My impression of Caribbean waters is that they are very clear. The water up here in the PNW is ‘plankton soup’. (i.e., they’re so full of life they’re veritably murky.) But I don’t really have an impression of the waters on the Gulf Coast of the U.S., other than that they’re silty in the Mississippi River delta.
So what’s the water like on the Gulf Coast?
Often murky. There are several big rivers carrying nutrients into the gulf. On good days (when the water is calm), it can be fairly clear, but never as clear as the Caribbean, in my experience. The Gulf has some beautiful white sand beaches, though.
You have to go out a couple miles from the shore, but once you’re out there, the water is remarkably clear. I didn’t understand how Clearwater got its name until someone took me a couple miles out.
The real differences between the PNW and the Gulf Coast are:
[ul]
[li]Gulf Coast waters are warm enough to swim in, without a dry suit.[/li][li]Gulf Coast beaches have beautiful white sand.[/li][li]Gulf Coast beaches have females in skimpy swimwear where the goosebumps aren’t bigger than other selected body appendages.[/li][li]The PNW coastline is gorgeous without the excessive urban sprawl to run it.[/li][li]The PNW waters have regular up close visits by marine mammals.[/li][li]The PNW waters don’t have hurricanes.[/li][li]The PNW waters have fantastic winter storms and waves.[/li][/ul]
The nice thing about the gulf is that its warm basically all year round. Its actually kinda disappointing to go to the beach in the summer and realize the water is so warm it does nothing to cool you down on a hot day.
Kinda crummy diving though, the bottom is flat and pretty featureless, at least around FL.
Destin, Florida has some of the prettiest and warmest beaches in the U.S. The white sand and the clear water are actually better than the Caribbean for most purposes. The West Coast of the U.S. sucks ass when it comes to beaches because the water is too cold to be of much use. Anywhere from the Alabama Gulf Coast to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts is preferable to the West coast in my mind because they are much warmer and prettier at least in the summer for the northern portion. My mother bought a time-share in Baja California, Mexico for some reason and she kept trying to push me and my daughters to go until I looked up the water temperature and beach conditions and I saw instantly that the water in Massachusetts! is warmer and better than that in the high season. Thanks but no thanks. I am no fan of West coast beaches even as far south as San Diego. It is simply too cold in the Pacific to make it worthwhile.
The entire Gulf Coast is not one stagnant place. Alabama and Florida have some beautiful beaches. The beaches off of Texas are usually murky and Louisiana doesn’t really have any beaches at all due to the wetlands.
Of course I grew up with SoCal beaches, so I don’t find the water too cold at all. Once you’re in, it’s great. Up here in the PNW, however… I own a drysuit.
Beaches aside, Florida’s gulf coast area has numerous freshwater springs with cool clear water.
My experiences with Galveston and the Corpus Cristi area is that the water looks like chocolate milk. I was very surprised the first time I saw the clear water that other coasts have.