Advice on Scuba Diving in Tampa Bay, United States

Tampa Bay is a large estuary and natural harbor on the western coast of Florida. The Bay opens up into the beautiful warm, calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The northern and southern shores outside the bay entrance are made up of sandbar islands with amazing white sand beaches famous in the area. The potential for diving offshore the many barrier islands and out in the Gulf waters is endless.

坦帕湾本身的平均约为12英尺（3.7 m）。它是由几条淡水河流喂食的，这些河流与墨西哥湾的咸水混合到海湾。这种浅，干扰的咸淡环境对于皮划艇而不是水肺潜水很有趣。1zplay在海湾，您可以看到瓶颈海豚，西印度海牛，棕色鹈鹕和许多其他鸟类。坦帕湾的地质历史很有趣，一旦冰融化的海平面上升并淹没了海湾，海湾是淡水泉水和河流的最后一个冰河时代的淡水湖。有证据表明，海湾口附近的古老的大污水坑有助于解释佛罗里达广泛海岸线上最大的开放式海湾。河流沉积物和时间已经填补了其过去的大多数表面证据。

The tourism industry is very strong in the state of Florida and the Tampa Bay area is no exception. Most of the towns along the white sand beaches rely heavily on the tourism industry. There are countless businesses catering to watersport adventure with steep competition between the many charter boats waiting to schedule deep sea fishing and scuba trips. There are major interstates, highways and roads as well as beautiful bridges to get you where you need to be. This area is gorgeous and well kept and ready to show you, the tourist, a great time.

Tampa Bay hosts海界的布希花园, an amazing amusement park that is similar to Orlando's Disney mania without the crowds, prices or fluff. There are also top notched golf courses and resorts in the bay area. TheLowry Park Zooand theFlorida Aquariumare all worth the effort.

The Gulf waters off the white sandy beaches of the bay area are notoriously warmer than the Atlantic waters on the eastern shores of Florida. Gulf water temperatures off Tampa average 63 degrees F in January rising to about 86 degrees F in August. Air temperatures in the Tampa area average 60 degrees F in January rising to an average of 82 degrees F in August. This is an ideal climate, especially along the coast the Gulf breeze prevents the summers from cooking like the interior of Florida and the waters in the summer feel like a warm bath. As far as swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving Tampa Bay you do not need a wetsuit for most of the year.

坦帕湾地区以温水和惊人的日落而闻名。野生动植物进出水是多种多样的。1zplayFlorida's manatee take advantage of the extensive Intracoastal Waterway that is a network of coves and waterways between the bay and the gulf. Bottlenose dolphin and the many marine birds frequent the quiet backwaters that also are home to thousands of docks and piers for the many private, public and commercial boats. The best dives are well offshore so find a good dive shop and charter a boat out beyond the barrier islands.

There are many good wreck dives off the Gulf coast of Tampa Bay. TheUSCG Blackthorn在距离克利尔沃特海滩（Clearwater Beach）离岸约10英里的人造礁石地点的Pinellas＃2人造礁石遗址中发现了80英尺的水。自1944年推出以来，这艘船是一艘浮标，救援船和破冰船。在坦帕湾院子里进行翻新后，108英尺的布莱克索恩撞上了605英尺的SS Caprigord摩托车，将船沉没了，将招标拉起并超越了维修。被放在Pinellas Reef休息。该船大多是颠倒的，但是一个很好的探索场所。很常见Goliath Grouper，众所周知，红鲷鱼，鲭鱼，豆豆学校和宏伟的鲸鲨可以参观这个高级潜水地点。1zplayAnother wreck isThe Sheridan这也位于称为Pinellas＃2的人造礁石上。180英尺的拖船几乎直立，其顶部距离水面仅25英尺。庞大的团体人士使自己的房屋破坏了，很常见mackerel, Crevelle jack and the occasional reef shark.

There are other interesting wreck dives like theGunsmoke，一艘大麻走私船在1977年撞毁了约20英里。这种先进的潜水是在70英尺的1zplay水中，虽然可见度并不总是最好的，但它是一个有趣的潜水，可以使您在海上良好。残骸背后的故事和阴谋将吸引您加入，据说政府潜水员在被发现时发现了一个男人的尸体。1zplay

The wreck dive site far offshore west of Tarpon Springs, Florida is known as Tugboat and Barge. The 105 foot upright tug and 80 foot barge sank in 85 feet of water during high seas and are about one mile from one another. This advanced dive is a far offshore but worth the trip. A wreck dive that is close to shore in just 38 feet of water is the tugboat known as Ghost Tug. This 50 feet long tug is home to some big Jewfish another name for Atlantic goliath grouper and schools of Atlantic spadefish. Because it is so shallow it is a great place for underwater photography of the wreck and marine life.

Shore diving off the many barrier islands of Tampa Bay area is popular for scuba divers and snorkelers. A childhood favorite of mine is Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach. St. Pete Beach Reef and Tug Orange are two worthy shore dives very close off Petersburg Beach for scuba divers or snorkelers to explore. St. Pete Beach Reef has sections of an old bridge, a barge, coral and lots of fish. Tug Orange to its south is a small wreck that is a great place to swim with schools of game fish giving a chance to watch them in the water when they are off the hook. This is also a spearfishing paradise.

The beaches of the barrier islands of Sarasota, Clearwater, Treasure Island and Dunedin also offer offshore exploration and snorkeling fun especially ideal for beginners or casual dives. Regardless of what you do in the day around Tampa Bay do not miss talking a peaceful walk on the beaches at night after the pastel sunsets of western Florida.

1zplay潜水员有兴趣从坦帕湾海岸潜入墨西哥湾温暖，平静的水域中，有三个国际机场。The largest and probably the least expensive especially for international or transcontinental fliGHTS是坦帕市西部的坦帕国际机场（TPA）。这是租车并前往海岸上许多障碍岛和度假村的好地方。Sarasota-Bradenton国际机场和圣彼得堡 - 克莱尔沃特国际机场也是考虑何时C为航班而烦恼。还有十几个地区和市政机场，用于私人飞机到达坦帕湾地区。

There are many dive shops in the Tampa Bay area. Jim's Dive Shop is a great shop in St. Petersburg as well as Aquatic Obsessions that both are friendly shops that offer scuba classes, excursions and help to organize local divers and dive clubs.

In Tampa there is the dive shop Adventures Under the Sea that offer some scuba instruction online and of course offer open water certification in person. The shop offers dives in the gulf and at some inland freshwater locations. South of the bay in the town of Bradenton there is the dive shop Blue Water Explorers. This scuba shack, as they call themselves, specializes in offshore gulf dives and spearfishing. It is one of the biggest charters of the area and offers charters to over a 100 different dives.

The Clearwater area north of the bay offers many dive shops some of the few that are top rated includeTanks A Lot Dive Charters, 2 Shea Charters and1zplay潜水克利尔沃特。所有这三家商店都提供潜水宪章。1zplay1zplayDive Clearwater为海岸的许多残骸潜水提供了宪章，还规定了在矛钓中进行质量。

塔彭泉（Tarpon Springs）沿着沿海地区的北部向北。有很多海上潜水直接从塔彭（Tarpon）出发，海洋交通减1zplay少。塔彭的一家强烈推荐的水肺潜水店是麻醉性水肺1zplay。这家商店提供了乘船游览许多残骸和壁架，并从障碍群岛和坦帕本身的较拥挤的旅游城镇中带走了一些东西。