Finally settled in Texas

[gkrane]

We moved to Corpus in MArch and things are finally starting to feel settled in enough to begin diving. I have a trip to Coz in November but after that I am going to try and start diving locally a bit. Suggestions? Does this Balmorhea place have any criiter life in it or is it just a pool. I have had enough murky lake diving while I lived in AZ to lasta lifetime so I am really not interested in Lake Travis or similar places. I do want to go to the Flower Gardens for sure!

 

[Dan]

Have tried Aquarena springs near San Marcos?

 

[Cap335]

Try going offshore both out of South Padre and Aransas Pass. Balmorhea is close to a 12 hour drive

 

[gkrane]

Have tried Aquarena springs near San Marcos?

No I havent tried any sites yet. From what I understand the Aquarena springs requires a class that would cost a bit for a family of 3 but is apparently well worth it.

 

[ibj40]

Balmorhea has fish and turtles (and maybe some crawfish in the moss growing on the bottom), if memory serves me right. Water is crystal clear.

 

[driftwood]

No I havent tried any sites yet. From what I understand the Aquarena springs requires a class that would cost a bit for a family of 3 but is apparently well worth it.

The class currently runs around $225pp. On the plus side, there are no entry fees, your authorization doesn't expire (they may ask that you demonstrate good buoyancy skills if you haven't dived there in a while), more fish than you can count (if I don't see a 5lb bass on a dive, it's an unusual dive). Year round water temp is 72 degrees with Carib vis at the beginning of your dive (as you work, the vis drops quickly).

If you are coming up from Corpus, probably best to spend the night in San Marcos. There is a dive shop in town where you can get fills (closed on Sunday). With good planning, you should be able to get at least 4 dives (6 if you push it) on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[gkrane]

Aquarena sounds great. I have family that lives in Austin so I could definitely find an excuse to dive there.

 

[Dan]

That bubbling sands in the bottom of Aquarena, where clear spring water coming out from the Edwards aquifer, is fascinating. I stuck my hand into it & still didn't feel the bottom. It's like a sand trap. If the hole was big enough, I guess I could have disappeared, dove into the sand trap & ended up cave diving inside the aquifer. Once in a while, so I was told, that a blind salamander could accidentally be flushed out of the aquifer through that bubbling sand & wandering around in the bottom of Aquarena Spring. It's definitely a cool place to dive.

I got my OW & scientific diving certifications there.

 

[driftwood]

For a long time they used to have a salamander "trap" attached to the big ugly pipe on top of Diversion (high pressure spring just outside of the Training Area).

The sand in Cream of Wheat can be as little as an inch deep up to around 18". Under is is a bed of gravel. Very cool place to clean out the springs. In the nineteenth century there was a black smith's shop on the bank. I have seen some unusual things come out of the sand.