Recommended diving spots from Dallas Texas

[ssuhan]

Hi,

I will be going to Dallas Texas in jan 2011. I was wondering if anyone can make any recommendations for great diving spots around this area? Also advice the water's temperature.

thanks for any help in advance.

ssuhan

 

[ZzzKing]

The closest place to Dallas is Clear Springs Scuba Park. It's a flooded limestone quarry with all the typical quarry stuff. Sunken boats, airplane, etc. It's a 45 minute drive east of downtown Dallas outside a small town called Terrell.

Lake Murray in southern Oklahoma is about an hour and a half drive north. It has some interesting dives near the dam and at Tucker Tower.

Lake Travis is in Austin, about 3 and a half hours south. You can dive at Mansfield Dam, Windy Point or you could do some dives with the Giant Stride. It's the local dive boat. Rates are very reasonable and they can take you to a lot of sites that are inaccessible from shore.

Lake Broken Bow is in southeast Oklahoma. About 3 hours north east of Dallas. It has some nice dives near the Spillway Dam and on the outside of the island at Stephens Gap.

Now for the water temperature. I've got good news and I've got bad news. The temperature at all of these in January is going to be in the 40's. That's about 5C for you Imperial System challenged folks. Drysuit is highly recommended although I have known a few brave souls get in a 20-25 minute dive in heavy neoprene. Travis will be a little warmer but not much. Maybe some of the Austin folks will chime in with mid-winter temps down there.

The good news is that due to the cold water, all of the algae dies back so you get some of the best visibility of the year.

Good luck in your search!

 

[svnipp]

Bear in mind I haven't been there yet, but if you shell out the $230 for the Scientific Diver certain I hear that Aquarena Springs in San Marcos is pretty awesome. My understanding is comfortable diving year round since it's a spring that is 72F all the time. Honestly that is probably going to be my first class after I get my OW cert.

 

[ibj40]

Hi,

I will be going to Dallas Texas in jan 2011. I was wondering if anyone can make any recommendations for great diving spots around this area? Also advice the water's temperature.

thanks for any help in advance.

ssuhan

When I lived in Dallas, the closest spot I could think of was Cozumel or somewhere in the Yucatan (via Cancun), both of which are about two hours by plane. If you are coming all the way from Singapore, is there a chance you could add a long weekend (Thursday - Sunday) to your itinerary?

January in North Texas can be hit or miss from a weather standpoint, it could be 80F one day, and 28F the next. I'd be hard pressed to suggest you bring dive gear all the way across the Pacific Ocean to dive locally during that time of the year.

:cool2:

 

[jalistair]

I was talking to some of the divers at Lake Travis today and brought up Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. What was mentioned is a bit disturbing to me and you may want to look into this before shelling out the 300 bucks. The scientific certification supposedly only allows you to dive in a small area, and if you do not dive the spring at least once a year your certification is null and void meaning you have to pay for the course again before you could dive at that site again. Granted this is unconfirmed but it may be enough to make you want to research that before spending 300 dollars for the certification.

 

[Lake Travis Scuba]

Lake Travis is in Austin, about 3 and a half hours south. You can dive at Mansfield Dam, Windy Point or you could do some dives with the Giant Stride. It's the local dive boat. Rates are very reasonable and they can take you to a lot of sites that are inaccessible from shore.

You can track Lake Travis temperatures at Lake Travis Weather and Temperature Reporting System. The numbers accurately match the temperatures from my dive computer and our dive guests computers.

Our charter schedule, site descriptions, required forms and other information about diving Lake Travis can be found on our web site, www.LakeTravisScuba.com.

I hope the information is helpful,

Robert
Lake Travis Scuba
www.LakeTravisScuba.com

 

[diver68]

You can drive 8 hours to the west and go to Balmorhea(Forgive spelling) and dive in the spring. It is crystal clear and around 70 degrees year round, in the water.

 

[2905luvsbubbles]

The temps will be cold in January. Depending upon the time in January and the winter temps, I would expect the quarry at Terrel to be in the 40's. Definitely dry suit temps. If you need a dive buddy then, pm me, I live in Fort Worth and am a transplanted northern dry suit diver.

 

[ianr33]

Now for the water temperature. I've got good news and I've got bad news. The temperature at all of these in January is going to be in the 40's. That's about 5C for you Imperial System challenged folks. Drysuit is highly recommended although I have known a few brave souls get in a 20-25 minute dive in heavy neoprene. Travis will be a little warmer but not much. Maybe some of the Austin folks will chime in with mid-winter temps down there.

Travis will likely be mid 50's in January.

 

[ssuhan]

Thanks for all your replies. I will look into it. Also, what is good at San Diego? as I maybe doing a stop over at LA on my return flight.

thanks