Interactive Dive Site Map

I just found a really neat website that shows a map of Texas with pushpins to show the location of many dive sites in Texas!

Here is a screenshot of the website called Texas Dive Sites:

Red pushpins show dive site locations (www.texasdivesites.com)

I hope you find the map helpful; leave a comment if it helps you out or not. I'm still searching through all the pushpins myself. :)

Interview: South Padre Diving and Snorkeling

I interviewed my classmate and friend, Janice, who visited South Padre Island. This island is at the southern tip of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. Janice went with her father on a boat, and he scuba dived in the ocean. Here she shares her experience.
 

Hi, Janice. So when was your trip, and how did it all begin?

I went to South Padre in June last summer, with my dad. We started at a dive shop on the day before his dive, where he made the final reservations and things. It was American Diving, a big blue building.

How was the day your father dove?

He loved it. We both went out on a boat, and I was able to snorkel as he dove. I saw coral, fish, and a barracuda! My dad took lots of photos, and so did the other divers that we were with. 

Here's a picture from Janice's father's dive.

Source: J, 2010

Janice, what would you recommend as advice for people wanting to visit South Padre?

I'd say that if you're diving, make sure to get 2 dives or more each day, because you will fall in love with the beauty. Also, ask for permission to have a mixed scuba and snorkel dive, so that non-divers in your family can snorkel like I did. Plus, be sure to plan in advance all your gear rentals if you need gear - you don't want the dive shop to run out of your size of wetsuit because you didn't plan early!

Thanks again, Janice. 

You're welcome! And I hope everyone enjoys my story and advice!

Podcast: Clear Springs Scuba Park

I'd like to share with everyone a video that I've filmed and compiled of the dive site called Clear Springs Scuba Park (CSSP). Located in Terrell, TX, Clear Springs is an easy park to get to from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Address

The address of CSSP is:

8131 County Road 346
Terrell, Texas 75161

Phone:
972-524-6820

More Information
A map of the lake, prices, hours, and more details can be found at the official CSSP website (ClearSpringsScubaPark.com).

Interview with a Texas Scuba Diver: Steve

I interviewed an experienced scuba diver, Steve M. I have known Steve for about 5 years, and have been on multiple dives with him. Steve helps out with the Venturing Crew 1020, located in Rowlett, TX. From the Crew 1020 website¹, Venturing

is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women who are 14 through 20 years of age and have completed the eighth grade. Venturing's purpose is to provide positive experiences to help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.

Steve and I are both members of Crew 1020, and I learned how to dive through the Crew’s connection to a dive shop and dive instructors.

Interview

Here are the questions I asked Steve, and what he had to say. Look for the superscript numbers to see the footnotes at the end, which will provide more information on Steve’s answers.

What scuba certifications do you have, or are working on?

I have open water, adventure, advanced, rescue, master scuba diver, dive master and assistant instructor. My specialties include: drift, night, multilevel, peak performance buoyancy, deep, boat, nitrox, equipment, diver propulsion vehicle, coral reef conservation, and underwater naturalist.

OWSI² (Open Water Scuba Instructor) is next, but I’m currently stalled and not sure if I want to be a Scuba Instructor. I started working on Dry Suit in February.

What places have you been diving to in Texas? How many times have you been to each site, and did you do day or night dives there?

I dove at South Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico for 1 day. It was my favorite; nothing beats an ocean dive, boat trip, diverse sea life and blue water.

Here’s where I’ve been, and for how long:

     Brownsville Ship Channel; 1 day

     Laguna Madre; 2 days plus night dives

     Tyler State Park; 1 day

     Possum Kingdom; 4 days

     Comal River; 4 days plus night dives

     Canyon Lake; 3 days

     Blue Lagoon; 1 day

     Athens Scuba Park; 10 days plus night dives

     Clear Springs Scuba Park; 20 days plus night dives

Do you own any of your gear, or do you rent any parts?

I own all my gear except for a dry suit.

Do you rent from the same scuba shop, or different ones, and what shops are they?

I’m currently looking for a good close shop.

