Galveston Diving?

[phxcamera]

I've got some flight vouchers on Continental, and the only decent flight pricing I can get is PHX - Houston, sooooo, whaddaya all know about diving in the Galveston area? Any websites? I saw something about rig diving? Still a new diver, and I've never heard about that type of diving..

Any info would be great!!! Thanks!

 

[Rick Murchison]

Check with the Houston Scuba Academy for trips to the Flower Gardens. You don't want to miss it.
Rick

 

[tracydr]

I'm interested in Flower Mounds, too. Are there several dive shops that go there? Who do you recommend? I understand it's an overnite boatride? I'm thinking about taking a long weekend to do it, we live in SW Oklahoma.

 

[tracydr]

Rick, do you have any contact numbers for someone who goes out to Flower Gardens? We're thinking of going for my husband's birthday July 7.

 

[Rick Murchison]

The boats I know, the Spree and the Fling, are at http://www.rinnboats.com - the dive shops that book with them are at http://www.rinnboats.com/departures/stores/index.html - you can see the schedules with which shops "own" the boats for which dates at the Rinn Boats site.
There is another boat that goes to the Flower Gardens, but I can't remember what it is.
Rick

 

[tracydr]

Thanks Rick! Is it a good trip? We have thought about moving to coastal Texas someday, what's the diving like around Corpus and Galveston beside Flower Gardens? Is it seasonal or year round? Trying to decide between Texas and San Diego but SD is soo Expensive and the water is soo cold! But I also have to find somewhere with good horseshows. CA is a little better than TX but my trainer is in TX so it's kind of a tossup.

 

[tracydr]

Rick, tell me about Stetson Bank.Which is better, Flower Gardens or Stetson Bank?

 

[tracydr]

OK, so I read all the stuff at the Rinn site. It sounds great, you go to Stetson and Flower Gardens on a typical 2 day trip? How bad is the bathroom wait with only 3 heads and two showers? Do they have a women's restroom? Are they private sleep quarters for two?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Better?
I wouldn't touch that one!
They are different. The Flower Gardens are completely covered in hard coral, the banks are not. The banks remind me of the Texas hill country in an odd way.. the striations look amazingly like dirt roads carved through the rock.
Though there is probably less marine life at the banks, unlike the Gardens, they have few places to hide so the place is teeming with fish. So are the Flower Gardens.
Better?
If I could make only one dive, I'd make mine on the East Flower Gardens; the Lovely Young Kat [my bride] would choose Stetson Bank.
If you do a weekend on the Spree or the Fling, you'll make five dives on the Flower Gardens, two on Stetson Bank and one on a rig.
Rick

 

[tracydr]

Thanks Rick. I'm still working on talking my husband into the live aboard idea. He's kind of a land-lover. How does Kat like the boat, are there usually very many woman?