Sooners, don't think of the gear as expensive. . . just divide it out over the next 40 years, and it is a bargain. Even though you're not certified yet, look around the board, there is something for any interest. There are some good diving lakes in Texas, but a long way from Tyler. Oklahoma has some lakes to dive. Broken Bow lake in south east part of the state, is a good diving lake when the storms aren't hurting the visibility, common everywhere. Lake Murray is in the south central part of the state and is popular with divers. A longer drive, southwest Oklahoma has Lake Elmer Thomas at the foot of Mt Scott, in the Wichita Wildlife refuge.
A longer drive, but in Southwest Arkansas, Lake DeGray and Ouachita lake are excellent, and Arkansas allows spearfishermen 1/2 a limit of game fish, for that supper over a camp fire.
Click on the "Forums" button at the top of the page, it opens a long list of topics categorized for easy searching. At the top of the list are topics for new divers. . . scroll way down the list to "Regional Travel and Dive Clubs", A search under "Central United States" will give Oklahoma and Arkansas topics, under "Midwest Muck Divers". Choose the Texas topics and you can meet Texas dive opportunities
But before you read everything there is to know about diving, and get a headache, go back to the top of the page and look through the photo gallery. Look at the "why" we're all diving. And welcome to the board.