East Texas Diving This Weekend (10/5-10/7/18)

[George Monnat Jr]

Me and a buddy are looking to dive in the East Texas spots where we haven't been. I'm a DM, and I don't like having to answer, "Never been there," when asked about a dive site. The only Texas places I've been north of Houston and east of I-35 is Athens. We're thinking Blue Lagoon north of Huntsville and Clear Springs in Terrell. If we do that drive from one to the other over the weekend, are there others on that route? Maybe Brandy Branch Reservoir in Hallsville?

What's the best way to swing around that circuit?

 

[Addicted2H2O]

I don't know of any other sites between Blue Lagoon and Scuba Ranch (Clear Springs) other than Athens, which is a bit out of the way. If there are any other sites along that route, I'm not familiar with them. Now there are some south of there. There's Twin Lakes in Manville right on Hwy 6, 288 Lake which I think is technically in Pearland, and Mammoth lake in Lake Jackson. If you want to go West of DFW, there's Wheeler Branch in Glen Rose, but there are no facilities there to get air refills so you would need to bring multiple tanks if you wanted to do more than one dive. There's also Possum Kingdom Lake but I havent' seen any recent dive videos there.We have several lakes here in and around the Metroplex, but you never see/hear of anyone diving them. I've yet to find a single Scuba Video of Lake Lewisville, which is minutes form my house. And I'd assume you could find many "treasures" diving the party cove there, but I have no idea what visibility is like and can't find anyone that's even attempted a dive in it.

If you come across any "new" sites, definitely post them up, as I'm looking for more places to dive aside from Clear Springs. I'm in a DM program and I think we're talking about going to Arkansas to dive Lake Ouchita and then likely Lake Travis. My instructor also mentioned another springs site in the CenTex area that's not Aquarena Springs and doesn't require their Eco certification course. So Kinda looking forward to that one, too.

 

[George Monnat Jr]

I'm from Manvel, so I've done Twin Lakes (down the road from my parents) and 288. I wish Mammoth was still open, but I think it's still closed.

I though about Possum Kingdom Lake. Can you get refills there? I was going to avoid the Metroplex this weekend, because of the UT OU and State Fair traffic, but if you can point out a couple places to dive up there my buddy and I can meet you for some dives and do Possum Kingdom Lake before or after.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

My wife is from Alvin so I'm pretty familiar. Never dove Twin Lakes, though. I've only been out there once. I don't know if there's a place at PK to get fills or not these days. I haven't seen or heard of anyone diving it recently, but I can certainly ask. As for me, I'll be helping with an OW in the pool this weekend to kick off this DM program. If you're looking to dive up this way I can really only recommend Scuba Ranch (Clear Springs) since it's the only place really local other than Athens which is about another 45 minutes farther from me.

 

[George Monnat Jr]

I gotta talk to my dive buddy. I went to Manvel Jr High & Alvin HS (Manvel didn't have a HS then). My parents live between the two towns south of Hwy 6.

Let me know when you dive Stillhouse Hollow or Travis. I'd like to dive with you, give you a site briefing, or just say hi.

 

[Bill Parker]

I visited Brady Branch once. You can only legally dive it by boat or
from the boat ramp. Everything else is trespassing or a dangerous
iron man surface swim among fast boats that won't be expecting you.
The water was surprisingly clear with abundant marine life. It's
apparently a former coal mine with no river or creek that runs
through it so maybe clear conditions are the norm there.

 

[George Monnat Jr]

Bill, thank you for the Brady Branch advice. Is there a LDS with a boat there?

Unfortunately, my dive buddy's dog is ill, so we won't be going this weekend. I do want to try that sometime, though.

 

[Bill Parker]

Bill, thank you for the Brady Branch advice. Is there a LDS with a boat there?

I'd try contacting Buoyant Life Scuba Diving.

I just remembered that some members of this dive shop have obtained permission to
use the lake from the shore. You can go there with them if they escort you and can
dive for fun. I don't know if or how much they charge for this. They have access to a
boat of some type they use now and then. I've occasional seen them announce open
invites to join their classes and do some fun dive while they are there. Sometimes it's
by boat and sometimes by shore.

 

[George Monnat Jr]

Thank you very much.