You’ve been to Trash Fest³ – how did you enjoy that?

I really like Trash Fest, the Comal River, and all the divers and clubs represented. It’s a well-organized and fun event.

Have you been to other cleanups or events, such as Hells Gate at Possum Kingdom, or others?

Yes, I have participated in the Hells Gate cleanup.

Do you have a memorable item you’ve discovered from the cleanups?

I guess the camera we found at the boat dock on Possum Kingdom. I still wonder if the memory card had any photos on it.

If someone wants to learn to dive, do you have any recommendations for the facility they go to (such as which scuba shop to get certified, and which lakes to do beginner’s dives)?

I would recommend the Dive Crew⁴ and their independent instructors. Clear Springs Scuba Park⁵ in Terrell is the closest and a very good facility.

And with Crew 1020, why, in your own words, is the Crew a good environment to learn to dive?

For a Venturer or Scout the Crew is a good safe and ideal group to learn and or gain diving experience. It is just that the current group is not that committed to diving. I feel the crew should plan dives once a month in the summer to different locations in the state.

Footnotes

[1] Venturing Crew 1020. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.crew1020.org/crew1020/

[2] Open Water Scuba Instructor. (2011). PADI. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/professional-courses/view-all-professional-courses/open-water-scuba-instructor/default.aspx

[3] Trash Fest. (n.d.). Texas Gulf Coast Council of Diving Clubs. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.tgccdiving.org/trashfest/index.html

[4] The Dive Crew. (n.d.). Welcome to The Dive Crew. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.thedivecrew.com/

[5] Clear Springs Scuba Park. (n.d.). Clear Springs Scuba Park. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.clearspringsscubapark.com/

Lake Travis

About 20 miles Northwest of Austin, TX is Lake Travis. The lake features 270 miles of shoreline with an average depth of 62 feet, according to LakeTravis.com¹.

Why to Dive at Travis
Lake Travis has a variety of dive areas, and offers divers a chance to experience many of Texas' great aquatic creatures. One of those dive areas is Windy Point Park², where you can

...find boat wrecks and unique metal sculptures of a scuba diver, a sea turtle, a shark and a manatee along with ...a jet ski, some small boats, a larger sailboat, a Pinto, and more!

Windy Point Park on Lake Travis is shown below (a bit above the red "A" in the center), and note that this map shows only a portion of the lake.

Source: Google Maps

Transportation on Travis
The business Lake Travis Scuba³ is one option, because they provide boat transportation to multiple dive areas on Lake Travis. Their boat, called the Giant Stride, is "a 30-foot Pontoon Boat customized for scuba diving."

Local Divers
You can also find dive buddies for your Lake Travis dive trip by contacting local dive groups. One such group is the Bay Area Divers club, which has members always diving and welcoming newcomers to join in. Two other dive groups you can check out are the CHUM Club and the Austin Scuba Club.

Parks and Amenities
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and Travis County Parks maintain 15 park areas on Lake Travis.  A map and descriptions of these 15 parks is on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

Resources Summary

• Lake Travis history, numeric details (length, depth, etc), and recreation links: http://www.laketravis.com/main_recreation.htm
  
• Official Windy Point Park website, featuring an underwater map, current events, lake conditions, and more: http://www.windypointpark.com/default.asp
  
• A map of Windy Point Park and directions to the area (a PDF): http://www.laketravisscuba.com/images/LakeTravis-Windy_Point%20Map.pdf
  
• Lake Travis Scuba - the company providing boat transportation and other services: http://www.laketravisscuba.com/index.html
  
• Public access facilities on Lake Travis - Fifteen parks with details: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/travis/access.phtml

Footnotes

[1] All About Lake Travis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.laketravis.com/main_about.htm

[2] Windy Point Park. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.windypointpark.com/scuba.asp
[3] The Boat. (n.d.). Lake Travis Scuba. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.laketravisscuba.com/about.html

Silo for Deep Diving

Midland, Texas is home to a unique silo that used to hold a missile. Now the silo is filled with water and is used for diving.

