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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / September 2006About Dallas, TX lakes
I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area for a day trip? I heard about Athens and Clear Springs and Athens seems to be more popular. Why ? Any suggestions ? Are they very crowded during the summer? Visibility ? Any other lakes around ? Thank you guys T > I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area > for a day trip? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > T Jeez, this was easy... http://www.athensscubapark.com http://www.clearspringsscubapark.com http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/ClearLakeClearSpringsTX.html I've heard there's scuba on Possum Kingdom Lake http://gorp.away.com/gorp/eclectic/family/dallas_family2.htm http://www.redreefscuba.com holds classes on Joe Pool Lake  Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' >> I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area >> for a day trip? [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >http://www.athensscubapark.com On a bad day, Athens will silt up quite badly. Don't know about Clear Springs, it wasn't around when we lived there. >http://www.clearspringsscubapark.com >http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/ClearLakeClearSpringsTX.html > >I've heard there's scuba on Possum Kingdom Lake >http://gorp.away.com/gorp/eclectic/family/dallas_family2.htm Possum Kingdom is a "high altitude" dive, being a little over 1500 feet. >http://www.redreefscuba.com holds classes on Joe Pool Lake For some strange reason, most Dallas area shops make the drive to Travis for open water. Signaturedillon JAFO > For some strange reason, most Dallas area shops make the drive to > Travis for open water. Probably they figure that no matter how bad Travis might be, it's better than anything around the Dallas area... >I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area > for a day trip? No. > I heard about Athens and Clear Springs and Athens seems to be more > popular. Why ? The water is relatively clear and the Athens park caters to scuba divers. You might even find the junk in the water interesting. I haven't been to Clear Springs. > Any suggestions ? Are they very crowded during the summer? Visibility ? > Any other lakes around ? I tried Lewisville Lake one sunny summer day. You could see your hand when it was pressed flat against your mask. Due to many conditions the local lakes are not scuba friendly. I've been to several of the local dive stores in the Flower Mound area and they each have their recommended dive locations. You just need to ask and be willing to travel. > I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area > for a day trip? Hook up with Emily... She's up in that area also... > > I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area > > for a day trip? > > Hook up with Emily... She's up in that area also... Well, let's say that I am trying to decide the shop to take the class based on the lake. The shop that is farther away from me but has nicer people go typically to Clear Springs, and the shop closer to me but the divers literally treated me like an idiot, go to Athens. I was just trying to start and stay with one place/lake. Nothing wrong with jumping from one shop to the other but if I invest so much money in equipment and classes, I expect something back, meaning some trustable divers to learn from and to dive with. And that's all I want, to learn. I am not that interested about filling up my weekends or get drunk or get a boyfriend. I do want to learn the technique properly and from the beginning. Hellooo Emily ? I have been looking for Emily in rec.scuba and I just read something from her. She is already a diver. I am not yet :- ( My next question is about gear and suit and brands. I do not want to get rip off at the store so I want to have some quality brands before. Thank you guys. > My next question is about gear and suit and brands. I do not want to > get rip off at the store so I want to have some quality brands before. http://grumman581.googlepages.com/scuba-certification >> > I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area >> > for a day trip? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >to Clear Springs, and the shop closer to me but the divers literally >treated me like an idiot, go to Athens. Go where you're treated nice. Find a good shop. >I was just trying to start and stay with one place/lake. Nothing wrong >with jumping from one shop to the other but if I invest so much money >in equipment and classes, I expect something back, meaning some >trustable divers to learn from and to dive with. Don't invest any money in the shop yet. >And that's all I want, to learn. I am not that interested about >filling up my weekends or get drunk or get a boyfriend. I do want to [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >My next question is about gear and suit and brands. I do not want to >get rip off at the store so I want to have some quality brands before. It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a good shop and rent. >Thank you guys. Signaturedillon