Diving in the Galveston, TX area?

[isp475]

I may be in the Galveston, TX area for meetings in Feb 04 and would like to take in some diving if possible? Can anyone recommend some great area diving and dive shops? Thanks for any and all help you may provide.

Tim

 

[chrispete]

Inshore you'll be right down the road from Twin Lakes, offshore will be trickier - most charter boats are put up for the winter in Feb, and I'm not sure if the weather/seas would be very cooperative. You may have a little more luck going out of Corpus or that area (about a 6 hour drive from Galveston.) You may want to contact a few charter boats and find out what their take on it is, but for the most part when snapper season ends most dive charters on the upper TX Gulf coast go into hibernation.

 

[LocalDiver]

I certainly wouldn't call it 'great' diving, but when I lived there serveral years ago friends and I would hop into Offats Bayou on 61st street. Poor visibility and shallow depths - around 25 feet max. We would use BBQ thongs to catch crabs (mostly blue, some stone crabs).

Other than that, I think you'll actually need to hop on a boat to get offshore a few miles to do anything 'great'. I've been on rig dives out in the Gulf which are fun.

It's been several years since I've lived there so I'm not sure I can provide good info on shops. The only one I knew of was The D.E.E.P. on Seawall blvd, but I think it shut down a few years ago. Others on the board may have more info on dive shops / boat charters.

-Jeff

 

[TexasMike]

Not a 100% certain, but I think the Spree/Fling still do some runs during February. However, Gulf weather at that time is trickier than summer and the water at the Flower Gardens is colder.

 

[Cudabait]

ISP:

Check my post to your entry under North America.

 

[Wethead]

Wouldn't recommend at all. Freeport, TX is your closest bet for rig diving-less than an hour southeast of Galveston. We have had good weather for the past two winters off-shore. Bring a wetsuit!
Wethead