Diving in the Silo

The silo's deep "pool" is used as a deep dive site, where divers can work on advanced scuba certifications. The silo is a good use as a dive site to gain more experience, assuming you are already working on (or have) one of these certifications:

• Deep Diver (60-130 ft / 18-40 meters)
• Night Diver
• Altitude Diver (diving 1000+ ft above sea level)
• Mixed-gas Diving Specialties
• Rebreather Specialties

Silo Good for Refining Skills
The Family Scuba Center maintains the silo, known officially as Dive Valhalla. From the official Valhalla website¹, the owners recommend

...advanced certification and cold water experience as well as familiarity with altitude diving procedures and good buoyancy control.

Also, before you dive, make sure you can climb up and down 30 feet of stairs with your dive gear on, because that is how you enter and exit the water in the silo, as seen below.

Source: Local Diving USA²

Silo Details
From the Valhalla website, the silo has a "constant 68 degree air temperature" with consistent lighting as well. The Valhalla website¹ explains,

...The silo is 60' in diameter ... Mark and Linda Hannifin, owners of Family Scuba Center, feel that the main draw for divers is the exclusivity and uniqueness of the site. ... It's a BTDT (been there, done that) dive that makes for an interesting logbook entry and a definite conversation starter..... (you dove where??). 

So whether you're searching for unique dive sites or working on a certification, this missile silo can be a great opportunity.


Footnotes

[1] Gone to Valhala. (n.d.). Family Scuba Center Inc. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.familyscuba.com/Valhalla/AboutValhalla/GoneToValhala/tabid/67/Default.aspx

[2] David Prichard. (n.d.). Texas Missile Silo. Local Diving USA. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/locations/TexasMissileSiloTX.html

Cloudy Lake? No Problem

Visibility at a Dive Site
Suppose you are expecting to have good visibility at a Texas lake, but when you arrive the visibility has decreased. Maybe it rained, or a lot of swimmers stirred up the lake's bottom. You still want to dive, so what do you do? 

I recommend that you practice your underwater navigation skills. A cloudy lake should not stop you from diving, as long as you still feel safe. Don't dive if there is no visibility or the water is very dark.

Lake Navigation with a Compass
To navigate underwater, you need to have a compass and a final destination. Here are the steps to take to reach your destination, even with low water visibility.

1. Before you descend, locate the direction of your final destination. Most man-made items put underwater as an attraction have a buoy to indicate their location, so you can use the buoy as your destination. Also note the distance to your destination.
    
   
2. Facing the final destination, align your compass to that direction. (See Figure 1 below.) Note and remember the degree that the compass needle points to. If your compass can rotate (called the Turntable Housing in Figure 2 below) then use the turntable to mark the degree of the needle.
    
   
3. Now descend using proper scuba rules. It is okay to rotate your body during descent.
    
   
4. Once at a comfortable depth, look at your compass while the compass is aligned with your body, the same way as in step #2.
    
   
5. Align the compass needle to the degree found in step #2, by rotating your body with your compass, not just by rotating your compass alone.
    
   
6. Swim in the direction that keeps the needle steady on the degrees needed. Swim in a straight line, and check that the compass is still on track every minute or so. If you see that you are no longer swimming in the correct direction, change your course.
    
   
7. Pay attention to the distance you have swam. If you had gotten off course at all in step #6, be careful to not swim too far and pass your target. If you think you've gone to far, return to the surface of the lake and make a new heading (start over at step #1).
    
   
8. You will eventually reach your destination, such as a sunken airplane or whatever you chose to dive to.

Figure 1: Align Compass with your Sight (Source: IDC¹)

Figure 2: Compass (Source: ABC of Hiking²)

Clear Lake for Practice
Remember too that navigating using a compass takes practice! Use the steps above to practice in a clear lake, so you can use your long-distance sight as a backup during your dive. A very clear lake to practice navigation in is at Athens Scuba Park, as shown below.

