288 Lake - Houston

[piarote]

I went diving at 288 Lake (formerly The Reef) in Houston today. Outstanding!!! The visibility was 20'+.

My last experience there, 4 years ago, was terrible. It has new ownership and they have done a terrific job of cleaning up the place. It is open only to divers only. But I presume they would allow serious [training for competition] swimmers. The water is exceptionally clear. There are a number of features, a bus, Ford Taurus, boats, and two platforms. It is listed to be 45' deep. My max depth was 34'. It was exceptionally cold. I had a full wetsuit, hood and gloves and couldn't stay on the bottom for long [but I do get cold easily]. We met Jeremy, one of the owners today. He said there are coy in the lake and they'll award anyone dive passes for photographing them.

They plan to get air fill capabilities in July. The owners are great guys and I really hope to see them do well. Check it out!

 

[richerso]

I am interested! Don't think I have heard of it before. 45' isn't exceptional but I guess I can't ask for everything in Texas! Ha!

Ford Taurus, huh? What year? Just curious. It's not everyday that I see a Ford Taurus at a dive site.

 

[texdiveguy]

I am interested! Don't think I have heard of it before. 45' isn't exceptional but I guess I can't ask for everything in Texas! Ha!

Ford Taurus, huh? What year? Just curious. It's not everyday that I see a Ford Taurus at a dive site.

I have seen quite a few Ford Tauruses at dive sites....I even used to have one, that lt. blue one-1998 model!

 

[richerso]

Yes Tex! But your Taurus wasn't in the water! Smart *** !!!

 

[texdiveguy]

Yes Tex! But your Taurus wasn't in the water! Smart *** !!!

..........................

 

[Mari6625]

are you sure it's only open to divers now? It used to be more of a park. Also, their webisite says divers and non divers

 

[ReefHound]

Non divers must be accompanied by divers. They do not seem to be scuba nazis about it and probably have no problems with divers bringing non diver friends or family who want to lay out in the sun or take a refreshing swim. They just don't want it to be a free for all zoo like when it was a swimming park with a bunch of drunk yahoos swinging from ropes yelling "hey guys, watch this!".

The viz had been 20 to 25 feet along the banks to depths of 30 feet until last weekend when the heavy rains knocked the viz down to about 15 feet to depths of 20 feet. In the deeper parts like near the buses the water can be a pretty murky 5 foot.

I thought I saw a goldfish a few weeks ago, didn't get a photo though. I like the west and north banks the best. Lots of perch guarding their nests.

 

[Teknadv3x]

The owner
is trying to keep out the riff raff. Non divers must be accompanied by divers. Admission to the park is 15.00 for all divers and non divers. Trace & Jeremey are really stand up folks. The park and facilities are clean and secure. Overall just a great place for a day of diving and a asset for active divers. A reminder :no DO NOT FEED THE FISH. For those who wonder why not, At first it is neat to feed them but when they lose there fear of divers they will become very bold and very very AGGRESSIVE. Trust me it is not fun to have them swarm you and start BITING the crap out of you. One last point of interest, The owner is talking about installing on-site air.

Regards
Dave

 

[Mari6625]

I think there are two seperate parts to the lake. One where it's strictly for divers and the other where it's more recreational. For those who are wanting to kayak or float and what not.

 

[ReefHound]

I'm sure. I've been there 5 weekends in the last 2 months, will be there again this weekend. The last couple of years they catered to swimmers but it was causing them too many problems. They cater strictly to divers now, regardless of what their website says. They don't mind if non divers accompany divers or if you want to peacefully kayak or float around but they don't want a bunch of wild kids and drunk adults screaming and jumping off the docks and swinging from trees.