Staying Home Sucks, home
Inlet Beach Water Tower
Inlet Beach, the nearest town, 19 km away. Photo: The Bushranger, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

NRDA Grant Reefs

Dive site · United States

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

69Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 65 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
26°C

Tue 3 · 58 out of 100

Sea
1.1 m
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
25°C

Wed 4 · 63 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
13 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
24°C

Thu 5 · 71 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
24°C

Fri 6 · 72 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
24°C

Sat 7 · 72 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
23°C

Sun 8 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
21°C

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

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 265, good
  2. Tue 358, fair
  3. Wed 463, good
  4. Thu 571, good
  5. Fri 672, good
  6. Sat 772, good
  7. Sun 870, good
  8. Mon 969, good
  9. Tue 1073, good
  10. Wed 1174, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 28 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 NRDA Grant Reefs
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Mon 2Nov65, good0.9 m10 kn13kn26°C
Tue 3Nov58, fair1.1 m13 kn17kn25°C
Wed 4Nov63, good0.9 m13 kn19kn24°C
Thu 5Nov71, good0.4 m3 kn6kn24°C
Fri 6Nov72, good0.1 mflat5 kn9kn24°C
Sat 7Nov72, good0.1 mflat7 kn11kn23°C
Sun 8Nov70, good0.3 m10 kn17kn21°C
Mon 9Nov69, good0.4 m10 kn22kn20°C
Tue 10Nov73, good0.1 mflat4 kn19kn18°C
Wed 11Nov74, good0.0 mflat1 kn10kn19°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

  • Mon 2 NovHigh 02:01 +0.2 mLow 13:58 −0.1 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 05:29 +0.2 mLow 14:38 −0.1 mHigh 19:57 +0.0 mLow 22:52 +0.0 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 07:25 +0.1 mLow 12:45 +0.0 mHigh 19:35 +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. Mar6of 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 Tue 3 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

2 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About NRDA Grant Reefs

A reef dive. It goes down to 28 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. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 20 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 Inlet Beach. Within 5 km we also list 1 dive site.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 28 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 20 km away.

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

Visibility about 8 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug and Dec (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$884–US$1,610 each

about US$884–US$1,610 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 30 October 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$167–US$342
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$74–US$127
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$301–US$502
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$636
Totalabout US$884–US$1,610

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: Inlet 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

Inlet Beach

about 35 min by car · 66 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 66 places to stay in Inlet Beach · Booking.com

About Inlet 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 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 5h

About 5h door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → ECP, direct, then 55 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

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Loggerhead turtle Caretta carettaSea turtle

    Seen in 5 records.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: Sightings for AN/AQS-20 Sonar Aerial Monitoring in the NSWC PCD Study Area from July 2011 and May 2012; Sightings for AN/AQS-20 Sonar Test Event - December 2013. Credits

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

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