Check out the SAILING PENSACOLA site on the web. Plenty of local knowledge there.
We have sailed the Pensacola cut for many a year and it is really pretty easy, as cuts go, deep and wide and well marked. For many years it was used almost daily by the
Navy for large carriers and therefore is near perfect.
If you are heading east and plan to enter or find a need to do so, use all of the caution possible at the Destin Inlet. This is a very nasty one, probably the worst one on the Northern
Gulf Coast. As I understand, this pass has rolled a 41 foot Coast Guard boat in the past and is well respected by locals.