Swimming in Destin Florida a taste of the Caribbean
Destin was once a sleepy little fishing town but no more. It is a place where people can travel to the Northern coast of Florida and get a taste of the Caribbean without traveling all the way down to the tip of Florida. Destin is a wonderful place where the water is emerald green and clear right up to the shore line. At times the visibility is as much as 20 feet on the shore, and the sand is so white that it looks like snow has covered everything. Destin sandy beaches have the whitest sand known to be called "Sugar Sand", because it is so white and fine. The diving in and around Destin is different from anywhere else in the Panhandle of Florida. A normal day of diving is not as good as being on an island but for a place you can drive to it is great. Normal visibility is around 30 to 40 feet in water 60 to 90 feet deep. There are natural reefs, artificial reefs and even a few wreck dives. Natural reefs tend to be in 90 feet or deeper water while the artificial reefs are around 60 feet, and wrecks are in waters from 60 feet and deeper. What you do and how deep is dependent on the water conditions. One of the most visited sights in the Destin area is the "Old Destin Bridge Rubble", this is pieces of the old bridge that were broken up and placed into 3 different stacks over 15 years ago. The coral is growing well and there is a lot of fish life there. Lots of little holes with much to see. Also a wreck that is no longer to be found was the "Mr. Happy", this wreck was a 45 footer which was to be a targat for pilots out of Eglin Air Force Base. The Mr. Happy never made it to the sight and sank while being toed to a location to be shot at. But I am sad to say the Mr. Happy was lost because of storms in the Gulf of Mexico in 1996. A another popular sight is the Liberty Ship located just out the Destin pass in 90 feet of water. The old Liberty ship, looks like large bath tub sitting on the floor of the ocean , only the bulkheads and sides are left but lots of shells and sometimes larger fish life can be found around this 483 foot long structure. Natural reefs like White Hill which is close to the Liberty Ship are not as large as reefs further South but it is alive and doing well in about 90 feet of water with some tropical fish and hard and soft corals.
Pictures from around the "Mr. Happy" above, a Damselfish, a Jackknife Fish the deck of the "Mr. Happy". See if you can make out the handrail in the picuture below of the "Destin Bridge Rubble" below
