NCR Texas Aquarena

[Martha]

Great trip report Chuck! Very informative. I'll be there this weekend for the course and it helps knowing what to expect. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[bogrady]

Chuck,

Thanks for the great report. My son and I take the class tomorrow. We live in the area and have had a chance to dive the practice area a few times. Even so, I’m still a bit nervous about clearing all the buoyancy tests. I’m hoping for a 10 now.

 

[archman]

Nice report, and interesting, but why was this thread moved to the Cozumel forum?

um, it's not in the Cozumel forum. Not since last night when I moved it to the Swamper's forum, anyway.

 

[Jarrett]

My son and I take the class tomorrow.

Bogrady, it was nice diving with you and your son. I forgot to tell you, I appreciated your questions to the instructors. I was usually wondering the same thing when you asked them.

I really liked this class and program. I'm happy to be a part of it now and would highly encourage any divers interested in Texas History, Archeology, Aquatic Biology, and/or environmental preservation to get down to San Marcos and get into it as well.

 

[Martha]

I really liked this class and program. I'm happy to be a part of it now and would highly encourage any divers interested in Texas History, Archeology, Aquatic Biology, and/or environmental preservation to get down to San Marcos and get into it as well.

I definitely agree! I also enjoyed the program and thought it was well worth the money. My only complaints were that it was a bit disorganized on the first day and I felt that they should have limited the class size to 15 people, at the most. We had 20 people in our class and it was a bit much, especially on the tour (with 2 of the groups) which was a night dive because we were way behind schedule. All in all, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to volunteering soon.

 

[Jarrett]

I also enjoyed the program and thought it was well worth the money. My only complaints were that it was a bit disorganized on the first day and I felt that they should have limited the class size to 15 people, at the most. We had 20 people in our class and it was a bit much, especially on the tour (with 2 of the groups) which was a night dive because we were way behind schedule.

Martha, were you there this weekend? The class was so big, I didn't catch everyone's name.

I did submit a suggestion that classes should be smaller and more organized. Also to generate some laminated maps of the springs with compass coordinates to help navigation.

Although, if disorganization is what cause the last dive on Saturday to be a night dive, then its ok with me. That was probably my favorite part of the class

 

[bogrady]

Jarrett, Martha,

It was a pleasure to dive with y'all this weekend. I agree with you on the size of the class being the only problem – it should be limited to 12 people. But - I’m with Jarrett – I think the disorganization and the delay on Saturday was the reason we got in a real night dive. Ralph made a point of saying that the night dive was a really unique occurrence – not many of them happen.

At first I was a bit put off by how late it got and how crowded the 2nd dive was, but after about 3 minutes I thought “wait a minute … we’re night diving in Spring Lake … this is too cool!” After that I relaxed and enjoyed the crowd all the more – I’ve got an old Texas native friend who always says … “jeeze … relax … seems you’d ***** even if we hung you with a new rope …” Remembering that always puts me in a better frame of mind.

Anyway – I can’t wait to get back. The lake really is beautiful and it’s a privilege to be able to dive it. I was stunned on Sunday when we came out of that little swim through from the practice area into the lake – the sun streaming into the plants, the fish … incredible. I highly recommend this course to everyone.

I hope to see you all at the lake again.

 

[bogrady]

Oh - one more thing ... thanks again to Chuck for the original post. It really help set expectations for the weekend.

 

[MichaelBaranows]

I was surprised that there were 20 in the class cause I have always been told the classes were limited to 15 or 16 people. Must not of had enough dive leaders cause they normally break it down until groups of 4 or 5 people.

I have been able to make the evening dives that were probably some of the best dives I have made up there. Been able to see several gar and big crawfish. They normally try to start the dive around 500 and now after the time change the dove often becomes a night dive during the winter.

 

[ScubaTexan]

I think there were only 4 people (including me) in my class when I took the course.