WetCell
Contributor
We dove Mammoth this morning and it was a great dive. We were the first in the park at about 10 AM. The viz was about 16', water temp in the 80's. There is so much stuff sunk in there it is hard to describe.
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Timeliner
Contributor
Lake Broken Bow , Oklahoma. June 11, 12 & 13
The lake level is high.
We did 8 dives.
Conditions were consistent around the lake.
The surface temp. is in the low 80's. The Thermo. is at 17 feet and steadily drops to 47 degrees at 100 feet.
Upper water is turbid and not great vis. Maybe a few feet. There has been a bunch of rain there. The vis below the thermo is much improved and continues to open up as you go down. While it is not windex in the deep it is an easy 15+ feet down there and perfect for drifting through the trees and along the cliff faces.
The more shallow dives are best done at night.
Night Dive on Tony's Island near Carson Creek Area 43 feet & 54 degrees
Island off the End of Eagle Point. ( AKA Area E ) 37 feet & 69 degrees
South Wall near Brotherhood Bay ~ 75 feet & 54 degrees
Cliff Wall near the Dam ~ 105 feet & 47 degrees
The lake level is high.
We did 8 dives.
Conditions were consistent around the lake.
The surface temp. is in the low 80's. The Thermo. is at 17 feet and steadily drops to 47 degrees at 100 feet.
Upper water is turbid and not great vis. Maybe a few feet. There has been a bunch of rain there. The vis below the thermo is much improved and continues to open up as you go down. While it is not windex in the deep it is an easy 15+ feet down there and perfect for drifting through the trees and along the cliff faces.
The more shallow dives are best done at night.
Night Dive on Tony's Island near Carson Creek Area 43 feet & 54 degrees
Island off the End of Eagle Point. ( AKA Area E ) 37 feet & 69 degrees
South Wall near Brotherhood Bay ~ 75 feet & 54 degrees
Cliff Wall near the Dam ~ 105 feet & 47 degrees
June 14 2009
Lake Elmer Thomas; Dam Area (near Lawton, Oklahoma)
Vis was 10-15 ft prior to the arrival of several OW classes and about 3-5 after the classes started. If you go on a weekend be prepared to swim out away from the main entry area to find the best visibility.
Temperature from surface to 20ft was around 80-78 deg F, below that there was a thermocline where the temp dropped to 68-70 deg F.
There were quite a few big Largemouth Bass, some large schools of Perch, and some mighty feisty crawdads that have developed a taste for human flesh (especially fingers!!).
It took me 3hrs on the dot to get back to Bedford via Hwy 287 and I-44 through Wichita Falls.
Best Regards.
Gillty
Lake Elmer Thomas; Dam Area (near Lawton, Oklahoma)
Vis was 10-15 ft prior to the arrival of several OW classes and about 3-5 after the classes started. If you go on a weekend be prepared to swim out away from the main entry area to find the best visibility.
Temperature from surface to 20ft was around 80-78 deg F, below that there was a thermocline where the temp dropped to 68-70 deg F.
There were quite a few big Largemouth Bass, some large schools of Perch, and some mighty feisty crawdads that have developed a taste for human flesh (especially fingers!!).
It took me 3hrs on the dot to get back to Bedford via Hwy 287 and I-44 through Wichita Falls.
Best Regards.
Gillty
austinspace
Contributor
Comal River - Sunday June 14th
Parked at Landa Falls "home of the longest float on the Comal river", a private tube rental and river access point. They charge $10 for parking and shuttle from the final exit (at the corner of Union and Lincoln). Not possible to enter any earlier and float down past Hinman Island ... because of Landa Falls. Discovering the rather huge falls (see picture here) put a quick stop to my plan of exploring entry points further upstream.
The dive (at times it was a float) started 2pm and lasted an whopping 3 hrs on 2,600 PSI. Conditions were pretty good all the way up to the tube chute, despite tons of tubers out on a hot summer afternoon. Beyond the tube chute, visibility was terrible - 2ft max - being stirred up by what seems like thousands of people on tubes kicking up the silt. Max depth 10ft. Average 4ft.
Still a great way to keep cool on a hot afternoon.
Tips:
Starting at Landa Falls or Landa RV and Campground, with second car parked at Prince Solms park for exit right at the tube chute would provide a nice long dive on a summer weekend when access to Hinman Island Drive is blocked and tubers are out in full force.
Another interesting entry point is at intersection of Landa Park Drive and Elizabeth Ave - enter by the cypress trees and grab rocks to hold position against the strong current, or swim against the current toward the small waterfall and there's a nice deep pocket with two big concrete caissons with lots of fish feeding. Tons of crawdads here. Great use of a half tank of air.
Be sure to add 2 or 4lbs more weight for river diving.
Parked at Landa Falls "home of the longest float on the Comal river", a private tube rental and river access point. They charge $10 for parking and shuttle from the final exit (at the corner of Union and Lincoln). Not possible to enter any earlier and float down past Hinman Island ... because of Landa Falls. Discovering the rather huge falls (see picture here) put a quick stop to my plan of exploring entry points further upstream.
