dolesorchard
Contributor
We are headed to Texas in November and read some about diving the Flower Garden Banks. Looking for some input, who to go with, are there trips that time of year, is it worth the time and money?
Flower Garden Banks
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redacted
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I don't believe you will find any operation that makes regular trips that time of year. But, if you want to spend the $$ and the weather is OK, I'm sure you could find something. The Flower Gardens is a fair weather destination. Shelter is 8 hours hours away.
I tried to do that trip twice before I finally went. It gets cancelled often. When I did it, I was very disappointed. They seem to imply that every dive has schools of whale sharks flying overhead but the truth is that there is very little life in the Flower Gardens from what I saw. I went in April trying to catch the big fish and I did get coral spawn but little else. The oil rigs are an interesting dive but I wasn't impressed with the rest. Better spent dollars go to Coz or Cayman, both of which are pretty good deals right now.
pecuda
Guest
I agree with Zinc. The coral spawn is just now coming up. I have dove the Flower Gardens 5 times. It is not Cozumel, Belize,..... it is the Flower Gardens. Shallowest spot is 72'. Huge Mantas are very common. Nite diving there is a rush. Stetson Rock is also very cool. If you want to see what a begining reef looks like, Stetson is it. Same thing, 70' minimum depth. The deep water rigs are full of fish! I've seen all sorts of fish (still waiting to see a whale shark though).
I'm a Texas boy, been running the coast my whole life and also work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a different kind of salt water dive than the tropical waters of the Caribean. Try it for yourself. You judge! I love diving in all sorts of waters and have been fortunate enough to dive many places including dirty ponds and lakes. They all are good and offer different experiences. That is what makes a good diver, experience, not how many merit badges you accumulate from a dive shop.
Try it, you'll like it. Judge it for what it is, a deep water reef.
I'm just a grumpy old diver I guess.
I'm a Texas boy, been running the coast my whole life and also work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a different kind of salt water dive than the tropical waters of the Caribean. Try it for yourself. You judge! I love diving in all sorts of waters and have been fortunate enough to dive many places including dirty ponds and lakes. They all are good and offer different experiences. That is what makes a good diver, experience, not how many merit badges you accumulate from a dive shop.
Try it, you'll like it. Judge it for what it is, a deep water reef.
I'm just a grumpy old diver I guess.
diver 85
Contributor
Think you're gunna miss out ---this year & most other years...The Fling usually does the FG but this year they cancelled all trips starting in June(working the oil leak out of N.O.)---If I'm not mistaken, they usually shut it down some time in Oct...By Nov, US cold fronts are coming in pretty regularly & the weather is too rough to schedule trips.....Next year, plan a trip in June, July or Aug--fairly safe bet about going then...
Go to their website & look @ ' Fling schedules' to see what I'm talking about...
www.gulf-diving.com
Go to their website & look @ ' Fling schedules' to see what I'm talking about...
www.gulf-diving.com
pecuda
Guest
Diver 85 is correct about the Fling. She has been serving as temporary quarters and hauling supplies for the spill effort. The SPREE is off in the Tortugas working so she not available either. There are a few others though that can run you out there in fast boats on a good day. This guy runs out of Galveston. His boat is real fast! You just have to pick a weekend that Neptune doesn't have it too rough!
Check this guy out.
fishndivers is the name of his website. Since I just joined, I am not allowed to put in a direct link so the rest of the address is dotcom.
Check this guy out.
fishndivers is the name of his website. Since I just joined, I am not allowed to put in a direct link so the rest of the address is dotcom.
There are many many trip reports from the gardens on here. Read a few of them.
The Spree came back from Florida to run a couple trips this year and every one of them is sold out. That should tell you something.
As has been said, no one runs in November due to the weather, but if you can plan a trip in July or August it is, in my opinion, worth it.
The Spree came back from Florida to run a couple trips this year and every one of them is sold out. That should tell you something.
As has been said, no one runs in November due to the weather, but if you can plan a trip in July or August it is, in my opinion, worth it.
Guba
Contributor
To the OP...I think it would be pretty difficult to book a trip to the FG in November, though it might be possible. The Gulf if pretty capricious that time of year, and you would be very fortunate not to get "waved out" by the weather, even if you were able to find a charter to take you out (as stated, the Fling and Spree usually don't run trips out there that time of year).
As to the quality of the dives...I LIVE (as well as love) to dive the FG! My fish tallies (REEF reports) typically log dozens of species on the FG East and West, and that's only because I miss dozens more in the process. Stetson Banks, though with less benthic cover, is awesome in its "moonscape"-like quality, and yet it has plenty of species to keep you occupied for your dives. It's a favorite place of mine to find morays and octopi. While no one should even suggest that you'll be swimming with hammerheads, whalesharks, and mantas on every dive, those encounters do happen often enough to have you looking, and megafawna are quite common there.
If one is expecting the same corals and species of fish found in shallower reef systems, they might be disappointed. There are no sea fans or "soft" corals...it IS over 65 feet down after all. While there are many of the same fish species found in other Caribbean waters, there will be some missing and others you will not find at other destinations. Still, as was said earlier..."it is what it is-the Flower Gardens". As far as the health of the coral reefs, the FG is one of the "baseline" coral systems against which the majority of other systems in the world are compared.
In short, do a summer trip out there if at all possible and judge it for yourself. I'm so enamoured with the place that I serve as a north-central Texas volunteer for Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, and I'll be more than glad to talk with whoever wants to know more about it.
As to the quality of the dives...I LIVE (as well as love) to dive the FG! My fish tallies (REEF reports) typically log dozens of species on the FG East and West, and that's only because I miss dozens more in the process. Stetson Banks, though with less benthic cover, is awesome in its "moonscape"-like quality, and yet it has plenty of species to keep you occupied for your dives. It's a favorite place of mine to find morays and octopi. While no one should even suggest that you'll be swimming with hammerheads, whalesharks, and mantas on every dive, those encounters do happen often enough to have you looking, and megafawna are quite common there.
If one is expecting the same corals and species of fish found in shallower reef systems, they might be disappointed. There are no sea fans or "soft" corals...it IS over 65 feet down after all. While there are many of the same fish species found in other Caribbean waters, there will be some missing and others you will not find at other destinations. Still, as was said earlier..."it is what it is-the Flower Gardens". As far as the health of the coral reefs, the FG is one of the "baseline" coral systems against which the majority of other systems in the world are compared.
In short, do a summer trip out there if at all possible and judge it for yourself. I'm so enamoured with the place that I serve as a north-central Texas volunteer for Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, and I'll be more than glad to talk with whoever wants to know more about it.
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