for your diving experience.
The artificial reefs that were in moderate and deep waters remained unaffected. Below is a graphic that was taken from that report. It shows how the hurricane traveled through the wrecks and reefs at Panama City Beach. Panama City Beach offers one of the most beautiful drive-and-dive weekends in the South.
Inshore diving is defined as less than 8 miles 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), Fountainbleau 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 locations in Panama City Beach and their associated bottom depths.
There are many choices available when it comes time to train, but your safety should always come first. Our staff has more than 50 combined years of experience in teaching others how to safely enjoy the underwater world.
An Average Diver, at an Average Depth, With an Average Tank
Based on personal experience, an average open-water certified diver using a standard aluminum 80-cubic-foot tank on a 40-foot dive will be able to stay down for about 45 to 60 minutes before surfacing with a safe reserve of air still in the tank.
So just to reiterate: don't grab animals, don't hold them for photo ops, don't go for rides on dolphins or turtles, and don't force puffer fish to inflate (it can be fatal to them).