The dive (at times it was a float) started 2pm and lasted an whopping 3 hrs on 2,600 PSI. Conditions were pretty good all the way up to the tube chute, despite tons of tubers out on a hot summer afternoon. Beyond the tube chute, visibility was terrible - 2ft max - being stirred up by what seems like thousands of people on tubes kicking up the silt. Max depth 10ft. Average 4ft.
Still a great way to keep cool on a hot afternoon.
Tips:
Starting at Landa Falls or Landa RV and Campground, with second car parked at Prince Solms park for exit right at the tube chute would provide a nice long dive on a summer weekend when access to Hinman Island Drive is blocked and tubers are out in full force.
Another interesting entry point is at intersection of Landa Park Drive and Elizabeth Ave - enter by the cypress trees and grab rocks to hold position against the strong current, or swim against the current toward the small waterfall and there's a nice deep pocket with two big concrete caissons with lots of fish feeding. Tons of crawdads here. Great use of a half tank of air.
Be sure to add 2 or 4lbs more weight for river diving.
Wreck Alley - Lake Travis - 14 June 09
Another great day diving off Giant Stride w/Lake Travis Scuba
Dive 1 - Deep Dive with an AOW class. We went down to pecan grove so the AOW class could do puzzles and such then came up and checked out house boat for a bit.
Vis 2-10, depending on depth and how long the group was there.
Dive 2 - We descended to the "Boatel." Was pretty stirred up. We followed lines to Toyota, pool, etc and then back around to Boatel. Saw the massive catfish, not the big bass that lives there.
Vis 2-8 probably in some places, better in others - depended I think on how many visitors each wreck had.
Surface temp 80
Temp at 71' was 66
Full 3mm all day was perfect.
Another great day diving off Giant Stride w/Lake Travis Scuba
Dive 1 - Deep Dive with an AOW class. We went down to pecan grove so the AOW class could do puzzles and such then came up and checked out house boat for a bit.
Vis 2-10, depending on depth and how long the group was there.
Dive 2 - We descended to the "Boatel." Was pretty stirred up. We followed lines to Toyota, pool, etc and then back around to Boatel. Saw the massive catfish, not the big bass that lives there.
Vis 2-8 probably in some places, better in others - depended I think on how many visitors each wreck had.
Surface temp 80
Temp at 71' was 66
Full 3mm all day was perfect.
Balmoreah State Park- San Solomon Springs
3 day dives, 1 night, all AMAZING. The vis was deceiving in that on the surface you could see the bottom! I thought they were lying that it was 25 feet deep until i jumped in.
Temp-73- I didn't use any kind of thermal protection, and only got a little chilled. But remember, all my dives were 80 minutes or longer!
Vis- 70 feet at first, but there were some open water classes that didn't get the message that walking on the bottom is a no-no. After they got in and mucked things up, vis dropped to about 30 feet.
Depth-25 feet, and that's with my gauge on the bottom.
So, best advice i would give to people going here, is to start diving as early as possible in the day, because most divers got in the water late morning and afternoon. Best vis is in the morning. Also, we talked to the park people, and they said that to get a campsite you had to reserve it about a month in advance! However, if you don't mind some rocky ground, the Balmoreah Lake Park is about 6 miles away and if you get there after 9pm and leave around 8am, the office isn't open and if you are an honest guy it's 4 bucks a person in an envelope in the drop box. Also, bring a LOT of tanks, because the guy at Funky Lil Dive Shop charged us 10 dollars per tank! I know he has a business to run, but really? 10 bucks? There are no other dive shops around there, so unless you want to cough up the dough, bring lots of tanks. To get in the park was 7 bucks a day, to do a night dive was an extra 5.
Other than the dive shop, the trip was absolutely great! Lots of tetras following you around, pupfish all along the bottom, crawdads everywhere, catfish, turtles, and swimsuits
. The night dive was one of the best dives, IMO, because there's enough ambient light that i turned off my light and just drifted around. The vis recovered by night, and it was the only dive i've done where i was annoyed at all the tetras following around my lights. Although you don't get depth here, you get lots of life and lots of dive time. 4 dives gave me 5 hours of underwater time!
Yeah, definitely worth the 7 hour drive. planning another trip there in July. Great way to start my triple digit dives!
3 day dives, 1 night, all AMAZING. The vis was deceiving in that on the surface you could see the bottom! I thought they were lying that it was 25 feet deep until i jumped in.
Temp-73- I didn't use any kind of thermal protection, and only got a little chilled. But remember, all my dives were 80 minutes or longer!
Vis- 70 feet at first, but there were some open water classes that didn't get the message that walking on the bottom is a no-no. After they got in and mucked things up, vis dropped to about 30 feet.
Depth-25 feet, and that's with my gauge on the bottom.
