Filling My Cup in Pensacola

Scuba diving in Florida has long been my thing. But when I became a mom for the first time nearly a decade ago, the sport morphed into something more. It became the thing that made me feel a little more like my old self whenever I got the chance to do it–even if that wasn’t nearly as often as during my pre-kid days.

So when I recently took the chance to combine a scuba diving trip with exploring a new-to-me place right here in my home state of Florida, it was the best kind of solo-travel surprise.

Pensacola is the wreck-diving capital of Florida's Gulf Coast, home to the USS Oriskany, the world's largest artificial reef, and the western gateway to the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail. From Pensacola, divers can explore 12 featured trail sites, along with hundreds of additional artificial reefs and historic wrecks, creating one of the most diverse underwater playgrounds in the Southeast.

Exploring Historic Downtown Pensacola

Pensacola is nearly as far west as you can go in Northwest Florida and is the western gateway to the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail. And while I knew this part of the state was famous for its white sand beaches and emerald waters–and, among divers, for one very famous sunken wreck: the USS Oriskany, the world’s largest artificial reef. I wasn’t prepared for all I’d get to see and do in Pensacola when I was out of the water, too.

I made the centrally located Hilton Garden Inn Pensacola Downtown my base, hopping on the hotel’s complimentary loaner beach cruiser bikes to pedal past charming French Creole colonial cottages and 19th-century Victorian homes within the Seville Historic District.

Pedestrian-friendly Palafox Street, the heart of downtown, is lined with boutiques and restaurants, including stylish Italian restaurant Angelena’s Ristorante (where girl dinner was an Aperol Spritz and Chef Ian’s fried artichoke hearts and handmade pasta), and home to the weekly Saturday Palafox Market, busy with makers and fresh produce stands.

Nearby, on the waterfront, The Fish House was another favorite find, with a deck bar overlooking the docks and great Gulf seafood. And for a pre- or post-dinner drink, I suggest The Rooftop for New Orleans-style cocktails and views over the historic downtown and Pensacola Bay. Pearl & Horn is another Pensacola restaurant that blew me away with Chef George Lazi’s innovative dishes, like Gulf snapper collar with Georgian adjika beurre blanc.

Diving the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail: USS Oriskany and Three-Mile Bridge

In addition to eating, of course, the scuba diving in Pensacola was the real reason I’d come, as Pensacola is home to the largest artificial reef in the world. In business since 1988, Dive Pros geared me up for a double-dip charter with Niuhi Divers to the USS Oriskany, the world’s largest artificial reef, where we scored 100-foot visibility to weave around the smokestack and mingle among schools of fish clouding the aircraft carrier’s skeleton.

Another day of scuba diving in Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail found us among snapper, grouper and angelfish while navigating the wreckage of bridge spans stacked like puzzle pieces at the Three-Mile Bridge Rubble dive site.

Pensacola's Best Beach Bars and Seafood

If you fancy a fun beach bar and waterfront watering hole post-dive, you’re in luck in Pensacola, from the famous frosty Bushwackers (rum, coffee liqueur, chocolate, and ice cream) served at places like The Sandshaker Lounge and local favorite, Paradise Bar & Grill, to a cold beer with a plate of freshly shucked Gulf oysters at Peg Leg Pete’s.

Beyond Scuba Diving in Pensacola: Parks, Wildlife and Outdoor Adventures

Keep an eye on the skies, too, as you never know when the Blue Angels will stream overhead on a practice flight from March to November (and mark your calendar for the epic two annual airshows). The legendary aviators are at home here at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where I spent a morning ogling historic airplanes at the National Naval Aviation Museum before climbing 177 steps up to the viewing deck of the Pensacola Lighthouse for incredible views of Fort Pickens, Pensacola Bay and Perdido Key.

Out in Florida’s nature, both underwater and topside, is forever my happy place. And there were more parks than I could find time for in Pensacola.

On Perdido Key, Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park is threaded by a boardwalk from which you can spot endangered pitcher plants growing in delicate wetlands while the thrumming of pileated woodpeckers fills the air. At Big Lagoon State Park, I rented a kayak from the self-serve kiosk to paddle a route through seagrasses within protected shallows where stingrays fly by (insider tip: on your way here from downtown Pensacola, stop by Joe Patti’s–a bustling seafood market by the fishing docks that’s been a local favorite since 1930–for the perfect picnic lunch of fresh sushi to go).

A Perfect Beach Day in Pensacola

You can’t say you’ve been to Pensacola without a day devoted to just beaching it, which I finally made time for on my last day in town.

Morning kicked off with a delicious breakfast of shrimp and grits at Native Cafe, then I strolled to the end of the 1,471-foot-long Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier on Casino Beach, where scores of dolphins were chasing baitfish. After a siesta on the beach in the sun, I hopped in the car to drive just north through the rolling dunescapes of Gulf Islands National Seashore, as white as drifts, to the Civil War-era stronghold at Fort Pickens.

You could get lost in the history among its brick ramparts, which I did for a spell. Then I waded into the emerald-green waters of the pass and gave a quiet thanks to the Gulf for its wonders and the land for all the fun Pensacola had in store. Between world-class wrecks on the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, historic neighborhoods and endless outdoor adventures, scuba diving in Florida doesn't get much better than Pensacola—and it was exactly what this solo traveler needed to fill her adventure cup.

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