possible relocation to Texas.. need a dive shop

[carlislere]

Well, not all the Gulf is crappy brown water, well, maybe offshore from Houston it is. There is good diving 3 hours from Houston at Lake Travis, near Austin. There is rig diving off of Corpus Christi and Houston areas. There are numerous wrecks and rigs off of South Padre Island, about 4-5 hour drive south of Houston.
The last time I was in a Sports Chalet, they only had 12 stores. Now, I understand, they have taken over most of the western U.S. Years ago, I made four dive trips to the Channel Islands through Sports Chalet and Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara.

 

[river_sand_bar]

So from what I am gathering here then, I can just get out of work, drive 20 minutes to the beach and go for a deep dive into a sea rift.... dang, I am going to miss living in San Diego.

Good Old Sports Chalet is now all over the place.... was hoping I could stay an employee there and keep getting all my discounts... oh well, maybe if I go to Texas, I'll be making enough money I wont need the discounts.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Ohhhhhhhhhhh.... didn't even think about that one.... dang, that might have to become a regualr thing to run to Cozumel for a weekend.. are the flights cheap from there??

on average around 400.00...but they have sales and slow season pricing but lately it has been at least 400.00 +...charters are easy from Hou and they can be cheap but they usually only run in the summer....it's funny the northern states sometimes get better rates to Coz than we do.... my friend is flying around Christmas from San Francisco to Coz..I think she said her ticket was around 500.00...it is hard for me to find a 500.00 fare to the west coast from here..

 

[parrotheaddiver]

So from what I am gathering here then, I can just get out of work, drive 20 minutes to the beach and go for a deep dive into a sea rift.... dang, I am going to miss living in San Diego.
.

uh....no

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Hey, there is the Flower Gardens....

 

[NadMat]

And soon to be the Clipper, sinking the 23rd of this month off of S. Padre(I hope)

 

[Scubafast]

There are shops all over Houston. Houston is spread out and driving 70 it would take you 45 min to go from one end to the other. N and S or E and W.
The shop I use is in Clear Lake right of NASA rd. 1 and I-45 called Divers Paradise. He's a cranky old man sometimes (he hates it when people waste his time) but uses PADI and has discount prices on all the big stuff. I like the staff a lot though. Some of the best instructors I have had since 1989.

 

[river_sand_bar]

How far of a drive is it from Houston to Padre Island??? is it like about 2 hours???

Now, then where do you folks go for a cheap weekend get away to dive??... hopefully warm water.... cus I really dont wanna bring my 8mm.

Speaking of that... whats the water temp of the local quarries??

 

[Texas_Aggie06]

Padre is more like 5 1/2 to 6 hours away unfortunately.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

How far of a drive is it from Houston to Padre Island??? is it like about 2 hours???

Now, then where do you folks go for a cheap weekend get away to dive??... hopefully warm water.... cus I really dont wanna bring my 8mm.

Speaking of that... whats the water temp of the local quarries??

SPI is about 5-6 hrs from Houston

weekend getaways other than Coz...some of the lakes have already been mentioned Lake Travis in Austin Tx water temp in the summer 80's...in the winter 50's brrr some of the spring fed rivers Comal in New Braunfles and San Marcos River in San Marcos maintain a constant temp of around 72....but the air temp can be cool or even cold in the winter....