JAFO > Go where you're treated nice. Find a good shop. I was exactly thinking that. I already did a brief Discovered Scuba and it was easy. The guy was patient and was very clear explaining everything. Also I got lucky because I was the only one. :- ) The store is big, nice pool and the people seem nice and knowledgeable. The places closer to me are smaller. One of them changes ownership almost 1-2 years. The people now are rude unless you are diver ready to buy. Two other places I know, they are new, they teach but don't have shop. I suspect it is not a good idea. Another place that is older and was supposed to be pretty good, the shop does not have much stock, you barely see any customers or activities, their web site sucks, it just seems that is going to close any minute. So I will probably stick with the shop I know but is farther away from me,right?... > Don't invest any money in the shop yet. > It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a > good shop and rent. Why ? >> Go where you're treated nice. Find a good shop. > I was exactly thinking that. > I already did a brief Discovered Scuba and it was easy. The guy was > patient and was very clear explaining everything. That's a pretty good combination. > Two other places I know, they are new, they teach but don't have > shop. I suspect it is not a good idea. It's hard to tell. There are some very good instructors out there that are not affiliated with a specific shop. > So I will probably stick with the shop I know but is farther away from > me,right?... If you mean the shop you trust, right. >> Don't invest any money in the shop yet. >> It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a >> good shop and rent. > > Why ? Because it gives you a chance to try different equipment and increases the chance that most of your purchases will be something you like for a while. Lee >>> Go where you're treated nice. Find a good shop. > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >Because it gives you a chance to try different equipment and increases the >chance that most of your purchases will be something you like for a while. It also gives you a chance to decide if you really like diving. Learning to dive is cheap, diving is expensive. And selling barely used gear on eBay is really expensive. >Lee > Signaturedillon JAFO > >>> Don't invest any money in the shop yet. > >>> It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Learning to dive is cheap, diving is expensive. And selling barely > used gear on eBay is really expensive. Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting classes to take. And later you add good equipment, and the extra stuff and ... But when is consider a good time to own your own gear ? after 20, 30.. dives or after the advanced open water ? > Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting > classes to take. And most (if not all) of them are useless... > And later you add good equipment, and the extra stuff and ... > But when is consider a good time to own your own gear ? after 20, 30.. > dives or after the advanced open water ? Just find someone who knows a bit about equipment and let them help you buy some gear off of eBay and then teach yourself how to dive... It's not that fuckin' difficult... There's quite a few of us who got started that way and we managed to live through it... Don't worry, Darwin will be there for you... > > Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting > > classes to take. > > And most (if not all) of them are useless... and why would that be ? >> > Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting >> > classes to take. >> >> And most (if not all) of them are useless... >> > and why would that be ? The poster knows it all and has done everything there is to do. (While waiting to pass to the next life some become critical.) > >> > Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting > >> > classes to take. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > The poster knows it all and has done everything there is to do. (While > waiting to pass to the next life some become critical.) LOL >> > Well, learning to dive is not that cheap. There is a ton of interesting >> > classes to take. >> >> And most (if not all) of them are useless... >> >and why would that be ? Better to dive first and take classes later, when you know what you want to do. Signaturedillon If you can't figure out how to unmunge my address, email me and I'll explain it. >> >>> Don't invest any money in the shop yet. >> >>> It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >But when is consider a good time to own your own gear ? after 20, 30.. >dives or after the advanced open water ? Once you're tried some of the gear. Twenty dives should be sufficient. I'd also recommend doing it over time, as it will give you more time to test things like the BC. After the usual mask, snorkle and fins, look for a nice weight belt with pockets. You may never use it once you buy your BC, but it's comfortable until you get one that you like. The very last thing to buy is the computer. Learn how to use the tables. It's the only way to understand what the computer is telling you. That said, I bought all my gear in one shot, just before my first trip to Cozumel. Signaturedillon If you can't figure out how to unmunge my address, email me and I'll explain it. >> Go where you're treated nice. Find a good shop. