Crystal clear water --where is it

[rancher44]

I am looking for very clear water on the gulf side of Florida.
I regularly go to Ft Jefferson and the water is clear. I used to sail around Panama City Fl. and the water was clear . Is it still clear or now murky?

I know the oil spilll has cause a major change in the gulf reguardless of what the powers that be say.

So any very nice beaches and islands on gulf coast that is good for sailing?
My boat is in Punta Gorda and even the "clear " water around the beaches at Ft Myers Is murky

Any advice would be helpful

[nebster]

I spent a couple months on the gulf side of Florida this summer, and the nicest-looking water on the beach IMO was in Destin. I wasn't assessing it for vis (like for diving or snorkeling), though.

[Hearts Content]

You have to get away from the cities. The fertilizer used to make green lawns, in a place not suited for them, creates algae which turns the water green.

It's amazing, as the population thins, the water clears.

When we came back to Fort Myers from the Keys and Tortugas, the water looked like a toilet. Really sad. But I guess green grass is really more important than the ocean.

Rant off

[rassabossa]

I spent 18 years around the Panacea area. All of the water in the big bend is clear however it is shallow so you need the proper draft. The difference between PC, Panacea and Destin is that in Destin you have a sandy bottom which gives the nice blue water Keys/Caribbean look. Around Panacea, it's all grass flats...better for fishing, not as pretty.

[Miz Pea]

The biggest reason why the Ft. Myers area (actually Ft. Myers down past Goodland and to Chokoloskee Bay) is so polluted is because the Lake Okeechobee Agricultural Area drains into the Caloosahatchee River and numerous man-made canals south of the Caloosahatchee. This agribusiness fertilizer runoff combines with the stormwater runoff, and deposits all kinds of nasty sediment on the bottom.

Several more man-made canals also afflict the east coast of Florida, in particular the Indian River Lagoon area. There is a marvelous woman who used to be mayor of Sewall's Point in the IR Lagoon who has a tremendously informative blog on the subject, but she covers only the IR Lagoon: Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch | Indian River Lagoon

There is a strong movement on the east coast of FL to undo all of the Army Corps of Engineers' disastrous work to drain the Everglades with these man-made canals/Caloosahatchee/St. Lucie outlets to the sea, and Send The Water South to be naturally cleaned by the Everglades, but I think that with the political climate we have now this will never be accomplished. The Gulf and Atlantic will absorb it all in about a hundred years anyway, when all of South FL is submerged.