7 replies to this topic

[grouper]

Hi,

My girlfriend and I will be diving the Flower Garden Banks out of Freeport, TX, August 8th-9th, but we will be there at least a day early. We dive in fresh water near Chicago all the time, so the attraction there will be the Gulf.

The problem is that all of the boats that operate in the area seem to be mainly fishing boats that do accept scuba charters. I.e. no walk-on type charters with pre-scheduled trips. So, we would probably need to charter an entire 6-pack, so we would need 2-4 other divers to make it affordable.

Would anyone here be interested in something like this? The date would be Friday, August 7th.

Thanks,
Peter

[Bubble2Bubble]

Peter,
I cant join you guys on that date but there ia a Charter in that area..
Native Texan ll
281-421-9312
e-mail... klk43@aol.com
Mermaid, Victoria and I plus a few other SD divers took his 25' twin engine out to the oil rigs and it was very Very

I hope this helps.

Mike

[grouper]

Thanks, it does. I will contact them to see if they have anything going on that Friday. Still, I hope I can get a couple more people to sign on to get the minimum for a trip. Of course, I have no idea how much a charter costs, I'll have to ask them in my email...

But yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about the rig diving and even read an article about rig diving off of San Diego (in PADI's catalog, er I mean magazine, Sport Diver, I think, of all places...) but thought why not do it in Texas, as long as we have the extra vacation time before getting on the liveaboard that weekend.

What sucks is that we're driving to Texas from Chicago because I'll be lugging my own cylinders. Ah, the miles and miles of open road!

Thanks again,
Peter

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Well, if you've coming through Kansas City on your way south and it's afternoon/evening when you think you'll hit town, let me know and we can have a mini-Happy Hour! You know, just to break up the monotony of driving.....

[ScubaPunk]

I had a pretty good experience with Ultra Dive

I love diving the rigs, but the thing is, it will cost you at least $250 + per person to go out for a 2 tank dive, maybe three depending on the boat.

For another $250 you can go out to the Flower Gardens for the whole weekend, and get 10 - 15 dives in. I just don't like the dive for the $$ ratio.

[ASDmike]

grouper, do keep us up to date with your plans. This is only a week after the Texas SD weekend in New Braunfels, so it may be tough for those TX divers to get away two weekends in a row. BTW, you won't be in TX on the weekend before? BTW2, did you check the Fling's availability?

[dive_sail_etc]

I had a pretty good experience with Ultra Dive
I love diving the rigs, but the thing is, it will cost you at least $250 + per person to go out for a 2 tank dive, maybe three depending on the boat.
For another $250 you can go out to the Flower Gardens for the whole weekend, and get 10 - 15 dives in. I just don't like the dive for the $$ ratio.

15 dives in a weekend?!? Good grief Sandy, do you even bother to come up or air? I have a new hero... er... heroine! (The girl, not the drug).

I certainly agree the bigger bang for the diving buck would be the FG charter, but have also heard the rigs are a Bucket List level must-do-once-before-you-die experience. Carpe Diem, Grouper guy *Latin for "eat a carp each day* and hope you will file a photo laden trip report upon your return.

Edited: Stinkin' typos!!!

[grouper]

We are already booked for a 2-day Flower Gardens trip on M/V Fling. 500 bucks pp. for 7 potential dives. Spending $250 pp. to dive the rigs would be fine--how often do I get to do that?