Any diving anywhere close to San Antonio (Corpus?) on Nov 1?

[OCDinNC]

I'm headed to San Antonio for a conference (Nov 2-6). Just a longshot; I could fly in a day early if I could catch a charter going out into the Gulf around Curpus (or anywhere within reasonable driving distance). I would probably need to dive on Wed, Nov 1 for that to work. Have never dived off TX at all; don't know what your winter season is like there! Can anyone help me with some information please?

Any dive ops to recommend? Sites? Do they run mid-week that time of year? (I'd love to try it; it would sure be worth hauling my gear down there for!)

 

[archman]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that most dive charter boats shut down in the mid fall, as the weather starts to kick up. I know I haven't ever been able to get a charter that late in the year.

Also, San Antonio's further inland than a lot of people think. Zipping down to Port Aransas or Aransas Pass for a Corpus Christi-area charter may be more logistically challenging than it looks on a map.

BUT... there's quite nice river diving in the Comal River. It's very close (New Braunfels). 70-ish water temperature, lots of fish and plants, and smack dab in a park. Rather on the shallow side, however.

Canyon Lake is also another nearby option. It's pretty stinking deep.

 

[daniel f aleman]

There are five dive shops in San Antonio, the one that I recommend is Duggan Diving, http://www.duggandiving.com/.

Well, if you want to go to Corpus Christi (3 hours, each way) there's one dive that you'll want to make, an oil rig dive. Even though the tour/dive boats shut down around mid-October, you can find any number of captains looking for charters. You can contract through the two major Corpus dive shops, Copeland's http://www.copelandsinc.com/, or Ascuba Venture Inc. http://www.ascubaventure.com/. All depends on the weather and seas. Don't pay anyone in advance, just call the day before your scheduled trip and find out if the captain is going out - if not, you don't lose anything, and you don't have to make the drive.

Texas has great rivers. In Central Texas two of them are especially dive-friendly, the San Marcos, in San Marcos (45 minute drive), and the Comal in New Braunfels (25 minute drive). Each town has a good dive shop: The Dive Shop http://www.divesanmarcos.com/, and Makai Divers http://www.makaidivers.com/index.html. The water conditions remain the same throught the year, including flow rates, as both rivers are fed by springs and are not heavily influenced by a lack of rain. The trick is to enter the river and swim upstream, use half of your air, and float back down.

At the San Marcos there is a dive program offered, many serious local divers take it, info here: http://www.diveaquarenasprings.com/scientific.html.

The above dives are done by most all local divers sooner or later. If you want to dive Lakes Canyon or Travis, just contact a dive shop, they're diving both every weekend.

Save room for BBQ...