Diving in the desert

[thevalkyry]

Hey there...

I just got fussed at by scubaboard for not posting recently so I thought I would throw up pix from Balmorhea this past weekend. It was my first time there.

Balmorhea S.P. - a set on Flickr

Trip was awesome. Tom and I split the driving out and the roads were dry and clear the whole way. Which was nice as Balmorhea S.P. was a winter wonderland of white!! It had snowed right before we got out there.

The water is clear, clear, clear - very blue. No murky lake green here!! And fish! fish! fish!! Mostly under 2 inches, but they swarm you in hopes that you have snacks so it really feels like the place is packed. The coolest thing were the diving ducks! Those guys can freedive to 20 feet!!! Amazing!! And fun to watch - although they dont like you to get too close.

We stayed at the park itself - very nice little suite with a bedroom and a kitchenette. So nice to be able to walk to the water The water was warm - 72-73 - and steaming in the cold. So it was brutal getting out, but luckily the rooms were just a short dash away where you could strip off your wetsuit on the convenient linoleum entry and start to thaw.

I'd kind of like to come back in summer just for the novelty of not freezing. But it was fun - clear blue and sun all the way home until we passed a line in Weatherford - then cloudy-rainy the rest of the way home. Ugh!!

Got my 3 dives so I am all set to do #100 in Brasil next week. Cant wait to get me some summer!! I leave Thursday and cant wait to get away from the dreary....

 

[GaryBDavis]

Seems I remember there being an issue with filling tanks around there. Either there wasn't a convient place or it was expensive. Or perhaps you took three tanks!

 

[psiborg1812]

Yeah, the only shop that does fills there charges 10 bucks a fill. At least they charged us that. We're going to head down this weekend, and are stuffing the car full of tanks!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The place is "The Funky Little Dive Shop", I have the card from the owner/cowboy. It is $10, but considering you can dive for 1.5-2 hours on a tank in 22' of water, it is reasonable. The banjo music is free, just like in the movie Deliverance.

I spent Thanksgiving weekend there. Not exactly dive paradise, but if you are stuck in West Texas, it looks might fine. Water is warm, clear and lots of little fish and a few turtles. The state park has a modest motel on site.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

Glad you and Tom had a great time and thanks for the pictures. Pretty neat seeing snow out there and the diving duck. I hope to get out there in 2010.

 

[YellowfinKunkfish]

You call that snow??! That's just a layer of FROST! The pics are great, especially the sunset, very nice. We're doing Balmorhea over spring break, hopefully the air temp will be a bit warmer, since we're going to be roughing it in the pop-up.

Good to know there's a dive shop nearby, we're not going to be able to pack a lot of tanks, what with all the kids, and the dog...

Rhonda

 

[Texas Torpedo]

That's Texas Snow..

 

[carrielsal]

Thanks for sharing the pics, Vanessa!

 

[thevalkyry]

There is a dive shop across the road and the compressor is S-L-O-W. We took 4 tanks for the 2 of us and could have done 6 dives on them because the water is so shallow (we were averging 40-45 min dives). I actually caught a strap on a tank unloading and fumbled getting it closed and so drained 600 lbs before even hitting the water. But I still got 2 dives on the tank and could have gotten a third.

But then, my SAC rate is down to .1 (I'm willing to provide screen shots of my dive computer if you dont believe me. Believe me, I was shocked too.)

 

[Texas Torpedo]

.1?

Someone (Tom), check her for GILLS!

I doubt I'd ever see that even asleep on a deco stop in calm water.