Panama City, Florida Dive Sites
Panama City, Florida is the premier wreck diving destination in the United States.
Thanks to Danny Grizzard local NAUI Instructor (3550) who spent years laying the foundation for our active, ongoing artificial reef program. Panama City has over 300 wrecks, artificial reefs and natural bottom spots. Our coastal waters are also home to six of the twelve wrecks dedicated to the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail. Highlighted below are some of our most visited dive sites.
Dive site locations are described as Inshore 0-7 miles from St. Andrews Pass with depth ranges from 12- 75 feet. These are our most booked and popular sites for both instructors with open water students and certified divers who hold open water certification cards, Offshore trips are deeper dives with depths of 80 – 110 feet typically booked by Instructors with advanced students and those divers holding Nitrox and advanced certifications. Extended Offshore trips are specialty dive sites 20 + miles. These dives are for skilled, advanced certified divers with Nitrox certifications. All day trips and are usually booked well in advance. Call if you have any questions about booking a trip. (850) 851-8944
Check out some of our featured dive sites below.
Panama City’s newest artificial reef, the El Dorado. Sunk May 3, 2019
Photo courtesy of Danny Grizzard
Photo by: Rosanne Weglinski
El Dorado was beached and abandoned after Hurricane Michael in 2018 and is now at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico making her Florida’s newest artificial reef.
Local dive shops and charter boats and government offices came together to sink the 157-foot-long, 300-ton casino boat in early May 2019. This wreck is in the offshore range of dive sites and is a fun dive with easy swim throughs and a resident goliath grouper!
The boat’s owner donated the El Dorado to become an artificial reef. This move helped create new habitat and will help replace some of the artificial reefs damaged by the recent storms.
The El Dorado’s final resting place is 29°58’55.0″N 85°50’57.0″W. Top of the wreck is 63-feet deep, with the bottom at 103.