Dive Condition Reports

[carlislere]

Lake Travis, 3/3/2012
Mansfield Park Dive Area
Lake Level 631.1 MSL
Max Depth: 86 feet
Visibility: Varied from 1-6 feet
Water temp: 60 degrees at safety stop, 56 degrees at 60 feet, 55 degrees at 85 feet
The Lake is up 5 feet since the last time I dove here. The barge is back underwater. The shallow sailboat is still out of the water but the level has moved up on part of the stern. The deeper sailboat is at 11 feet and the sailboat half way to the dam is at 52 feet. At the start of the dive there was a milk layer at 55 feet. Once below 65 feet I had 4-6 foot visibility. The vis improved as I got closer to the dam and spent the rest of the dive in 5-6 feet of vis. Saw one sunfish at 85 feet during the dive.

 

[Earl Grey]

Lake 288, 3/3/2012
Air Temp - 60-64F
Surface Temp - 65F
Temp at Depth - 57F at 29 feet
Visibility - Approx 12 feet on first dive late morning and second dive in the afternoon ranged from 5-6 feet

Thermocline around 10 feet.

 

[paulw]

Sunday 3-4-12 2:00pm
Lake Travis, Bob Wentz
Divers – paulw
Air Temp - 73
Water Temp 56
Max Depth - 80'
Vis to 65' - 3 to 6
Vis 65' to 80' 1 to 2'
Dive Time - 65 min

The vis was really not bad most of the time, about 6' above 65 with some spots having a milky haze and dropping to 2 to 3'. I dove from the Swim Through Grotto to Cathedral Grotto and they are now at 35' to 45' and although it was cold it was a great dive. At one point I wanted to see if it would clear up at depth so I dropped down but turned at 80 when the vis was 1' at best.​

 

[James R]

Quarry at Reveille Peak Ranch
Planned to do a deep technical dive in order to explore the graphite quarry's bottom in hopes of finding left over mining equipment.

Where we were told it was quite deep we found to be just 65' - what a let down! Conditions deeper than 40' were similar to the lake. A short surface swim to another part of quarry and dropped down again to find the bottom at 95' which also had better viz. For now, the "deep" still eludes us!
Temp 55-58 IIRC and viz varied greatly from 30' down to 1-2'

 

[rakpix]

March 4, 2012
Blue Lagoon
Huntsville, TX
Viz 20 FT
Temp 61 F
Fun dives with CHUM. Entering main beach. Twenty feet visibility down to ten feet at the bottom. Same temp from surface to bottom throughout the lagoon. Lots of little invertebrates crawling around the bottom.​

 

[Cyprian]

CSSP - Terrell, TX
Feb 25, 2011

Air Temp: 48-56 throughout the day
Surface Temp: 56
Temp @ 42': 54

Vis: 15' on first dive before the rain. Vis degraded throughout the day. On the last dive it was maybe 8' at best, granted we were in the "Choke" part of CSSP, so I'm sure run-off was a factor.

 

[oldschool]

Stillhouse Hollow Lake
March 15, 2012

Viz - 3' (0 - 20 ft)
- 1' at best (20 - 28 ft)
Temp @ 28': 56

Stillhouse is about 15' below normal now. Did this just as a gear checkout dive and to get the cobwebs out. For those who are familiar with the two platforms in the scuba park, they're gone. The taller one was hit a few months ago by a pontoon boat. The platforms are flat on the bottom now. The lines to the boats and channel are still connected though. I believe the scuba shop at Stillhouse will be repairing them eventually.

 

[redacted]

Balmorhea
12-13 March
Vis 50'
Water Temp 76

Spring break had plenty of swimmers but few divers. Flow seemed a bit light but no problem. A hood and gloves are recommended to keep the tetras from biting hands and ears (or just enjoy the nibbles).

 

[cavemn]

Mammoth Lake
March 18
Viz 7-10'
Max Depth 30'
Water temp 66F

I took my son out for his first post training dive to check out the conditions at mammoth lake. It's a nice facility with a large number of dive platforms. The water was nice enough for a 5mil for me. It was overcast which probably reduced the viz a bit. I found the water a bit green but not overly cloudy except in the deeper spots. Max avg depth there right now is 40'. Lots of stuff underwater to check out.

 

[Bill Parker]

CSSP 3/24/12

A portion of the Southwestern end (closest entry to the tank fill
station) was explored. Max depth ~35 feet. Temperature in the
low 50s(F). (I can't give exact readings as my computer
battery went dead on the way back.) I didn't notice any
significant thermocline but I was covered head to toe in 5mm
and that may have kept me from feeling it if it was there. Vis
was as little as 5 feet at times. Barely enough vis to maintain
buddy contact if you were careful. I observed two turtles,
several fish species, and abundant aquatic plants. Surface
conditions were exceptional: no wind, sunny, and 70s(F).