San Marcos river conditions?

[eviestevie]

planning a dive in the san marcos river this weekend. hopefully we'll be out there early enough to beat the memorial weekend tubers. has anyone been out there recently and how is visibility lately?

 

[eviestevie]

all right, now i know why i got no replies. san marcos river diving sucks and none of you have probably been back in years.

we entered the river at saltgrass restaurant (used to be crabshack) and drifted to the dam at rio vista park, about an hour total. the first third was nice and got to about 10-15 ft in spots. we could see all the way to the bottom. once passed sewell park, there was just too much danged grass and weeds to enjoy it. at one point, we stood up in the middle of the river and just started walking. we had grass and weeds coming off all our gear and got tangled up quite a bit.

i really expected better considering some of the things i've read about the san marcos river on the boards. maybe we were just diving at a bad time of year?

 

[Zinc]

i really expected better considering some of the things i've read about the san marcos river on the boards. maybe we were just diving at a bad time of year?

The San Marcos river is a fun dive for me, but it wouldn't be much fun if I didn't do the following:

1. Don't expect deep, it's a river
2. Only go when the Lions club is running the tube shuttle (Memorial day till Labor day I think). Walking and shuttling vehicles sucks, don't bother.
3. Park and gear up at Sewell Park (free and better if you get a curb/riverside parking spot
4. Purchase $2 wristband from Lionsclub at Sewell park (you don't need a tube yet)
5. Dive from Sewell park to Rio Vista Dam
5a. Fully inflate BC and float on surface when shallow...
5b. Deflate BC and dive in the deep spots, take your time and enjoy the scene... I'm usually pointed upstream but not kicking, just hang on and watch the show. Sometimes I even use an anchor...
6. After 30 minute dive, catch the Lions club shuttle with your $2 wristband, go back and repeat. If finished diving, skip to step 7.
7. Ditch your dive gear back at Sewell park, grab a tube and a six pack and hit the river, this time all on the surface.

Hope that helps, maybe next time anyway:11doh:

 

[redacted]

It is one of my favorite dives but I try to avoid the upper river when the tubers are there. I take it real slow so it may take me an hour to go 200-300 meters. I try to pass through the shallow, weedy areas quickly but linger and search the deeper (4+ ft) areas. I often dig/probe for bottles in some of the fill areas. You can also dive below the dam with faster currents and less weed but entry and exit points need some careful planning.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

all right, now i know why i got no replies. san marcos river diving sucks and none of you have probably been back in years.

i really expected better considering some of the things i've read about the san marcos river on the boards. maybe we were just diving at a bad time of year?

as long as there are tree huggers the San Marcos River will continue to develop into a swamp it used to be a great little river all rock bottom and 8-10ft in most places....oh well there is always the Comal

 

[redacted]

as long as there are tree huggers the San Marcos River will continue to develop into a swamp it used to be a great little river all rock bottom and 8-10ft in most places....oh well there is always the Comal

If by "tree huggers" you mean the folks who want to restore the river to a more natural state, you probably have it back asswards. Removing the dams would likely clear out the channel and remove much of the noxious weed. The lower, natural part of the river has very little weed.

 

[eviestevie]

we weren't expecting anything deep. i did my internet research and knew it wasn't going to be more than 10-15 ft, with most of it being not more than 5.

we brought two cars so we could do a drift dive and shuttle ourselves. we parked the first car in the saltgrass parking lot where we entered and the second car at rio vista park where we finished. we shuttled ourselves, no biggie.

I guess when I say it sucks, i mean the danged weeds and grass. the last half of the dive was really just a snorkle-scuba (snuba?). the grass was so high, it brushed the surface of the water for most of the way and we couldn't get any depth at all. the grass in many areas spanned the entire river. we struggled in a lot of places just to swim over the weeds. the weeds/grass were so dense we certainly weren't going to be able to swim through them. for an hour of diving, we barely broke 1000 psi.

please don't hate mail me, but if someone can just take an underwater lawnmower once a year and plow that grass down (but let it grow back later), i don't think i'd object.

i'm gun shy to try the comal next, but am really curious about how it compares to the san marcos, so that may be next!

 

[parrotheaddiver]

The Comal is a nicer river....clear weed free in the Landa Park area where you dive....it is how the San Marcos River used to look many years ago.....but because of the treehuggers who are protecting the wild rice....which I am sure is necessary since there is a shortage of rice in Texas....and plus there is a blind salamander that also lives in the river, which by the way lived there before it got so choked up with weeds.....so you can't take a lawnmover and remove any of those weeds you might kill a salamander....and they will continue to grow and clog the river until it turns into a swamp....

BTW we are going to the San Marcos River tomorrow but only to toob

 

[driftwood]

If by "tree huggers" you mean the folks who want to restore the river to a more natural state, you probably have it back asswards. Removing the dams would likely clear out the channel and remove much of the noxious weed. The lower, natural part of the river has very little weed.

The biggest obstacle to getting the river cleaned up is the US Fish and Wildlife service requirement for a permit to remove any plants from the river. With my normal dive buddy, we can fill a flat bed full of coon tail in a hours dive. Would all of us like to get the river cleaned up, of course. The problem is how to do that and remain in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. So, in effect the "tree huggers" are to blame.

Besides, we cannot remove the dams due to possible impact on the stands of Texas Wild Rice that are present in that part of river. Dams are a natural occurrences on the river. The only thing that has changed is that today they are man made instead of being built by beavers.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

Ahhh yes if only we could get the barges back to rip out the vegetation and keep the river clear again. Since the "tree huggers" (who probably never use the river anyway) have gotten their way, the increase in vegetation has also increased the amount of sediment deposited in the riverbed making the river much shallower. Besides delving through much red tape to try to rip out the crap, I guess the only other option is to pray for another catastrophic flood to do it for us. I remember being able to get into the water at Sewell Park and swim from one bank to the other instead of now damn near walking across from shore to shore with barely getting your ankles wet.