Source: Athens³

So remember, wherever you dive in Texas, don't get disappointed if low visibility sneaks up on you! Your dive will turn into a great opportunity to practice your navigation, and you can still make your dive fun once you reach your destination.

Footnotes

[1] PADI Specialties. (2010). IDC Thailand. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.idcthailand.net/nl/specialty-cursussen

[2] Compass Navigation & Using a Compass. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.abc-of-hiking.com/navigation-skills/compass-navigation.asp

[3] Athens Scuba Park. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.athensscubapark.com/default.asp

San Solomon Springs

Location

Another great place to dive in Texas is at San Solomon Springs. It is in the western part of Texas, and is protected by the Balmorhea State Park. Below is the general area of the park, shown by the star.

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife¹

Springs Details
At the Balmorhea State Park, the San Solomon Springs feeds into a "pool," spanning across 2 acres of the natural springs. The "pool" water is the Springs itself, with only man-made parts of ladders and surrounding walkways.

The environment in the pool is just like a freshwater lake; the divers and swimmers can experience the original and preserved wildlife. To help you understand this unique design, here is a photo of the "pool" attraction.

Source: TX State Park Guide²

Temperatures and Wildlife
The water temperature also remains constant, around 72 to 76 degrees. With water so warm, you can comfortably seek out many fish, including the

• Mexican Tetra,
• Channel catfish,
• Comanche Springs pupfish, and
• Green sunfish.

You can visit the Encyclopedia of Earth to learn about these fish and other wildlife found at the Springs.
    

Diving Rules

You can dive at the park from 8 am until sunset, on any day of the year. Night diving is also available for a $4 fee per person. You need to have at least one diving buddy, because you cannot dive alone. Also, do not touch the environment; the wildlife is protected and we all need to preserve the Springs for future generations to see.

Before you travel to Balmorhea, please read the official Balmorhea State Park scuba rules, so you can have a great time without any preventable problems.


Footnotes
[1] Balmorhea State Park. (2011, March). Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/balmorhea/

[2] Balmorhea State Park. (2008, November 4). Texas State Park Guide. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/parkguide/rgn_bb_004.phtml

Flower Garden Banks

Location

The Flower Gardens, officially named Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, is located in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast. The sanctuary consists of three unique areas: East Flower Garden, West Flower Garden, and Stetson Bank, as seen in the map below.

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife¹

Reefs
Each sanctuary is a coral reef area, and is a unique ocean ecosystem in itself. Coral reefs are formed by pressure in the ocean floor pushing up salt, resulting in a "salt dome," named from the dome shape of the salt pile. As the Encyclopedia of Earth² states,

... corals at the Flower Gardens probably originated from Mexican reefs when currents in the western Gulf of Mexico carried coral larvae, other animal larvae, and algal spores northward. A few of the coral larvae were lucky enough to settle on the hard substrate of the Flower Garden Banks and initiate reef growth.

Visit by Boat
You can visit the Flower Garden Banks by boat by leaving from the coast near Galveston. The official Flower Garden Banks website³ states

There are several commercial dive and fishing charter operators that take people out to the sanctuary and surrounding oil and gas platforms. However, if you choose to head out on a private boat, you’ll need to be aware of the sanctuary boundaries, mooring buoy coordinates, sanctuary regulations and reef etiquette.

Since the reefs are protected, you need to be aware of these boundaries and regulations so you can preserve the reefs for others to see and enjoy.


Diving

The ocean creates fast and sometimes dangerous currents, so I would recommend that you first dive in the ocean where a reef is not located. This way, you can learn to keep your buoyancy control in the salt water while not causing damage to reefs during practice. 

Once you can handle the currents, the reefs can be an amazing experience. Be sure to have a still or video camera so you can remember all the amazing wildlife you encounter.

Source: National Marine Sanctuary³

Footnotes

[1] Flower Gardens. (2007, July 30). Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/webcasts/livedive2001/flowergarden.phtml

[2] Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. (2006, October 19). The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Flower_Garden_Banks_National_Marine_Sanctuary?topic=49513

[3] Visiting Your Sanctuary. (2011, March). Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/visiting/visit.html