corpus christi diving???

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Gunner52

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Location
Oregon
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Hello everyone,
I'm going to be in corpus christi late september visiting family and was wondering if theres any good diving or decent spots/jettys to dive and maybe spearfish?
I dont know the area at all ive never been to corpus christi but I am a very experienced diver and don't mind some challenging dive sites or a hike to get to them, current isn't an issue either with in reason :wink:

I've been looking online for info but havent found much aside from some trips out to the oil rigs. is that all there is to dive out there? it seems kind of hard to believe thats the only option.
 
If you need a reason for some REAL DEEP (sub) diving in the Gulf here it is:

Team examining Gulf shipwreck finds 2 other wrecks

130726-shiwreck-1155a.photoblog600.jpg
NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program via AP
The Little Hercules remotely operated vehicle and an anchor inside the hull of a copper-sheathed shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico about 170 miles off Galveston, Texas.


By Michael Graczyk, Associated Press
Marine archaeologists made a thrilling discovery this week while examining a well-preserved shipwreck deep in the Gulf of Mexico — two other sunken vessels that likely went down with it during an early 19th century storm.
Much isn't known about the ships, including the flag or flags they sailed under and the year they sank about 170 miles southeast of Galveston. They came to rest 4,363 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile, below the surface, making them the deepest Gulf or North American shipwrecks to have been systematically investigated by archaeologists, the researchers said.
"What you're going to see and hear I hope will blow your mind. Because it has ours," lead investigator Fritz Hanselmann told reporters at a Thursday news conference in which the team revealed its initial findings.
"We went out with a lot of questions and we returned with even more. The big question we're all asking is: What is the shipwreck? And the answer is we still don't know," said Hanselmann, a researcher from Texas State University in San Marcos' Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.
130726-shipwreck-2-115a.380;380;7;70;0.jpg
NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program via AP
Artifiacts including ceramic plates, platters, bowls plus glass liquor, wine, medicine, and food storage bottles of many shapes and colors found inside a wrecked ship's hull, in the Gulf of Mexico about 170 from Galveston, Texas.


During eight days of exploration that ended Wednesday, the scientists used remote-controlled machines to recover more than 60 artifacts from the initial shipwreck site, including musket parts, ceramic cups and dishes, liquor bottles, clothing and even a toothbrush. The artifacts, including china from Britain, ceramics from Mexico and at least one musket from Canada, will help researchers determine the ships' histories, Hanselmann said.
"Nationalities, cultures, all collide in these shipwrecks. We hope to return in the future next year with more work," he said.
Although they weren't allowed to retrieve artifacts from the two new sites under the terms of their agreement to examine the initial one, the researchers took thousands of photos and closely examined the wreckage of all three ships, which came to rest within five miles of one another.
Two of the ships were carrying similar items, and researchers believe they may have been privateers, or armed ships that governments would hire, Hanselmann said. The third vessel was loaded with hides and large bricks of tallow, suggesting that it may have been a prize seized by the privateers.
The artifacts are headed for preservation work at a Texas A&M University research facility.
"For now, there's lot of conjecture, lots of hypotheses," said Jim Delgado, the director of the Maritime Heritage Program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We may have answered some questions, but we have a large number of new questions. But that's archaeology."
Delgado said the ships likely went down during the first two decades of the 1800s, which was a time of great upheaval in the Gulf region and in the New World, in general.
"Empires were falling, Spain was losing its grip, France was selling what it has, Mexico becomes independent, Texas independent, Latin America becomes independent and the U.S. is beginning to make a foothold in the Gulf," he said. "So these wrecks are all tied to that, we are sure."
It's likely each ship was carrying 50 to 60 men and that none of them survived. Among the wreckage were telescopes and other navigational tools that survivors likely wouldn't have left behind if they could have helped it, the researchers said.
Delgado said the ship the team set out to examine was armed with six cannons and may have had two masts. Undersea images show the outline of a copper-clad, 84-foot-long by 26-foot-wide wooden hull.
A Shell Oil Co. survey crew notified federal Interior Department officials in 2011 that its sonar had detected something resembling a shipwreck. It also detected some other material.
"Like a medical ultrasound, interpreting can be difficult," said Jack Irion, of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. "This case is the same way. You can't tell if it's an historic shipwreck or just a pile of stuff."
A year later, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel examining seafloor habitat and naturally occurring gas seepage used a remote-controlled vehicle to briefly examine the wreck. Besides determining the ship's dimensions, the examination showed it to be undisturbed and likely from the early 19th century.
That ship has been dubbed the "Monterrey Shipwreck," adopting the name Shell had proposed for its development site.
Researchers have examined several other historically significant Gulf shipwrecks in recent years.
In 1995, after a more than decade-long hunt, Texas Historical Commission archaeologists found one of famed French explorer La Salle's vessels in a coastal bay between Galveston and Corpus Christi. The remains of the LaBelle, which went down in a storm in 1686, have been recovered and are undergoing an unusual freeze-drying treatment at Texas A&M. The ship is to be reconstructed next year and become a centerpiece of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.
Earlier this year, researchers used special 3-D imagery to map the remains of the USS Hatteras, which was the only U.S. Navy ship sunk in the Gulf of Mexico in combat during the Civil War. The 210-foot iron-hulled ship went down in 1863 about 20 miles off the Galveston coast during a run-in with a Confederate raiding vessel. Researchers believe that heavy storms in recent years shifted the sea floor sand and exposed the wreckage, which rests 57 feet below the surface.
© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
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Port Aransas Jetties

