Newbie Diver with a few questions for my fellow Texans

[TxHockeyGuy]

I have a few questions for some fellow Texas divers. I have just recently (newly certified) started diving. I have searched through ScubaBoard and have some general ideas as to what the answers to these are but I thought I'd ask my fellow Texans.

How many of ya'll dive during the winter months? What kind of exposure protection do you use (during winter)? Where do you dive (during winter)?

If I can find some dive buddies I'd like to get at least a few dives in during the winter months. I took my OW class 2 months ago and the temp was 74. I was only down for half an hour with the top half of a 7 mil farmers john and was plenty toasty, this was at CSSP. I was thinking for current temps a 7 mil farmers john w/ hood and gloves should be OK. Right now I don't have anything so I might as well get what I need the first time. Thoughts?

And last, anyone out there interested in getting a few dives in and willing to put up with a newbie ASD?

Thanks in advance.

 

[cowjazz]

There is dive club in DFW called Flippers, and they try to do a local trip at least once a month. You can visit the website
at: http://www.flippersdiveclub.org/ .

Not a member of the club yet, bit I'll probably join once the weather warms up.

The only diving I do in the winter around here is about a three hour plane ride South.

 

[loosebits]

Almost all of my local dives are in Lake Travis now. After 40 dives in CSSP (40 x $20 = $800, man I wish I hadn't have multiplied that out), I've gotten rather bored. Lake Travis offers a lot more interesting environment and its much cheaper (Mansfield Dam, $8/car). As far as exposure protection, a 7mm will probably be ok for you in the water, its when you get out that it will suck. Get into something warm and dry fast or better yet, get a drysuit - its the only way to dive.

 

[Daylonious]

You can get by with a 7mm and hood for the winter months. Coldest I've dove in a 7mm was Valhalla a couple of weeks ago, water temp was about 57 degrees.

After the initial "turtleing" and screaming obscenities once you jump into the water, everything else proceeds fine.

D.

I'm in the Irving / Las colinas area - would welcome a trip to travis sometime..

 

[RumBum]

Almost all of my local dives are in Lake Travis now. After 40 dives in CSSP (40 x $20 = $800, man I wish I hadn't have multiplied that out), I've gotten rather bored. Lake Travis offers a lot more interesting environment and its much cheaper (Mansfield Dam, $8/car).

You might want to consider buying a state park pass? $60 for all the diving you can handle in a year. :05:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/parkinfo/passes/parkpass/faqs/

 

[WaterWayne]

...How many of ya'll dive during the winter months? What kind of exposure protection do you use (during winter)? Where do you dive (during winter)?

...a 7 mil farmers john w/ hood and gloves should be OK.

David, I'll be glad to dive with you in winter months, probably at CSSP. I was out there last weekend with SubZero from Austin, and I re-learned two things: 1. Gotta keep those dive skills up, especially associated with weighting/heavy protection, in between warm-water dives. 2. My 6mm Farmer John (12mm core), 3mm gloves and 3mm hood kept me comfortable in 58-deg water. Since that's the case, there's no excuse for me not to dive monthly during the winter.

There are at least four organized, public dive clubs in the Metromess: the afore-mentioned Flippers; Scubadillos; Finz; and Diving Rebels (I believe the last is based in Ft. Worth, and meets in Arlington.) Texas Instruments also has an employees dive club which is open to TI contractors and related companies. Of the several dive shops, there are sure to be local/regional trips, although I'm only certain of the ones organized by Surface Interval Scuba in Arlington. (They went out to the Valhalla missile silo near Abilene recently, for instance.) All of these folks, with the possible exception of the TI group, are active in this forum and will no doubt be telling you more. The Swampers is an informal club, and enjoy diving around.

Besides CSSP, there are also Athens Scuba Park, and Tyler State Park. Possum Kingdom, out west near Wichita Falls somewhere, is mentioned occasionally as a dive destination, although not enthusiastically. All of these have been reviewed in this forum, and will easily inform you after an easy search. Lake Travis is a good destination, and if you subscribe to the Austin Scuba Club mailings, there are frequent postings inviting buddies there.

Dive safe,
Wayne

 

[Goose75]

I spent 8 months in Seattle and dove there in 7mm farmer john (14mm across the core) down to the mid 40s. Dives were cold and short but still enjoyable. I'm not sure a lake is worth being that cold. The biggest problem if you dive wet in cold water is warming up after the dive. If you read in the Orca Bait Forum they have tons of tips on warming up.

If you have the money and are going to dive in the cold often a dry suit is worth getting.

 

[loosebits]

You might want to consider buying a state park pass? $60 for all the diving you can handle in a year. :05:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/parkinfo/passes/parkpass/faqs/

Thanks for the tip. Now if I could get a yearly gas card

 

[Debraw]

Welcome to the Texas Swamp Forum! I always recommend the Texas Swamp Divers when people ask me about clubs. No dues, fees, and no meetings! What do they do? They dive!!!!! I have never seen a weekend go by that someone from this forum is diving somewhere in Texas. Now that's a dive club!
I organize monthly outings for my shop and Texas Swamp Divers are always welcome. My shop doesn't have a club, we just dive together. We dive year around and 7MM ro dry suits are recommended from now until April or so. I love cold water diving, less crowds and better visibility. Have fun and keep diving!

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Thanks for all the tips. Sounds like diving during winter is definetely doable down here and it doesn't look like I'll have too much of a problem finding a dive buddy or two. As for the dry suit suggestions that's where I'll probably end up, but from what I've read on here jumping straight into a dry suit as a beginner is ill advised. I'll just have to deal with the cold for now. Thanks again everyone.