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >So I will probably stick with the shop I know but is farther away from >me,right?... I don't know where you are, but try Grapevine Scuba. Nice shop, good people, all the instructors are top notch and they actually treat the students llike potential customers. That is, "we want you to keep coming back". www.grapevinescuba.com >> Don't invest any money in the shop yet. >> It's way, way too soon to be thinking about what gear to buy. Find a >> good shop and rent. > >Why ? See Lee's comments. When you take you're first trip, you can use gear that you're familiar with but not committed to. What works in a Texas lake may not work well in Cozumel. Start with a good mask, fins and snorkle and go from there. Signaturedillon JAFO > See Lee's comments. When you take you're first trip, you can use gear > that you're familiar with but not committed to. What works in a Texas > lake may not work well in Cozumel. Start with a good mask, fins and > snorkle and go from there. OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in Cozumel? > OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in > Cozumel? Well, if you're going below the thermoclime at Lake Travis, a thicker wetsuit than would be needed in Coz... A 3mm suit in Lake Travis is rather cold below the thermoclime... A 5mm FJ is not too bad, assuming that you don't die from heat stroke before getting below the thermoclime... Other than that, I suspect that the equipment needs are fairly similar... It's not like we need to worry about *really* cold water regs for example... If the water is so cold that I need to worry about ice forming on my reg, I think I'll pass on the dive that day... >> See Lee's comments. When you take you're first trip, you can use gear >> that you're familiar with but not committed to. What works in a Texas [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in > Cozumel? A shovel. >> OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in >> Cozumel? > > A shovel. You obviously haven't been to Cozumel lately. >>> OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in >>> Cozumel? >> >> A shovel. > > You obviously haven't been to Cozumel lately. Obviously. I could head over to rec.scuba and post that I went to Cozumel. That would be just like going and it wouldn't cost a dime. >>>> OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in >>>> Cozumel? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Obviously. I could head over to rec.scuba and post that I went to > Cozumel. That would be just like going and it wouldn't cost a dime. You could, but make sure you mention all the sand covering the reefs that necessitate bringing a shovel there. >>>>> OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in >>>>> Cozumel? [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > You could, but make sure you mention all the sand covering the reefs that > necessitate bringing a shovel there. Will do. In and of itself that's proof of visit. > OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in A small weightbelt? A mask with the wrong prescription? A thick wetsuit? An aluminum plate? I've never been diving in a Texas lake, but I do occasionally dive in Florida lakes. There are noticeable differences in my configuration when I do. Lee > > OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in > > A mask with the wrong prescription? hu? why wrong prescription ? > An aluminum plate? what for ? > > OK, I'm curious. What gear works in a Texas lake that doesn't work in >> A mask with the wrong prescription? > hu? why wrong prescription ? It was a joke. A mask with a wrong perscription will work just as good as one with the correct perscription in a lake with zero visibility. >> An aluminum plate? > what for ? An aluminum plate as in plate, wing and harness equipment. Because people are less buoyant in fresh water than in salt water, those that dive fresh water a lot often use an aluminum plate rather than a stainless one. In salt water, the stainless plate often works better, allowing the diver to remove 6 to 8 lbs of lead from his weight belt. Lee >>> An aluminum plate? >> what for ? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > salt water, the stainless plate often works better, allowing the diver to > remove 6 to 8 lbs of lead from his weight belt. And add 6-8 pounds to luggage? I don't think so. >>>> An aluminum plate? >>> what for ? