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Gulf of Mexico. A unique underwater universe in the world.
The Gulf of Mexico which extends from Mexico in the United States is almost a vast closed sea. In the USA, the Gulf borders many states: Texas, Louisiana, the Mississippi and Florida. It is an underwater universe very little known and very little attended even by the American divers. However, it is a paradise for the underwater divers and all the species of the tropical seas can be observed there.
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The coasts are among the most beautiful and the sandiest of the world.
To dive in the Gulf of Mexico is divers need to do a live-aboard for several days and it is really a unbelievable experience. Generally in warm water, dives are done on atolls or barriers of corals relatively close to the shores. In the Gulf of Mexico, not at all. The dives are done from 125 miles away from the shores. We have to add that the Gulf is in the zone of the tornadoes at the beginning of spring and of the hurricanes from June to October. The diving season is relatively short: April to October. There are few operators and the waiting list is very long. The divers book several months in advance, even of a year on the other. As much to say that the dives are deserved!
What could we see there? It is a reserve. Around the United States, 13 marine reserves were indexed by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The dimension of Texas and Louisiana precisely in the Gulf of Mexico shelters one of them. The others are California, Florida, state of Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Hawaii and American Samoa. The large parks or the megalopolis are more often quoted like tourist attractions than the reserves of diving. That is good for us because we are always looking of less known destination, apart from the too tourist circuits. Fishing is of course prohibited there; fauna and flora can thus grow with no human bothering. Nature is being generous, the result is really surprising.
A little bit of geology before continuing… The marine reserve includes 3 very known areas: parks of Flower Garden, East and West and the park of Stetson. The Gulf of Mexico was created 160 to 170 million years ago. A water level at the time not very deep, same heat as today, result an intense phenomenon of evaporation generating the formation of salt deposits, covered today with sediments. Stetson bank reminds the name of a majestic Texan hat: Stetson. This name because the site has the shape of a hat of Cowboy.
In Flower Garden, as the temperature the winter is more lenient, a coral reef developed 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. No track of the structure of the sediment base. It is a gigantic juxtaposed coral field the ones with the others. We were lucky to explore another recent site: Geyer bank. It strongly looks like Flower Garden, but fauna is different. We went several times on that blessed place of the Gods. If one day you want to see something exceptional, do not hesitate!!!!
To dive in the gulf, it is not only diving on natural reefs, but is also to dive on metal structures. We did not visit the wrecks yet, but for us what will remain an unforgettable memory is to dive on the oil platforms. Nothing else to say except that is giant!! Boarding to Flower Garden without coming to make a turn on the beaches of the “Gulf” would be a pity. But for the in love ones with the nature and the great sand extents it is there that that occurs. The Texan coast only extends to it on 400 miles. On the other hand, lovers of knack and foil, you need to abstain from. The gulf of Texas is famous for its shrimps. There is what, they are really succulent. The number of varieties does not equalize the number of French cheeses, but it is nevertheless impressive. At least ten: pinks, gray, with hard, soft shell….without counting the sizes. The small ones are rather kind our bouquets and largest are like enormous Gambas. The largest fishing ports are Galveston, Corpus Christi and Freeport. On the right they are the shrimpers moored in one of the channels of Freeport. Fishing becomes increasingly difficult. Fishing has been too intensive these 10 last years. In the circuit only the large structures or the fishermen remain who can do only that. Fishing opens mid-July for 6 months. The fishermen sleep the day and work during the night. They leave for several days, and preserve shrimps in the ice the time of the trip. We can testify that the shrimps are fresh, at the time of the one of our returns of cruising our crew helped a shrimper to recover a net wedged in the engine of the boat. For reward 10 pounds of shrimps. A treat!
The channel of Freeport is the harbour where the divers load for Flower Garden. In general it is one moment of intense agitation. For the majority it is the result of several months of dreams. Between the long waiting lists on the 2 boat and the weather, it is necessary to be patient.
Friday noon, first intense moment of the weekend. Call to the answering machine to know if the weekend is maintained or cancelled due to weather (go! or No go!). After a trip by car of several hours, one arrives finally at the jetty, for the loading precisely at 8:.30 PM. Once everyone embarked, the boat leaves the harbour at 10PM typing to join Flower Garden by the next morning. Living aboard can be summarized with: “Dive, eat and rest”. Skeptics at the beginning, it should well be said that at the end of the weekend we arrived from there at the same conclusion. First diving Saturday morning 7:00AM in the morning. Alarm clock at 6 a.m. after one night a little difficult on the boat. The dives in the early morning have really something of magic. The light perhaps and the fact not of not being completely awaked?
A unique underwater universe with an exceptionnal variety of fauna
When you go down for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico on Flower Garden, you can see a giant coral field or mushroom heads with a size from 6 to 10 feet. And that extends on 100 acres, to say as far as the eye can see as much. The site is not very deep, 60 feet allow relatively long dives. It is very strange, there is little basic current, but going down is very tricky and difficult. The current at the surface is very strong. Divers need to go down along a rope and it is mandatory to hold it.
Usually, the visibility has a range from 60 to 90 feet. It can be much better: 150 feet. As we are in a marine reserve, the boats do not anchor. Buoys were installed to make it possible the boats to anchor. There are 7 buoys with FG West and 5 in the East. The orientation is very difficult in Flower Garden: all the coral mushrooms ...(report for sale).
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