This past weekend at Lake Travis was a great time to be outside camping and diving, if you're prepared for the 58f-61f degree water temps. Weather was warm and sunny during the day, then cool, and even cold and windy in the evenings, making for great sleeping in the tent. Visibility was still excellent for Travis, 20-30 feet in the shallows and quickly deteriorating below 75.
Got to hang out and dive w/ regular Austin Swampers, K-Valve and Scubashawn123. Met Scubadale & Agdiver75, and saw LVX, Paul19may, and others out enjoying the weekend diving.
Midnight dive Friday was pleasant and surreal like astronauts floating through the void easy to see dive buddies, even 20+ feet away, very cool.
Saturday had a great dive experience with Lake Travis Scuba, Robert Weiss new dive boat operation. Normally Robert loads up divers from Riviera Marina just around the corner from Windy Point, but because we were camping, Robert agreed to pick us up at the marker buoys, a brief swim out from the ladders at WP. This was a very convenient option because we didnt have to load up and drive over to the marina it felt like VIP treatment!
We headed out from WP over to Riviera Marina to drop off a diver from earlier that day. Roberts slip is the second from the shore, making a short distance to carry gear. We were told the marina also has golf carts free to use to get gear from car to dock; a pretty easy setup for those departing from the marina.
Once we signed the usual releases we headed over to Starnes Island for a quick tour and then on to the Old Scuba Park which was a new destination for me. We dropped down an underwater buoy line directly to the first among many wrecks in the old park. Visibility was around 30 and it was really easy to move from wreck to wreck, following the many lines run around the underwater park.
First wreck, some call the Catfish boat, was a double-decker which was easily penetrated. Then on to an old 18-wheeler Milk tanker, an upside-down swimming pool, and a bunch of other wrecked boats and stuff scattered about. Topography did not vary greatly, and average depth seemed to be around 58 for the area we covered. I definitely want to go back again for some more exploring
.
Once finished, we cruised back over to WP and had another quick surface swim from the buoys to the park. It was a great trip and I really enjoyed diving from the Giant Stride which was well equipped for up to 8 divers w/ singles or 4 w/ doubles. I can recommend them with confidence for boat diving: See Lake Travis Scuba WEB_sam_2 for more details or to book a trip.
Later, Mack Diver came and picked me up to go to the SSASS meeting over at Johnny Finns, a pretty cool restaurant & bar (16405 Clara Van Trail (at Hurst Harbor) Off Highway 620, 4 miles south of Mansfield Dam, or five miles north of Highway 71) where we met up with a few more Swampers (see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/texas-swamp-divers/228823-april-ssass.html).
Afterwards, it was back to WP for a warm campfire, cold drinks, and a movie (yes I pack the DVD player when I camp). Sunday I slept till nine, then got up and reconfigured my regs for doubles and setup a new 40cuft deco bottle. Diving was great, as was the social scene where I had a chance to both give and receive some good jest w/ Paul19may (DIMWIT wanna be
)
All-in-all it was a great weekend to camp, dive, and socialize. Be sure to come out when you can and say hello . Just look for the DIMWIT dive flag and youre sure to find some Swampers around
Got to hang out and dive w/ regular Austin Swampers, K-Valve and Scubashawn123. Met Scubadale & Agdiver75, and saw LVX, Paul19may, and others out enjoying the weekend diving.
Midnight dive Friday was pleasant and surreal like astronauts floating through the void easy to see dive buddies, even 20+ feet away, very cool.
Saturday had a great dive experience with Lake Travis Scuba, Robert Weiss new dive boat operation. Normally Robert loads up divers from Riviera Marina just around the corner from Windy Point, but because we were camping, Robert agreed to pick us up at the marker buoys, a brief swim out from the ladders at WP. This was a very convenient option because we didnt have to load up and drive over to the marina it felt like VIP treatment!
We headed out from WP over to Riviera Marina to drop off a diver from earlier that day. Roberts slip is the second from the shore, making a short distance to carry gear. We were told the marina also has golf carts free to use to get gear from car to dock; a pretty easy setup for those departing from the marina.
Once we signed the usual releases we headed over to Starnes Island for a quick tour and then on to the Old Scuba Park which was a new destination for me. We dropped down an underwater buoy line directly to the first among many wrecks in the old park. Visibility was around 30 and it was really easy to move from wreck to wreck, following the many lines run around the underwater park.
First wreck, some call the Catfish boat, was a double-decker which was easily penetrated. Then on to an old 18-wheeler Milk tanker, an upside-down swimming pool, and a bunch of other wrecked boats and stuff scattered about. Topography did not vary greatly, and average depth seemed to be around 58 for the area we covered. I definitely want to go back again for some more exploring
.Once finished, we cruised back over to WP and had another quick surface swim from the buoys to the park. It was a great trip and I really enjoyed diving from the Giant Stride which was well equipped for up to 8 divers w/ singles or 4 w/ doubles. I can recommend them with confidence for boat diving: See Lake Travis Scuba WEB_sam_2 for more details or to book a trip.
Later, Mack Diver came and picked me up to go to the SSASS meeting over at Johnny Finns, a pretty cool restaurant & bar (16405 Clara Van Trail (at Hurst Harbor) Off Highway 620, 4 miles south of Mansfield Dam, or five miles north of Highway 71) where we met up with a few more Swampers (see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/texas-swamp-divers/228823-april-ssass.html).
Afterwards, it was back to WP for a warm campfire, cold drinks, and a movie (yes I pack the DVD player when I camp). Sunday I slept till nine, then got up and reconfigured my regs for doubles and setup a new 40cuft deco bottle. Diving was great, as was the social scene where I had a chance to both give and receive some good jest w/ Paul19may (DIMWIT wanna be
) All-in-all it was a great weekend to camp, dive, and socialize. Be sure to come out when you can and say hello . Just look for the DIMWIT dive flag and youre sure to find some Swampers around