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > And add 6-8 pounds to luggage? I don't think so. I forget. Are you using an aluminum plate? Lee >>> An aluminum plate as in plate, wing and harness equipment. Because >>> people are less buoyant in fresh water than in salt water, those that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I forget. Are you using an aluminum plate? I go totally streamlined and ditch the plate altogether. >>>> An aluminum plate as in plate, wing and harness equipment. Because >>>> people are less buoyant in fresh water than in salt water, those that [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > I go totally streamlined and ditch the plate altogether. Adding 6-8 pounds to the belt around the waist. I don't think so. >>>>> An aluminum plate as in plate, wing and harness equipment. Because >>>>> people are less buoyant in fresh water than in salt water, those that [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Adding 6-8 pounds to the belt around the waist. I don't think so. That's because I don't wear a belt either. Who needs all this unnecessary crap? "Lee Bell" <pleebell2@bellsouth.net> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :Adding 6-8 pounds to the belt around the waist. I don't think so. Most modern BCs have weight pockets. Some luddites still use belts. Dan Bracuk If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. > :Adding 6-8 pounds to the belt around the waist. I don't think so. > > Most modern BCs have weight pockets. Some luddites still use belts. Most? I hardly think so. Lee > "Lee Bell" <pleebell2@bellsouth.net> pounded away at his keyboard > resulting in: > > :Adding 6-8 pounds to the belt around the waist. I don't think so. > > Most modern BCs have weight pockets. Most for sale, or most in use? nospam@all.please.net pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :Most for sale, or most in use? yes Dan Bracuk If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. > nospam@all.please.net pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: > > :Most for sale, or most in use? > > yes <grin> Which? "Tina" <MoonSeaButterfly@yahoo.com> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area :for a day trip? :I heard about Athens and Clear Springs and Athens seems to be more :popular. Why ? :Any suggestions ? Are they very crowded during the summer? Visibility ? :Any other lakes around ? I hear they have an airport where you can catch flights to all sorts of places with nice diving. Dan Bracuk If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. > I hear they have an airport where you can catch flights to all sorts > of places with nice diving. oh we do :- ))) but let me take the class(es) first. "Tina" <MoonSeaButterfly@yahoo.com> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :oh we do :- ))) but let me take the class(es) first. One available option is to do your classroom and pool locally, and your open water dives somewhere with nice diving. It will cost more. You just have to decide if it's worth it. Dan Bracuk If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. > One available option is to do your classroom and pool locally, and > your open water dives somewhere with nice diving. It will cost more. > You just have to decide if it's worth it. Yeah I know and trust me, I rather dive in Cozumel or anywhere else than in a muddy lake but I rather avoid the mix of being female, alone and dummy (i.e., not certified yet). And no warranties that I would be with the same instructor that I had in class/pool. I will go "outside" after I become familiar with the technology so I can have fun and really enjoy the experience ;- )) I can wait. >> One available option is to do your classroom and pool locally, and >> your open water dives somewhere with nice diving. It will cost more. >> You just have to decide if it's worth it. > Yeah I know and trust me, I rather dive in Cozumel or anywhere else > than in a muddy lake but I rather avoid the mix of being female, alone > and dummy (i.e., not certified yet). And no warranties that I would be > with the same instructor that I had in class/pool. I will go "outside" > after I become familiar with the technology so I can have fun and really > enjoy the experience ;- )) I can wait. Your choice, of course. That would be my choice as well. Then again, I live in Florida, where finding visibility better than what I understand Lake Travis has to offer is pretty much a sure thing. FWIW, your open water sessions are primarily a test to see how well you learned what was presented in the confined water portion of the course. The probability of having the same instructor for the open water sessions depends on the shop and the kinds of services they offer. Some shops book such trips and send their instructors on them. Others don't. If all you're doing is proving you've learned the minimum required skills, the instructor isn't nearly as important as he/she is during the earlier portions of the class. Lee I don't know where you are located but I am in north Dallas. I use Blue Dolphin Scuba in Frisco and they are pretty good. They use Athens for all open water checkouts and use a pool in the colony for all confined classes. They are pretty detail oriented and don't really pressure you with equipment. They have a website bluedolphinscuba.com. A NJ altantic diver owns the shop and started it. They also have free movie nights once per month showing trips they have been on and a travel agent as well as dive trips. >I am new to scuba. Any recommendations about lakes in the dallas area > for a day trip? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > T |
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