I understand the viz goes from bad to worse...
 
I've done a lot of Lake Travis diving and I'm going on a BlackBeard's trip in Sept. I'm also going to South Padre Island with family in August.

I'm itching to get some dives in while down at SPI just to get my buoyancy down in an AL80 in salt water before the BlackBeard's trip. But my wife is balking at me being gone all day and spending $300 when I'm about to go on a trip the next month.

Any suggestions on shore diving and/or winning her over and changing her mind?
 
I think the vis is pretty bad for any shore diving at SPI.

Did the Clipper dive recently with American Diving. Tim runs a smooth operation but the boat ride can be rough.

---------- Post added July 26th, 2013 at 02:38 PM ----------

The trip only lasts until the early afternoon.
 
Another really shallow, low vis spot.
The south jetty at Port Aransas, TX (channel side) is a good shore dive/snorkeling spot for late spring to early fall with visibility in the 5-25ft. range with an incoming high tide. Depths are about 7-14ft. along the large granite boulders. Also the north jetty at the southern tip of South Padre Island is a good shore diving/snorkeling spot (Gulf side, but may be good channel side too) with similar visibility and depths along the rocks.
 
Hmm the jetty doesn't sound too bad im used to diving in 45 degree water with 0-10ft viz so it cant be any worse than what i dive now at least it'll be warm :D
thanks for the info
 
I have been gone from Corpus for about 10 years now, but I used to really enjoy diving the South Jetty. It is a pretty neat dive, but getting in and out is a little challenging, so be careful. The rocks are slippery, the urchins are spiny, and there are a lot of things that will slice you open.

DO AN OIL RIG TRIP! The oil rigs in the gulf are awesome dives. You need to understand that these rigs are like an oasis in the desert, and the sea life around them is incredible. Lots of encrusting animals and algaes, lots of "tropical" fishes, and lots of Pelagics. Some of my top ten most memorable dives have been on oil rigs.
 
I vote oil rigs. The jetties aren't too exciting in my opinion. Some of the bluest and clearest water I've ever been in out on those rigs. It's been several years since I moved away from CC so I don't have any recommendations on shops. Call Copelands in CC and see if they have any trips lined up. A two tank dive will take most all day due to the travel time out to the rig.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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