The Meadows Center - "Aquarena Springs"

[ReefHound]

Seems like a fair trade off for diving clear 72 degree water in Texas. Although for a family of 4 divers I am not sure I am willing to drop $1000 on course fees to fan the algae off the bottom of the lake unless I lived extremely close to it.

True, but a family of four will pat $130-160 at a scuba park for a two-day weekend at a murky lake. It just depends on how much you plan to dive. A lot of people take the course and then only return a few times if at all. They paid a lot of money for a bit of education, which may be worth it, but probably not what they had intended. Then there are others who return several times a year (or more) for many years. It's just like buying scuba gear. There's a significant upfront cost and the payoff is proportional to how often you dive.

 

[gkrane]

True, but a family of four will pat $130-160 at a scuba park for a two-day weekend at a murky lake. It just depends on how much you plan to dive. A lot of people take the course and then only return a few times if at all. They paid a lot of money for a bit of education, which may be worth it, but probably not what they had intended. Then there are others who return several times a year (or more) for many years. It's just like buying scuba gear. There's a significant upfront cost and the payoff is proportional to how often you dive.

I'm all done with the paid trips to the murky lake part of my diving career. The only lake in Texas I am interested in diving other than Aquarena is the Balmorhea one, which doesn't require a $230 upfront cost pp. Perhaps Aquarena may be in the cards for my youngest son and myself but who knows. I plan to do some GUE training in TX that I believe takes place at the lake so maybe that might change my mind.

 

[driftwood]

Very interesting. Is there a shop for fills there as well?

There is the Dive Shop in San Marcos on Highway 12 that will fill your tanks for $8.

I really miss the free air fills Aquarena used to give us after a dive. It's hard to believe but the planners made no accommodations for divers during the "deconstruction" of the old theme park. No changing rooms, equipment rooms, space to install their compressor, nothing. Then again, when they finished the deconstruction, they had to put in an entirely new parking lot for bus'. Never mind that the new lot is exactly where the old lot used to be.

---------- Post added November 20th, 2015 at 10:08 PM ----------

I'm all done with the paid trips to the murky lake part of my diving career. The only lake in Texas I am interested in diving other than Aquarena is the Balmorhea one, which doesn't require a $230 upfront cost pp. Perhaps Aquarena may be in the cards for my youngest son and myself but who knows. I plan to do some GUE training in TX that I believe takes place at the lake so maybe that might change my mind.

Balmorhea is a long drive in the middle of Texas' "Empty Quarter". It's a bucket list dive like Valhalla.

The Training Area, site of the old underwater theater, is open to classes if the instructor has diving privileges at Spring Lake. I think the cost is $25 or $35 per day.

On a side note, if anyone has some big (very big) lift bags, things like the "volcano" were moved during the "deconstruction" and the staff would like to have them put back.

 

[gkrane]

Drove by Balmorhea on my way to TX from AZ. Was about 45 mins west of Ft Stockton I think. It seems it would be worth taking a trip there to test new gear, tune skills before a vacation etc.....

 

[Charles2]

Thanks for all the comments and the PMs. It really does seem like a great place to dive, relax, learn a little something, and meet some new people; however, I think that I am going to pass up on the opportunity right now. Part of the reasoning is the $230 fee, the remainder is the drive (157 miles according to Google). It also seems like there is a minimum of four dives per year in the springs in order to stay certified. If I can find a buddy who seems interested and willing to share travel expenses, maybe next year. Who knows?

Cheers
Charles

 

[driftwood]

I haven't heard of a "4 dives a year" requirement to maintain your certification. OTOH, I know people who haven't dived the lake in years, like my wife, who are current with one dive in the lake since they reopened.

Dropped Taylor an email to find out.

 

[Charles2]

I haven't heard of a "4 dives a year" requirement to maintain your certification. OTOH, I know people who haven't dived the lake in years, like my wife, who are current with one dive in the lake since they reopened.

Dropped Taylor an email to find out.

Look on page 103 of the Course Overview:

To maintain a current "Authorized Volunteer" status you must: Log at least four hours of volunteer work a year.

I did read all 104 pages of the Spring Lake Dive Authorization Course and found it quite interesting. Perhaps I could go ahead and fill out the four quizzes - at least I would have that much done if I ever decided to complete the course.

 

[driftwood]

Thanks Charles, I don't even know where my handbook is anymore. One thing I do know is that it was less than 100 pages.

I would read that line as meaning four total hours of volunteer time, not logged dive time.

 

[ReefHound]

I accompanied a class earlier this year and they were told that you are credited 1.5 hours per dive, thus 3 dives would meet the requirement.

 

[driftwood]

This is what Taylor sent me this morning,

[FONT=&quot]Hi Jeff,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We ask that volunteers do a dive or two every year so they maintain familiarity with the layout of the lake. I won’t, however, turn someone away that hasn’t been here in over a year. More than likely, I will ask someone that hasn’t been diving in a while to dive with someone who has been here recently. That requirement is mostly from a safety perspective; the more you dive here, the more familiar you are and the less likely you are to have an incident. Feel free to let that person know they can contact me if they’d like to sign up for the DAC. Thank you for helping us relay information to the public. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]