***?? Texas?

[deepstops]

I haven't seen the article, but I can't see how Texas would rank high. The Gulf Stream pushes flow out of the Mississippi river west and as a result much of the beaches from Galveston all the way to the Louisiana border is made up from a bed of clay mud with a dirty sand covering. The water is dark and murky until you get a considerable way off shore.

Here, (Sabine Pass area) that usually equates to at least 20 miles before the water starts clearing. Sometimes I've seen it bad as far as 40 miles out, and I've dove rigs 60 miles out that still have a layer of murky water at the bottom that is 10-15' deep

In addition, the continental shelf has a very gradual slope. Something along the lines of about 1.5 feet of depth increase for every mile you go out. You've got to go pretty far just to break 100'.

I know that as you go further south down the coast the water improves, as well as the depth but I'm not sure at what point shore diving would become feasible. I've been told Corpus has some decent diving, but it's closer for me to go to Florida, so I've never checked it out.

The one standout that Texas could claim is the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, about 100 miles off the coast out of the Port Aransas area.

If [user]Wookie[/user] sees this thread, I'm sure he can elaborate more because he's done charters out there for years.

Minor correction, that's the Loop Current, not the Gulf Stream.
The Loop Current is formed where the Florida Current and the Yucatan Current combine. It doesn't become the Gulf Stream until later.

 

[DebbyDiver]

That's crazy! And, in addition to our shore diving off the SE coast, there is also a lot of shore diving on the West coast of Florida. And I consider springs and cave diving to be shore diving. Mile for mile, nobody can beat us for shore diving, not even California. Crazy article.

 

[deadly_risk]

I have no idea what TX has for shore diving...

Unless you are cleaning boat hulls, or can surface swim at least 20mi....nothing. (At least not in or around Corpus)

 

[carrielsal]

Shore diving? Where, where? How did I miss this in all my years in Texas?

When I was younger we would dive around the jetties at South Padre to speardive, but it's definately nothing I would write home about. I think we spent more time avoiding fishing lines than actual spear fishing.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

I read this last night and was like... WHAT!?! Texas Ranks #1 in North America for Shore diving? Time to climb out of the swamp and hit the beach?

I'll quote part of the article:

..There are several inland lakes - such as Possum Kingdom and Clear Springs Scuba Park - where diving is a big attraction. You can also do fun stuff like join the Diving for Science program at TSU - San Marcos, and participate in the conservation and preservation of the San Marcos Springs. Plus there are a few jetties in the Gulf of Mexico worth filling a tank, such as South Padre, Port Mansfield and the jetty at Port Aransas.
Plus there are a few jetties in the Gulf of Mexico worth filling a tank, such as South Padre, Port Mansfield and the jetty at Port Aransas.

I used to do a lot of jetski'ing & surfing years back right by the jetty @ SPI, and while it was much nicer than Galveston (that's easy), there is no way it can match Florida's Fort Pickens Jetty, not to mention shore diving on the Atlantic side.

While Spring Lake (Aquarena) is beautiful and really the only easily accessible spring available for diving in Texas (through the diving for science program), Florida has literally 100's of springs, most open to the general public and cave divers.

I'm a proud Texan but when we're talking about the "Top 100 Shore Diving" spots in North America, Texas wouldn't be in the Top half, IMO..

 

[carrielsal]

I'm watching this thread. I'm speechless. The Flower Gardens are awesome, (and we will run a charter or 3 this year) but best shore diving and snorkeling?

+1 on the Flower Gardens. The Spree moved to Florida, but the Fling still runs a liveaboard from Freeport to the Flower Gardens, Stetson Banks, and possibly a rig stop. I try to go at least once a year.

 

[carrielsal]

I'm a proud Texan but when we're talking about the "Top 100 Shore Diving" spots in North America, Texas wouldn't be in the Top half, IMO..

Hey....shore diving from Lake Travis is fantastic! Rusted out cars, aggressive fish at the dive platforms, beer cans, and our fantatic 3' vis! What more could a swamper ask for?
I think blue water just might scare me.

 

[Cave Diver]

Hey....shore diving from Lake Travis is fantastic! Rusted out cars, aggressive fish at the dive platforms, beer cans, and our fantatic 3' vis! What more could a swamper ask for?
I think blue water just might scare me.

Face your fears!!!!

 

[jl_va_21]

I had the same reaction to this article. I think lakes and quarries are great for training and even fun to dive sometimes, but would not consider submitting this to a survey like this. Divers do not dream of lake diving in Texas.

In general the level of detail in this year's survey results was really lacking.

Despite what I said about Texas diving (which I admit I have not tried yet) I did find the article about New Mexico's Blue Hole quite interesting. I had heard of it before but would not have guessed the vis to be so good. I've never had a reason to go to New Mexico before, but if I ever do, I'll certainly try to check this place out.

Another observation from the magazine: was that murky electric eel photo really worth the risk?