Aquarena Springs
- Visibility: 50-60'
- Description: Maximum depth is 30', a very similar environment to the San Marcos
River, listed below. The one time I dove this site, has the be the best freshwater dive I
have made. It is fantastic at night, because the catfish, gar, crawfish are out in numbers.
The catfish are very large and some are albinos. Also, to be seen is what called the
"cream of wheat", spots in the bottom of the river where the springs are bubbling up.
When I dove it, it was a tourist attraction
that had glass-bottom boats, that allowed visitors to see the springs without getting
wet and at night allowed divers to pay $20 to dive the site.
At the same time archaeological research was ongoing since long ago, this
was a major site of indians in Central Texas.
Today, it is more difficult to gain access to this location
since it is owned by the University of Texas for archaeological research only,
but you can contact Pieces Scuba, who at one time had an offer setup
with the UT that allowed divers to take a class on archaeology and
recovery, then participate in the project and come back and dive the area when projects
where going on. For city-to-city directions, check
CyberRouter.
Canyon Lake
- Visibility: 15-30'
- Description: Lots of freshwater fish and plants. There are
several wrecked cars and boats out in the flats (so many it reminded
me of a junkyard). Closer to the dam is a nice wall dive as well as an old
car that looks to have been driven off the dam. Watch out for all the fishhooks
and trotlines by the wall. I have heard there is a even a town that was covered
by water when the lake was filled. If someone knows of its location I would
like to include it as well as any trip reports of this lake. For city-to-city
directions, check CyberRouter.
Lake Travis
- Visibility: 5-25'
- Description: Lake Travis has many different types of diving locations,
my favorites are Mansfield Dam, Starnes Island, Windy Pt. and off of Volente. I frequent
these the most often because they are interesting sites and accessible by car(except
for Starnes Island). There are lots of grottos(domed air pockets) many of which gives
you the opportunity to talk your buddy during the dive. So far, I've found grottos off
of Windy Pt., the coveside of Mansfield Dam, Starnes and the wall near West Pt.
For city-to-city directions, check CyberRouter.For more indepth information as well as a map see
the Map of Lake Travis. (48k)
San Marcos River
- Visibility: 50-60'
- Description:
Maximum depth is only about 15 feet, which makes this a great drift/snorkeling trip.
The temperature is usually between 65 to 70 degrees, because it's a spring. The river
has a lot of plant life, turtles, gar and fish. Sometimes after heavy rains you can
also find indian artifacts, such as arrowheads. For city-to-city directions, check
CyberRouter.