Texas Diving

[jmani]

Greetings SB'ers.

I am a California diver, my usual dive buddy moved to England 3 years ago. This coming July he will be moving back to the states. He is moving to Austin TX. I plan to fly out to visit him July/August. What kind of dive options will we have? Particularly is it feasible to dive the warm gulf waters?

I have no idea what the waters around Texas are like reefs? Sand? Muddy? I have no idea.

A brief primer on Texas diving would be awesome.

p.s. Please don't be too hard on the San Francisco, California liberal when I come out there. hehe.

 

[carrielsal]

Here's a post to start looking at where numerous sites were discussed not too long ago, http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/texas-swamp-divers/313193-where-good-diving-texas-time-year.html.

 

[sublime250]

I've enjoyed my dives aboard the MV Fling to the Texas Flower Gardens in the gulf.

Lake diving is low vis and very cold (45 degrees in Tyler State Park new years day)

I will go to the flower garders in march to see the hammer heads

 

[Pearldiver07]

And if you want a more "liberal" Texas - you'll like Austin. It's not the place most people picture when they think 'Texas.' You'd be shocked, my sister was.

But you gotta try diving off of the MV Fling while you're here. The Flower Gardens are fantastic.

There's also Lake Travis in the Austin area. It's not great viz, but it's close and is not bad at all for a lake dive.

 

[Mack Diver]

Most of the Austin area Swampers dive in Lake Travis. It features variable vis depending on the weather and what is going on. During the July / August time frame, the lake is quite warm ~ 85 at the surface. There is also great diving at Aquarena Springs, but you have to take thier Science Diver class to really enjoy it.

Salt water diving is either the Flower Gardens or the rigs. There is also the Texas Clipper wreck dive in South Padre Island.

For more information on dive sites in Texas, check out a fellow Swampers web site: Texasdivesites.com

 

[Guba]

Uh, and you do know that even from Austin, you're still about 4-5 hours from the Gulf of Mexico, right? Even then, the "beaches" are NOT where you will want to dive. That entails another 2-7 hours of boating to get to.

(By the way...we don't hold the "liberal" thing against ya'll...as long as you come to Texas, marry another liberal and then move back to your point of origin!!!)

 

[jmani]

Uh, and you do know that even from Austin, you're still about 4-5 hours from the Gulf of Mexico, right? Even then, the "beaches" are NOT where you will want to dive. That entails another 2-7 hours of boating to get to.

(By the way...we don't hold the "liberal" thing against ya'll...as long as you come to Texas, marry another liberal and then move back to your point of origin!!!)

Huh? I was under the impression that Austin was about 3 hours from the gulf. I think I did know that there was quite a boat ride to the "gardens" though.

As for the bringing home a liberal wife I will do my best, but I think the Mrs. may have a slight problem with that, I don't think she is that liberal hehe.

p.s. The whole liberal thing is mostly a joke. My buddy is pretty conservative and gives me constant crap about it. I keep telling him he will fit right in in Texas.

 

[carrielsal]

Huh? I was under the impression that Austin was about 3 hours from the gulf. I think I did know that there was quite a boat ride to the "gardens" though.

As for the bringing home a liberal wife I will do my best, but I think the Mrs. may have a slight problem with that, I don't think she is that liberal hehe.

p.s. The whole liberal thing is mostly a joke. My buddy is pretty conservative and gives me constant crap about it. I keep telling him he will fit right in in Texas.

Austin to Houston - 3 hours
Austin to Galveston - 4 hours
Auston to Port Aransas - 5 hours
Austin to South Padre - 7 hours

 

[jmani]

Austin to Houston - 3 hours
Austin to Galveston - 4 hours
Auston to Port Aransas - 5 hours
Austin to South Padre - 7 hours

You know all these years I have been mocking my east coast friends because they do not understand the size of California. They assume it is only an hour or two from San Francisco to Disneyland. When it is actually 6 hours without traffic.

I am doing the same thing with Texas, I mean I knew it was big (roughly 100 thousand square miles larger than California). On a map Austin looks just a short skip to the gulf.

That said, I hope we can maybe make the drive to the gulf and do the flower gardens, and/or a rig.

 

[Guba]

I think you'll like the FGBNMS. While the liveaboard that services the Gardens is fairly spartan, they do a great job of taking care of their patrons. July and August are only a bit "iffy" concerning weather. As long as a tropical disturbance (or hurricane, as was the case on my last trip out there) isn't in the mix, the Gulf is usually pretty flat out there that time of year. It's a great place to dive, and that one of the reasons why I'm a volunteer with the FGBNMS. Hope to see you out there sometime!