So much for the Flower Gardens...

[Corsair]

Our trip to the Flower Gardens, off the coast of Texas was cancelled due to unfavorable diving conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Major bummer. We had the gear packed, rented tanks and a camera, drove in to Dallas for lunch, only to get the message that the trip was off.

For anyone trying to get out on one of the trips there, best of luck. We're going to try again, but I've been informed that it is regularly cancelled due to inclement conditions. The guys who run the shop where we got the tanks said that at one point, they tried unsuccesfully to get a group out there 7 weekends in a row.

We weren't about to skip out on a weekend of diving, so we slid on south to Lake Travis outside of Austin. We picked Windy Point as our dive site, since the park there has on-site air fills. From 0-35 feet the vis was only about 5-7 feet. At 40 or so, it was up to 15-20 feet of visibliity. Nice and green, you gotta love Texas lakes...

At least the weather was nice...

Still waiting to get back on the reefs....

 

[daylight]

Did they give any additional info as to what was the unfavorable diving conditions?

 

[buff]

I lived in Dallas and I booked dive after dive only to be spurned by the rough weather in the Gulf. I have seen so many pictures-but alas they have only been pictures.

 

[Corsair]

If waves are over about 4ft high around the dive sites, the trip won't go.

I'm looking into booking another trip in a couple of weeks, we'll see how it goes....

 

[daylight]

Checking the bouy at the Flower Gardens showed waves 1-2'. That's why I wondered why they cancelled. It doesn't really matter why they cancelled, they cancelled! Bummer.

 

[Corsair]

The trip departure date was for the 15th. The couple of days before that the waves had been cresting above 4ft.

 

[TexasMike]

Heck, the weekend earlier and you could have dove the Houston Interstates (news photos showed water almost topping 18-wheeler trailers).

Funny related story....my friend (and local tech diving guru) Marc was at SeaSpace in Houston and was chatting up one of the manufacturers of lift bags who had some of his 500-lb lift bags on display. Marc went up to the sales rep and told him that he had a great idea for some free advertising.

"Lend me two or three of your lift bags that have your name all over them and I'll go dive one of the local roads and we'll float a flooded car or pickup!" said Marc. "And then one of the news helicopters will film us and your lift bags!"

The sales rep kept laughing at the idea for so long that later he approached Marc and told him that that would be the story of the year at the shop, and that if Marc had the cash, he would sell one of the 500-lb lift bags for a very serious discount. Marc handed over the money and is now has something to lift cabin cruisers with!

Hey, Corsair: Bummer about your trip, and I have my fingers crossed for mine (two weeks). But I heard from the group that went last 4th of July weekend that the 4 trips prior got canceled but their went....and discovered some of the calmest seas around.

Tom V. and me are planning to check out the new quarry over by Terrel on the 30th. Wanna go?

And don't forget about PK this weekend (see the North America Travel section for details)

 

[Corsair]

Mike,

I'll let you know about the quarry as soon as I can. I'm trying to reschedule the flower gardens trip, and it may be that weekend. Don't know yet.

PK is still up in the air. We may have to run some errands that won't wait on Saturday. Bummer having to take care of domestic stuff, but what can you do?

 

[Dee]

The best times to actually get out to the Gardens is August and September. I finally got out on my 13th try at the end of last August. It was a lucky 13th, too...we saw 2 whale sharks!

The Rinn boats usually make the final decision to go or not at noon on the day of departure. It's always a good idea to have an alternate plan, especially if you're traveling quite a ways.

The various oil rigs in the gulf are a better bet. You'll see the same fish and critters as well as deep water game fish in abundance. I doubt if I'll go back to the Flower Gardens.

 

[daylight]

Dee,

What operations do you go with for the rig dives?

Regards,

DSAO