New to SB

[dfitchtx]

Hello,
I am new to Scubaboard and for that matter new to diving. I received my open water last summer at Lake Austin. I am a late in life diver. My son went through certification with me. I have only 15 dives logged. As a retail merchant I do not get much time to get wet. I would surely welcome any suggestions as to where I might be able to make the best use of my limited diving time away from the store. I love to dive but find myself in position where I still have to make money to support my habbit..at least for a few more years. Also, if I may take up some more of your time, I am interested in the Flower Garden dive. What level of experience is best for this dive? I plan on getting my Nitrox and Advanced as soon as time allows.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Nitrox and advanced are a good idea.

The Gardens are built for Nitrox. You need to be comfortable in the water, you need to have good buoyancy control, and I would encourage getting on a rig trip or taking a trip to Florida or Coz. Late summer Gardens trips can be dead calm and real easy, or they can be rough and challenging, or it can go from one to the other in about an hour.

Go down to Twin Lakes with the southern group, or try to find ways to get wet and stay wet.

Have fun and welcome to the swamp.

TwoBit

 

[carlislere]

Welcome to the board and the Swampers den. Advanced and Nitrox are great choices. Add Scuba Rescue to your list for the future. Lake Travis is warming up and the specials for the Caribbean are starting so there will be ample opportunities for you to look at.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Lot's of mud holes to dive in around here. East of Dallas is Clear Springs Scuba Park

http://www.clearspringsscubapark.com/

Of course you already know about Lake Travis where Windy Point and Mansfield Dam areas are.

The Comal River in New Braunfels is a nice river to dive in water is 72 degrees yr round as is the San Marcos River.

 

[texdiveguy]

Welcome!!!!

 

[Detonate]

At the Flower Gardens, the dives are not guided. It will be up to you and your buddy to plan your dive, and stick to your dive plan.

You'll need to be comfortable diving without a dive professional.
You'll need to be aware of the challenges and differences in diving below 60 ft.
You'll need to be comfortable in your underwater navigation skills.

These are all things that are talked about in an advanced course.

As mentioned above, Nitrox is perfect for diving the depth involved in the Flower Gardens. All but the optional rig dive will have a hard bottom to help prevent you from going below your MOD.

 

[dfitchtx]

Thank you for the information. Would it be better to do the first Gardens dive with a group? I assume that there are groups that do a Gardens trip.

 

[Detonate]

It's always more fun with a group. The best would be to go with someone you've dove with and trained/practiced with before.

Also, if you go during the summer you'll be less likely to encounter the challenging conditions that plague the Gulf during the winter months.