Diving in/around Austin?

[Boogie711]

Hey everyone!

I'm a cold-water, Ontario Fresh Water Freak who just got called away on business to Austin. I arrive on Thursday, and it looks like I have meetings on Friday. Then I'm free, and head back Sunday morning.

Now, forgive me, but I'm pretty dumb and have never, not even once, been to Texas. So - is there diving around there? And if so - what's it like?

I have a rental car, and it looks like I may be free on Saturday... so forgive the vague post, but if you were me, what would you do?

And incidentally - will a 2mm shorty suffice? Isn't it, like, 157 degrees down there right now?

 

[LVX]

Really there are only a few places to dive around here. There is Lake Travis - Windy Point and Mansfield Damn - San Marcos - Aquarena Springs and the San Marcos River and possibly Canyon Lake.

Depending on which of the dives you make temps could range from 85 to 68.

Good Luck

LVX

 

[Todd]

Hi Boogie711:

Not sure about the first two parts, but...

I think that Aquarena Springs requires you to take a two-day class before they will allow you dive.

I think the rivers require a bit of logistics, with entry and exit points and the like (due to current).

Many local divers prefer Lake Travis, due to its proximity to town and the, for Austin, reasonably clear water.

Windy Point Park is a private park and is well set up for scuba and offers things to find and look at for a while, including a Ford Pinto. There are loads of fish here as they typically are hand-fed by many of the divers (watch your ears ).

Mansfield Dam is a great dive, too, and the dam is quite interesting (please be very careful and get experienced local knowledge before getting too close to the dam itself as there are fun things like gates and turbines and things I don't know about). The dam is fun, in a spooky sort of way, at night.

Temperatures are very warm, roughly eighty-five degrees, until you reach forty feet; it goes downhill quickly from there.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

Todd.

 

[cyklon_300]

park (Bob Wentz) or the private side (Barstow's) at Windy Point.

Vis in the upper water column is prety junk right now, but at 70-85' there is some nice clear water (10+' vis). Surface temps are mid-80s...thermocline at 40ish. As long as you stay shallow, your shorty will be ok.

This weekend I recorded 64F at 108'....used 3mm two-piece with hood.

Two weeks ago, vis at Mansfield dam was uniformly lousy (2-4').

There's quite a few fish to watch, largemouth bass, several types of catfish, carp, crappie, perch, etc...the little perch will take nips of your ear lobes...cute, sort of...

There will be numerous divers at WP on the weekend, you should be able to hook up with a buddy fairly easily.