Texas

Reeves County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States

1.5 acre pool over San Solomon Springs, built by Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's.  Visibility is very good, lots of fish, turtles, and it's the only diving for hundreds of miles around.  Desert Divers dive shop in Toyahville.  Motel & camping facilities in park.

Balmorhea State Park is located 4 miles southwest of Balmorhea on Texas Highway 17, in Toyahvale. From I-10 westbound, take Balmorhea exit (exit #206); FM 2903 south to Balmorhea; State Highway 17 west 4 miles to the Park. From I-10 eastbound, take Toyahvale/Ft. Davis exit (exit #192); Ranch Road 3078 east approximately 12 miles to the park.

Balmorhea

Balmorhea State Park

Oasis in the middle of nowhere, Texas. This natural spring is 72 degrees year round!   Texas has a wonderful state park system, and Balmorhea State Park in West Texas is no exception. Located a few hours southeast of El Paso, Balmorhea boasts a large natural spring with views of the Davis Mountains. Stay in the cabins or camp on location. This is a great place for year round scuba diving and swimming (if you're really motivated!) where the water is consistently 72 degrees. Divers will see a variety of fish, and a rather feisty turtle. Entry is free for State Park Pass holders, and is otherwise $7. Pool hours are 8am-7:30pm. Check it out! 

Balmorhea Springs



Bottomless Lake State Park, Roswell, New Mexico

Lea Lake is also known as Bottomless Lake, Roswell.

Lea Lake

I am a dive instructor and the Blue Hole is an excellent place for new as well as advanced divers to work on their skills. The visibility makes the trip well worth taking. The access to the water is very easy with stairs and a nice platform for waiting to get into the water. There are two dive platforms at 20 and 25 feet in depth that are awesome to use for training purposes.

http://www.pages-yourfavorite.com/d-kasper/scuba/ow-loc-bluehole.html http://www.santarosanm.org/  Santa Rosa Name/Location:  Blue Hole  City/State:  Santa Rosa, New Mexico Description: Spring fed lake Max. Depth: 85 feet Visibility:  50' - 100'  Water Temperature: ~ 61F (year round)  Access:  Stairs or a concrete platform over the water allowing giant stride entry Facilities: Restrooms and changing rooms on-site. Dive Shop(s): Santa Rosa Dive Center Fee(s): $10 permit required to dive (good for one full year).  Go to Police Station to purchase the permit.  Note: if diving with an instructor, student(s) do not need a permit. Night Diving: Yes Altitude: 4,615' Comments:   Blue Hole is the preferred open water training area for dive shops in Central/Southern Colorado and Albuquerque, NM.  Very popular site for divers from New Mexico and West Texas. There are two platforms at 30' down for students and training.    Due to the cooler water temperatures, Blue Hole is not that popular with swimmers. Directions: Santa Rosa is 116 miles east of Albuquerque on I-40.  For city-to-city directions, check CyberRouter. Weather/Forecast: Santa Rosa, NM (Weather Underground) Contributor(s):  Special thanks to Steven Stewart and Sharon McCarty for their contributions to this site review.

Blue Hole

Blue Hole is a park in the city of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. There is onsite air filling on the weekends, and sometimes during the week. There is some VERY limited rental equipment available. Permits are $10 for 1 week (Wednesday through Tuesday) and $25 for a year (January to December). Blue Hole features a staircase entry or a concrete platform over the water for giant stride entry. There are training platforms at 20 and 25 feet for student divers. As Blue Hole is a bell-shaped sinkhole, the walls are where the attraction lie. Some notables include the toy store, the cow skull, and the diver's tombstone.



Blue Hole is also known as Navarre Nation.

used every weekend for dive training.  Mostly OW. 

Medina lake

Joe's Place

 One of the oldest inland scuba diving destinations in Texas, Possum Kingdom Reservoir attracts multitudes of divers each year as a training ground for new divers in the clear waters of the lake. It’s also a popular treasure-hunting site.  About 75 miles (120 km) west of Fort Worth in the Palo Pinto Mountains of North Central Texas, the reservoir emerged after the construction of the Morris Sheppard Dam in 1941, which was built to help control the flooding of the historic Brazos River and provide hydropower to the region. The narrow lake follows the winding, snakelike path of the river for 65 miles (104 km) with about 17,700 acres (7,080 hectares) of water, but the deep waters closest to the dam, with its clear visibility, is what attracts divers.  “Most of the lake in the upper portion is shallow with low visibility, but the closer you get to the dam, the more exceptional the diving, with visibility ranging up to 100 feet (30 m),” says Todd Burns of Scuba Point Dive Shop, which has operated as a training site and air fill station on the lake since 1959. Among the key features of the lower section of lake for divers are the sheer rock walls with numerous cutouts and caves bordering the former river valley, Burns says.

Possum Kingdom Lake

North Park on Canyon Lake is a public park with primitive camping available.  There is a protected buoyed area for an easy shore entry.  A short swim from shore will take you to a low bluff wall with cars, boats and the like at the bottom below the bluff.  Continuing into the lake will take you to across a short flat area and then down another steep slope to standing timber.  Visibility is typical of Texas lakes and can run from near none to rarely more than 10 - 12 feet above the thermocline.  The deeper colder water may offer better visibility.

Canyon Lake is about 30 miles north of Austin.  Take Hwy 306 from New Braunfels, Tx to Caynon Lake.  North Park is the first access to the lake and is the most popular dive site

Canyon Lake

North Park



Canyon lake. Can be rocky if water level is down.

Skyline

Known as the "longest shortest river in the world" by locals (only 2.5 miles in length), the Comal River is a haven for tubing. As for diving, the current can be swift at times.  But if you're into clean up projects, it's a great site.  Just watch out for the tube shoots!

New Braunfels. NE of San Antonia, TX.

Balmorhea State Park

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Balmorhea State Park