Diving Downtown Austin

    We were running a 3 mile loop around Lady Bird Lake with all the other random Austin joggers on a beautiful December morning.  As we crossed a foot bridge just below Barton Springs Drive I couldn't help but notice the clear water below.  Pam informed me it was Barton springs flowing into the lake and I thought "gotta get into that".  A recurrent dream I have is that I am traveling somewhere and happen upon clear water that calls to me in such a way that I spend the rest of the dream trying to get to it...only to wake up before I get in.  So, next trip to Austin I put my snorkeling gear and wetsuit in the trunk and after looking over google maps went to explore the possibilities.  Tips from the relatives were taken and I parked as close as I could in Zilker Park.  Cousin Missy and her son Carl met me and watched from shore.  There happened to be a no swimming sign, so they served as look outs as well.  It turned out to be a pretty magical place to dive; even in winter; even in Texas.  The water is a constant 75 degrees.  Not bad with a wetsuit. The depth gets only to about 9 feet, but there is lots to see.

 Check out this short video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqXnMgbF7IU

Either a type of Cooter turtle or Mississippi Map Turtle  There are lots of turtle species!

 

Lots of bass and perch (you might notice the tail of this one)

Lots of plant life like Saggitaria make a great environment for all the animal life here.