August 12 Lake Travis Trip report

[scubashawn123]

What a great day of diving…..we had the lake to ourselves today….overcast and cooler…..humidity was down and the VIS was really good…….between 15-25 feet depending on where we were. We covered a lot of territory today. Missed any of the storms that blew through too. That was a blessing. Flat seas and great vis made for a really FUN diving day.

Thanks to Brandon (TXManager) letting me know that Robert (Lake Travis Scuba) Lake boat diving operation needed a hand running a line from the dilapidated caving in 40 foot wreck over to the triple decker house boat, count me in. I had a day off work. Hard to believe. I am nicknaming this location wreck alley after today, what a blast with the calm water, lack of boat traffic, great visibility it looks like “wreck alley” (aka Old Scuba Park) to me. I really liked the thing they call cavern that we all penetrated today.
The whole thing was really like a bunch of old wrecks with lots of parts and fish to check out. Saw something that looked like a shark cage following pre-existing lines between wrecks. Robert now has a clear path (triangular) by adding this additional line to “wreck alley”. I liked seeing the one wrecks name still on it “Carrie Jane” I believe is what I read. I do need glasses though.

Then Robert was kind enough to drop Brandon and I over at the wall of Rattlesnake Island (aka Starnes Island) so many names for the same thing. We had incredible visibility for my experiences on Travis and we found a grotto probably 8-10 feet deep, by 4 to 5 feet high and at least 10 feet wide. Awesome grotto exploring day. Large catfish and bass showed up to check out our diving. Water temperature 82 degrees, max depth 60 feet………..boy has the lake level dropped since I was on it 4th of July.

Thanks to Brandon and Robert for making a gray cloudy day into one that I will have memories of to add to my diving experiences.


Shawn O’Shea

 

[txmanager]

What a day it was! Diving was good enough to overshadow my dentist visit I had this afternoon.
For those visiting the Old Scuba Park, you're now better off in the navigating dept. Follow the green line to a newly discovered boat then follow the yellow line to the 3 story house boat. According to Robert, you can even see the car on the way. Follow the old line from the house boat back to the cavern. The mooring line is not too far away.
There is a rope extending off the deep side of the triple decker. Looks like it descends into the depths. I'd love to see where it goes. If the old map is accurate at all, it probably leads to the "underwater forest" as it's labeled on the map. Would be a good deep exploratory dive.
Starnes Island was excellent today as well. My first "real" wall dive. All the other walls that dive operations have dumped me out on have actually been slopes. This one was a true wall and viz was great for it today. Can't complain about the temps either. The cloud cover kept it tolerable topside but yielded enough light for 30' and above exploring. Water temp was perfect for us cold water sissies. Thermocline at 40'.

 

[chucksaul]

Really is cool but you didnt happen to find my DiveRite Weight Bag around the big boat did you... Lost it when I was laying the first line... Really envy you guys

 

[txmanager]

Really is cool but you didnt happen to find my DiveRite Weight Bag around the big boat did you... Lost it when I was laying the first line... Really envy you guys

No but I'll add that to the ever-growing list of things to retreive. Seems like this place is a magnet for dropped items. ChrisPete lost his weight pockets there in the Spring and were found on top of the boat. One of the divers this past Sunday dropped a mask upon exiting. This could turn in to a real treasure hunt.