Travis Viz ??

[BIGG_BUDD]

No worries it is not a stupid question. We Swampers do not belive in stupid questions. I have not been down there much but I will tell you what I saw. Trees, rocks, mud plains, and that is about it. I did here a siren or two calling for me to go deeper but outside of that nothing. No fish, no plants, no light, except your dive light. So can you see why it is such a slice of heaven? Travis Vis is suppose to open up down deep and it does not seem to have developed its windex layer so far this year. Hope this helps

Sounds like a party Lukie...

Oh yea and Big Bud if you even want to hit CSSP jsut let me know when and where. I am pretty sure I can make you a member of the Swamp divers.

I'd be down with the swampers. I'll let you know the next time I'm hittin' the scuba parks... I'm just North of you in McKinney...

Either you are one of us and you understand or you are not and you dont.

I guess I'll let you know once I have the opportunity to dive 100ft. with 4 ft. viz, amigo.

Peace Swampers,

 

[LVX]

Either you are one of us and you understand or you are not and you dont. Oh,sorry,that ones already been taken !

Seriously though,later in the year after the thermocline has been established for a long time and the layers in the lake have not mixed for months all the dissolved oxygen at depth gets used up. The floating algae/crud dies off and the vis can become if not spectacular then at least pretty damn good. Maybe 30 feet?

At Windy Point you will find large trees,maybe 30 feet high with trunks that are a foot in diameter.It is pretty surreal swimming through these. On a smaller scale we noticed last year that the silt had a hexagonal,honeycomb type structure on its surface. Dont know if it was bacterial in origin or what but it was interesting.

It is a cold,dark alien place. And you get away from the open water classes as well

Well said Ian...

 

[Teknadv3x]

Seriously though,later in the year after the thermocline has been established for a long time and the layers in the lake have not mixed for months all the dissolved oxygen at depth gets used up. The floating algae/crud dies off and the vis can become if not spectacular then at least pretty damn good. Maybe 30 feet?

At Windy Point you will find large trees,maybe 30 feet high with trunks that are a foot in diameter.It is pretty surreal swimming through these. On a smaller scale we noticed last year that the silt had a hexagonal,honeycomb type structure on its surface. Dont know if it was bacterial in origin or what but it was interesting.

It is a cold,dark alien place. And you get away from the open water classes as well

Ian good description... I am jonesing here in Houston for the conditions to get right to make the trek. It is running late this year. Seems like Lady Travis is not wanting to give up passage to her depths very easily so far. But rest assured I await for the conditions to get right. I want to thank all of you who make accurate and often viz reports. It is very much appreciated for those who do not live close to the lake.

Dave

 

[NadMat]

Good Evening Swampers,

I haven't had the priveledge of diving with you yet, but hope to do so soon.

Let me preface this post with a qualifier: I have a stupid question.

Most of my diving has been limited to ASP, CSSP, and a dozen or so blue water dives. I've never dove lakes, and am curious...what the heck is there to see at 100ft. with 5ft. viz? I'd be so consumed with trying not to lose my buddy, I doubt it would be any fun.

Anyway, there's my question.

Later swampers.

Ians answer was pretty spot on, but I will add a couple of things from my perspective.

I learned to dive in Travis, and dove only central texas locations for first 4 years of diving. Until you go bluewater and realize what you are missing, Travis is a great dive. And in summertime, you want to drop down below thermo for a little just to get out of the surface bathwater temps. Plus, as others have stated, when vis gets good below the thermo, it is nice to be able to take a look around.

When the vis sucks still, is always good for practicing navigation, bouyancy, or other skills. And it will really make you appreciate tropical blue water diving. Nothing like having comfortable temps, great visablility, and so much to look at that you can't hardly decide what to watch.

When I finally started diving blue water, it almost ruined me for diving Travis. Diving Travis became for occasional skills practice and equipment checks before heading to BW. For last seven or eight years I dropped to average of 4-5 dive days a year(even less last couple), was always to broke or to busy to break free to blue water. I got so only Travis dives I was doing was the occasional recovery or dock re-anchor for friends.

However, recent Christmas trip to Coz' saved me, this time rather than BW blinding me to the more subtle diving discoveries to be had in local lakes it reminded me that diving is always fun, and while Travis is definately not Coz' or Caymans, it is available, inexpensive, and still offers plenty of opportunity for wonder, albeit a bit less spectacular than ocean locations.

Now I just have to finish updating some of my gear, and my buddy list so can get out and dive more often.

 

[ianr33]

Thought I might indulge myself and resurrect my own thread............

Anybody been to ,say, 120 in Travis in the last week or 2? How was it??

 

[PvilleStang]

Hopefully going to find it today... I'll tell you how that nightmare goes.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Thought I might indulge myself and resurrect my own thread............

Anybody been to ,say, 120 in Travis in the last week or 2? How was it??

I heard from a bud its crud all the way down

 

[ianr33]

Yep,checked it out this morning. Vis was maybe 1-2 feet at 110. Just getting worse the deeper you get.

 

[texdiveguy]

Dove Sat.and Sun. at Travis,,,,Sat. was a bit better with the best vis around 70-90ffw (6-8ft.).

 

[PvilleStang]

Wow, all I have to say is the viz was C-R-A-P! I mean, like a week and a half ago, I could see a definite windex layer forming, but now, HA! I was planning a nice 120 for 25 for either tuesday or wednesday, but that idea is definitely out...