TRAVEL continued The Miss Louise is a perfect dive for all levels of divers and is a great wreck to explore to become acquainted with Gulf diving.
On our dive, we experienced clear water with about 50-foot visibility. As with all the wrecks we explored in the Gulf, water
Our next dive was to the Cyclops, a 105- foot decommissioned offshore supply vessel that was used by the oil industry while it was in service. The Okaloosa Coastal Re- source Team sank the Cyclops on April 18, 2023, as another ad- dition to the trail of intentional wrecks along the coast. The Cyclops settled to the bottom at 72 feet up- side down and remains that way today. After diving on these inshore wrecks, it was time to head further offshore. Our first offshore wreck was the wreck of the Manta, sunk in January of 2023, 16 miles southwest of the Destin Pass in 111 feet of water. The Manta, a 190-foot vessel used for oil exploration out of Louisiana, has some intriguing penetration opportunities along with long corridors along the side rails per- fect for exploration. Divers can reach the top of the wreck in
temperatures were ex- tremely high at the surface but dropped off in stages, with thermoclines around 40 and 60 feet. Bot- tom temperatures were in the low 70s Fahrenheit. On the Big Dawg, we saw Amberjack, schools of snapper, an occasional butterflyfish and, hanging out near the stern, another curious Goliath Grouper. The Big Dawg sits in 105 feet of water but has several decks and divers can reach the wreck at around 60 feet. Because of its profile, the wreck is suitable for all levels of diver. In Destin, we uti- lized ScubaTech as our base of operations but there are several al- ternatives in the area. The artificial reef program in Florida is one of the most active in the world. Since the 1940s, more than 4,422 planned artifi- cial reefs have been deployed off Florida’s coasts. The Florida
about 70 feet of water and there is plenty to see at those depths for divers who want to avoid the time penalties of diving deep- er. Next, we visited the watercraft "PL-94-9301," better known as the “ Big Dawg ,” another of Destin’s offshore wrecks. Sunk in May of 2021, the Big Dawg was a 93-foot steel Air Force Parachute Water Survival School training vessel.
Panhandle alone has over 430 such reefs, many of these being decommissioned and intentionally sunk vessels. Clearly, our small sample could never inventory all these sites…it’s a challenge
that could keep divers coming back for generations. Regardless of the skill level of your divers, there’s a wreck site suitable for them in these waters.
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PAGE FIFTY | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
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