diving in texas

[Vonlick]

i have heard that the gulf in texas is dead and has no sea life in it. i wanted to find out if that is true.

 

[NAM001]

i have heard nothing in that regards. we still use the flower gardens and stetsen banks.

Perhaps you can contact bay area divers (BAD) in houston or chumm in houston. both dive clubs that should have better info than i on this.

 

[TMHeimer]

I dived an oil rig off S. Padre Island May of 2010. Hundreds of fish--mostly "LookDowns", maybe a few Triggerfish. Shells on the rig (rock shells) and Giant Eastern Murex on the bottom at 100'. I went with American Divers, a good Op, large boat, though a bit pricey. I believe the Horizon explosion was just a month before, but I think the Loop Current kept oil away from there at the time.

 

[Nemrod]

The Gulf along the huge coast line of Texas is not dead. It is also not a diver's paradise. The bottom is mostly mud and fine sand, winnowed from the west flowing efflux of the Mississippi river and the various smaller rivers dumping the remnants of middle America into the Gulf. It is called erosion and deposition, part of the rock cycle.

There is Stetson Banks, a few other similar salt domes and finally the Flower Garden Banks (also a salt dome). A few wrecks also such as the Texas Clipper.

If you really want to get scared, I took my inflatable once to the mouth of Galveston Bay and for some stupid reason decided I would SCUBA dive there. Let's see, zero viz, muddy, silt bottom, oh, yeah, and something very large and solid bumped me. Not once, but twice. I suggest Cozumel or drive east to the Emerald Coast of Florida.

Some people dive in the various lakes, man made "tanks" as they are called in Texas properly. Me, I would not bother with that.

Have fun.

N

 

[Vonlick]

Thanks for the info. I only have dived quarry's so far. I didnt it would be like FL but didnt know what to expect. After I get done with my dm the IDC training I will be looking for something someplace. I just love Texas and was hoping to stay but I will be moving on I think.

 

[Tony387]

Lots of cool places to dive in Texas. It's not FL, but then what is? More than a few lakes to choose from...Travis and Canyon to name just a couple. Those "tanks" have 270 and 80 miles of shoreline, respectively.. with max depth of Travis exceeding 200 ft . Something for everyone, and as already referenced..the Texas Clipper and the Flower Gardens are not too far.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Nemrod]

Those "tanks" have 270 and 80 miles of shoreline, respectively.. with max depth of Travis exceeding 200 ft .

And I would rather dive the Galveston Jetties again before mucking around in flooded Texas real estate. At least there are bull sharks there to eat me.

The Texas Clipper is pretty cool. A few years back I did my Heavy Metal Jeep Tour which began with the Clipper, drove east, hit the Big O and then proceeded on down and got the Spiegal and Duane and then wound up on the Vandenberg. Poor Jeep, no worries, it is being prepped for another adventure.

N

 

[TMHeimer]

That Mississippi River stuff pretty much ends once you're East of Mobile Bay. The diving E. of there into the FL panhandle is relatively good viz, but again, not tropical. A drive from Texas, but not like going to S. FL.

 

[ianr33]

. with max depth of Travis exceeding 200 ft .

Been some time since Travis was anything like that depth

 

[halocline]

If you're going to be living in central TX, aquarena springs is a nice dive site, but you need to be certified to volunteer dive there and they're currently not offering the course. The flower garden banks are very enjoyable but seasonal.

You'd have better results posting this in the TX forum.