Howdy EmtTim,
I'll add a few cents to the good info already posted:
Austin: Lake Travis. Good for depth and variety of dive sites, shore & boat diving options available. While I'd say that average vis is perhaps 10-15 feet annually (some months 1-5', others 15-20'), I've seen 40+ for a few weeks in late March, early April. Of course the water's still pretty cold then, but shouldn't be a problem if you've got exposure protection adequate for the Pacific.
R/g Visibility: Make no mistake, lake diving in limited visibility is great training; If you're comfortable diving here, most anywhere else is cake. As we like to say, 'Good vis is overrated!'
Reefs: Flower Gardens are your only bet. Great diving, but 110 miles off shore, so usually a multi-day trip is required. See Gulf Diving LLC - Welcome! for more info.
Wrecks: Several, but the real pride of Texas wrecks is the Texas Clipper, an artificial reef sunk November 2007: 473' in length, resting at depth of 134' with much of it in the 50-70' range. See The Texas Clipper : American Diving
Rigs: Many. Both outfits above can take you to rigs... & I've heard about other outfitters departing from different cities on the Texas coast.
Lastly, but importantly, I want to mention our close proximity to great Caribbean diving, especially Mexico, a relatively cheap option for some of the worlds best diving. I'd suggest checking out Cozumel for reefs, and the Yucatan for Cenotes: Cavern & Cave diving.
Best of luck & let us know if/when you get here. I'd be happy to dive some of the local spots w/ ya and show you around a bit.
Safe diving,
Zinc
I'll add a few cents to the good info already posted:
Austin: Lake Travis. Good for depth and variety of dive sites, shore & boat diving options available. While I'd say that average vis is perhaps 10-15 feet annually (some months 1-5', others 15-20'), I've seen 40+ for a few weeks in late March, early April. Of course the water's still pretty cold then, but shouldn't be a problem if you've got exposure protection adequate for the Pacific.
R/g Visibility: Make no mistake, lake diving in limited visibility is great training; If you're comfortable diving here, most anywhere else is cake. As we like to say, 'Good vis is overrated!'
Reefs: Flower Gardens are your only bet. Great diving, but 110 miles off shore, so usually a multi-day trip is required. See Gulf Diving LLC - Welcome! for more info.
Wrecks: Several, but the real pride of Texas wrecks is the Texas Clipper, an artificial reef sunk November 2007: 473' in length, resting at depth of 134' with much of it in the 50-70' range. See The Texas Clipper : American Diving
Rigs: Many. Both outfits above can take you to rigs... & I've heard about other outfitters departing from different cities on the Texas coast.
Lastly, but importantly, I want to mention our close proximity to great Caribbean diving, especially Mexico, a relatively cheap option for some of the worlds best diving. I'd suggest checking out Cozumel for reefs, and the Yucatan for Cenotes: Cavern & Cave diving.
Best of luck & let us know if/when you get here. I'd be happy to dive some of the local spots w/ ya and show you around a bit.
Safe diving,
Zinc
