Staying Home Sucks, home
Panama City Beach
Panama City Beach, the nearest town, 9 km away. Photo: Amanuel G, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Hathaway Bridge Spans #5 and 6

Dive site · United States

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

69Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Sat 7: Sea: flat, Visibility about 6 m, Water 23 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 59 out of 100

Sea
1.0 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
25°C

Wed 4 · 64 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
8 kn
Gusts
15kn
Air
24°C

Thu 5 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
24°C

Fri 6 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.2 mflat
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
24°C

Sat 7 · 71 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
24°C

Sun 8 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
14kn
Air
21°C

Mon 9 · 69 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
9 kn
Gusts
18kn
Air
21°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 9 days

Full forecast
  1. Tue 359, fair
  2. Wed 464, good
  3. Thu 570, good
  4. Fri 670, good
  5. Sat 771, good
  6. Sun 870, good
  7. Mon 969, good
  8. Tue 1071, good
  9. Wed 1172, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 23 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 23 °C5 mm wetsuit
  • Faces SWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Hathaway Bridge Spans #5 and 6
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Tue 3Nov59, fair1.0 m15 kn20kn25°C
Wed 4Nov64, good0.9 m8 kn15kn24°C
Thu 5Nov70, good0.3 m4 kn8kn24°C
Fri 6Nov70, good0.2 mflat4 kn9kn24°C
Sat 7Nov71, good0.1 mflat3 kn10kn24°C
Sun 8Nov70, good0.1 mflat6 kn14kn21°C
Mon 9Nov69, good0.3 m9 kn18kn21°C
Tue 10Nov71, good0.1 mflat2 kn13kn20°C
Wed 11Nov72, good0.1 mflat2 kn13kn22°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Tue 3 NovHigh 05:32 +0.2 mLow 14:39 −0.0 mHigh 19:54 +0.0 mLow 22:53 +0.0 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 07:26 +0.1 mLow 12:46 +0.0 mHigh 19:34 +0.1 m
  • Thu 5 NovLow 01:27 −0.0 mHigh 09:11 +0.1 mLow 11:59 +0.1 mHigh 19:26 +0.1 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Wed 4 Nov
  12. Dec6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Hathaway Bridge Spans #5 and 6

A wreck dive. It goes down to 23 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SW: swell from the SW reaches it, and wind from the NE blows out to sea. 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 9.4 km away. The sea is about 17°C in February, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 30°C in July, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Panama City Beach.

  • What it is Wreck.
  • How deep Down to 23 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 9.4 km away.

Water about 23°C: 5 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 6 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Apr, May, Jun, Jul and Aug (about 10 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$872–US$1,580 each

about US$872–US$1,580 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to ECP, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$168–US$342
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$60–US$101
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$302–US$503
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$637
Totalabout US$872–US$1,580

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Panama City Beach

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Panama City Beach

about 15 min by car · 169 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 169 places to stay in Panama City Beach · Booking.com

About Panama City Beach its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

Getting there: about 4h 55m

About 4h 55m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → ECP, direct, then 45 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few records at this site itself, so these are the animals divers and surveys have recorded at other sites within 25 km in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it there, not that you will.

  • Loggerhead sea turtle Caretta carettaSea turtle

    Seen in 40 records, mostly May to Jun.

  • Kemp's ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempiiSea turtle

    Seen in 3 records.

  • Common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatusWhale or dolphin

    Seen in 8 records.

  • Mangrove snapper Lutjanus griseus

    Seen in 9 records.

  • Slippery dick Halichoeres bivittatus

    Seen in 7 records.

  • Atlantic ghost crab Ocypode quadrata

    Seen in 4 records.

  • Gulf killifish Fundulus grandis

    Seen in 3 records.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO) and GBIF.org (1 November 2026, doi:10.15468/dl.jeesns), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS and GBIF; common names from the Catalogue of Life, the GBIF Backbone and Wikidata. Largest datasets here: iNaturalist Research-grade Observations; Sightings for SSAM2-BOSS Sonar Test Event - June 2013; Sightings for AN/AQS-20 Sonar Aerial Monitoring in the NSWC PCD Study Area from July 2011 and May 2012; USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database; Sightings for REMUS Sonar Test Event - July 2013. Credits

This week's visibility and the current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.

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