Best Diving in Houston

[LordHavoc]

Hello, My work may be taking me to Houston for a few months. I wanted to know how big is diving there and in Texas? Where do you go for your ocean diving and what do you see? Any technical diving opportunities there? Any information on diving there would be very helpful as I may be there for a few months.

 

[txdamselfish]

Not sure about Tech Diving, but Giggling Marlin was a great shop to work with when in that area.

You are not to far from Freeport where the Texas Caribbean - MV Fling departs for the Flower Gardens Marine Sanctuary, which is Epic diving, the Gulf is quite the pretty lady away from shore.

Trip Report - MV Fling Texas Caribbean 2 Day Flower Gardens Live Aboard Trip Report

MV Fling Texas Caribbean 2 Day Flower Gardens Live Aboard Trip Report DIVE SHOP – Gigglin Marlin in Houston Texas. Booked the trip and registered for our Deep Dive Certification course through this shop. Dean, Barbie and the entire crew answered many questions on multiple calls & emails. FLING...

scubaboard.com

Meadows Center manages a clear warm spring fed lake in San Marcus, You must go through a PADI Special course to volunteer/ dive there but worth it for year around diving in land locked clear water.

Lots have mentioned Mammoth Lake in Clute, north of Freeport but I have not been yet.

 

[Nemrod]

I lived in Houston for a while, there used to be several HUGE dive stores there and a bunch of smaller ones.

Lake Travis maybe
Flower Gardens (clearest blue water I have ever seen)
Stetson Banks (usually not especially clear green water)
Rigs over in Louisiana
TS Texas Clipper

The Texas Clipper Dive - American Diving

The Texas Clipper is a 473 feet long artificial reef that was sank in 2007. The Texas Clipper lies 17 miles off the coast of South Padre Island in approximately 136 feet of water.

divesouthpadre.com

Take a drive on a long weekend to Pensacola and dive the Oriskany and some of the other wrecks there. For example:

Pensacola Scuba Training & Gear - MBT Divers

From scuba diving certifications, diving charters, to diving gear repairs, MBT divers offer professional scuba training and gear for everyone.

mbtdivers.com

There is also this, I have not been on it:

Release the Kraken! Cargo Ship Scuttled Off Galveston

A 371-ft cargo vessel named Kraken has been scuttled off Galveston, Texas to create a new artificial reef for fishermen and divers in the Gulf of Mexico. The Texas Parks...

gcaptain.com

There have been numerous reef building efforts along the Texas coast to boost fish production. The fishng industry has essentially scrapped the bottom clean of reef structure which then depletes the nursery opportunities for snapper and other (game) fish. Yes, long ago there were banks, soft rock, sandstone and hard ground covered with fans, whips and soft corals and occasionally clear enough water and shallow enough to dive. For the most part, that does not exist any longer.

There may also be another option. There used to be value priced fares to Cozumel and we would run down for a three day trip like some people go to Walmart, but, these days, who knows anything.

 

[LordHavoc]

Thanks so much for information. Texas has a very large coast with Gulf of Mexico. Why are local dive spots so few?

 

[Eric802]

Most of the coast off of Texas is brown water, not particularly great for diving until you're way offshore.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Thanks so much for information. Texas has a very large coast with Gulf of Mexico. Why are local dive spots so few?

The great sewer of North America, the Mississippi River, drains half the continent and dumps out just east of the Texas Coast. From there near shore currents pick it up and flush it straight around the Texas shore. Dirty, brown, dingy water. Note if you go east from the Mississippi River Delta, you find clearer turquois water with some spectacular glistening bright white beaches.

I've not been out in the gulf, but once you get outside the current stream into the gulf proper, I understand it improves markedly, but on limited structures that rise up to rec depths. Flower Garden Banks (salt domes rising up from the continental slope - mentioned above as the best diving Texas has to offer) is about 100 miles offshore. Also, the geological nature of the coastline (long shallow continental shelf, then a long slope to the floor may play a big part. Most of the islands and formations in the Caribbean known for spectacular diving jut up from deep depths - either upwelling or volcanic formations that are generally not found near the Texas coastline.

 

[ROUS]

If it is ever built, it would be this place: The Deep Zone

 

[Sushi Boy]

Depending on your experience level, the Flower Garden Banks NMS through Texas Caribbean Charters is your best bet. World-class reef diving.
Texas Scuba Adventures in Galveston runs day trips to oil rigs in the Gulf. If you want to get some local lake diving, Mammoth Lake in Lake Jackson or Blue Lagoon in Huntsville are good options.
There‘a some spring diving that’s fun in New Braunfels. Make sure you have a local buddy so you know where to avoid & where to exit the river.
If you fancy a weekend in Austin, the Giant Stride runs boat trips on Lake Travis.
And stop by a CHUM meeting at Jake’s Sports Bar on the 3rd Thursday of each month (except Dec) if you wanna hear a great presentation and hang out with a fun group of active divers.

 

[divezonescuba]

We do several technical diving trips a year based from Houston. Our most common one is a long weekend to Panama City Beach / Pensacola. Our next one is over labor day. We will be setting up a trip to the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier if there is enough interest. The great thing about that area is that you can do a lot of different types of diving there and it is less than one days driving distance from Houston. You can even dive on the way there. We have had some people fly in and then drive back so not to have to worry about the surface interval. In that area, you can boat dive, shore dive, and spring dive. If you get blown out because of the weather, there is Morrison Spring 40 miles aways and Vortex Springs 50 miles away.