So, best advice i would give to people going here, is to start diving as early as possible in the day, because most divers got in the water late morning and afternoon. Best vis is in the morning. Also, we talked to the park people, and they said that to get a campsite you had to reserve it about a month in advance! However, if you don't mind some rocky ground, the Balmoreah Lake Park is about 6 miles away and if you get there after 9pm and leave around 8am, the office isn't open and if you are an honest guy it's 4 bucks a person in an envelope in the drop box. Also, bring a LOT of tanks, because the guy at Funky Lil Dive Shop charged us 10 dollars per tank! I know he has a business to run, but really? 10 bucks? There are no other dive shops around there, so unless you want to cough up the dough, bring lots of tanks. To get in the park was 7 bucks a day, to do a night dive was an extra 5.
Other than the dive shop, the trip was absolutely great! Lots of tetras following you around, pupfish all along the bottom, crawdads everywhere, catfish, turtles, and swimsuits
. The night dive was one of the best dives, IMO, because there's enough ambient light that i turned off my light and just drifted around. The vis recovered by night, and it was the only dive i've done where i was annoyed at all the tetras following around my lights. Although you don't get depth here, you get lots of life and lots of dive time. 4 dives gave me 5 hours of underwater time!Yeah, definitely worth the 7 hour drive. planning another trip there in July. Great way to start my triple digit dives!
I went surface swimming and a wee bit of snorkling at CSSP over the 'hot' weekend. I think I am getting hooked on this 1-5ft. of water----lol! Great fish and nesting areas......plenty of sweet turtles. Surface water to about a real deep depth of 3ft. was 86f. 
Saw a few Swampers from the distance.....place was full of classes.
Saw a few Swampers from the distance.....place was full of classes.
OP
June 13/14, 2009
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Air Temp: 90f's Sunny, light winds
Surface Temp: 83f
Depth Temp: 79f at Max 79'
Vis: 50-70 feet w/ thermocline around 50'
Seas 3-5 feet
Nice weekend diving the Flower Gardens aboard the M/V Fling. Visibility is off and the poorest I've seen at FG, but we still had some nice dives. Sunday dives at Stetson Bank were difficult w/ ripping current... (I lost a fin while setting the sideline :-() however @ 1/2 the divers were able to make it down and around for a successful dive day.
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Air Temp: 90f's Sunny, light winds
Surface Temp: 83f
Depth Temp: 79f at Max 79'
Vis: 50-70 feet w/ thermocline around 50'
Seas 3-5 feet
Nice weekend diving the Flower Gardens aboard the M/V Fling. Visibility is off and the poorest I've seen at FG, but we still had some nice dives. Sunday dives at Stetson Bank were difficult w/ ripping current... (I lost a fin while setting the sideline :-() however @ 1/2 the divers were able to make it down and around for a successful dive day.
eieio_24
Contributor
Tuesday - June 16, 2009 ; 1:30 pm
Comal River, New Braunfels, TX
Worked the bottom of the river, between Texas Tubes and the last set of stairs upstream of the tube chute.
Suprisingly, there were a ton of tubers, almost as busy as a weekend, and they had the river bottom stirred up a bit. Due to the tubers and other swimmers, the vis was sometimes as low as about 5', but generally it was on par with the Comal and very, very clear.
Found two fake diamond earrings - (darn...)
____________________________________________________________________________
Comal River, New Braunfels, TX
Worked the bottom of the river, between Texas Tubes and the last set of stairs upstream of the tube chute.
Suprisingly, there were a ton of tubers, almost as busy as a weekend, and they had the river bottom stirred up a bit. Due to the tubers and other swimmers, the vis was sometimes as low as about 5', but generally it was on par with the Comal and very, very clear.
Found two fake diamond earrings - (darn...)
____________________________________________________________________________
PeppermintPaddi
Contributor
Willie took pity on me and gave me a tour. Thanks for the suggestion Timeliner and Richerso.
81F on the surface
66F at 43'.
_Sharp_ thermocline at 30'
Stiff wind out of the south pushing up white caps
1st dive around 10AM, 2nd dive around noon.
Visibility 5' at best. Never broke into clearer water even at 'depth'.
Put in at the cove by the pavilion, headed due S and found the line in 18'. Headed E along the line to the platforms and then at 150 along the line for the boats and motorcycles.
2nd dive Willie drove. This is from his notes: Headed due S to 30' then E to pick up the line for the boats. SE to the large boat and then continued SE to the water treatment plant slab at 43'. Headed back at 350 to hit the platforms. Lake is at 621'.
81F on the surface
66F at 43'.
_Sharp_ thermocline at 30'
Stiff wind out of the south pushing up white caps
1st dive around 10AM, 2nd dive around noon.
Visibility 5' at best. Never broke into clearer water even at 'depth'.
Put in at the cove by the pavilion, headed due S and found the line in 18'. Headed E along the line to the platforms and then at 150 along the line for the boats and motorcycles.
2nd dive Willie drove. This is from his notes: Headed due S to 30' then E to pick up the line for the boats. SE to the large boat and then continued SE to the water treatment plant slab at 43'. Headed back at 350 to hit the platforms. Lake is at 621'.
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