athens scuba park

We drove up to Athens, TX for the weekend to dive at Athens Scuba Park. We called ahead to reserve tanks and find out more about the park. We arrived at the park first thing Saturday morning. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We were able to drive up close to the dock to drop off our gear, but then had to park the truck a little ways away. We were able to dive three dives throughout the day. Tank fills were easy, you just have to transport the tanks back to the onsite dive shop. The visibility was maybe 10 feet, which wasn't great. There are multiple boats, airplanes, platforms, statues and more to see throughout. There was a lot of shade to hang out in when out of the water in between our dives. There were a lot divers at the park, some were there for certification and others diving for fun. They have a great wash station for cleaning your gear when done. They also have onsite bathrooms and showers. The only negative was the visibility. Overall, we enjoyed the day at this park and will very likely return in the future.

Drove to Athens Scuba Park for a day of diving to make sure all of our gear worked properly before a trip to Bonaire. When we arrived, they said the viz might be around 10 feet or so due to the rain the week or two before. We decided 10 feet was tolerable and we geared up to dive. What attracted us to the park was everything they have submerged for divers to explore. In reality, viz was less than 3 feet and we aborted the day of diving after 5 minutes. Diving isn't fun when you can't even see your own fins. We would like to come back to Athens on a weekend when there has been less rain, but for now, we remain fairly sad and disappointed. We do wish they'd told us viz would be really really bad, but they made it sound as though it was at least divable.

From the moment we entered the easy to find park the staff was friendly and welcoming! Water was warm, with plenty of underwater attractions to happen upon while diving. Kept our attention for two tanks each. Facilities were clean and kept up. Wash racks for equipment were greatly appreciated! Bathrooms with fully stocked showers were great since we had a road trip home after our last dive. Seriously cannot say enough about this place or its owners. Take a day or two and go. I promise you'll be planning a return trip as you leave the park. We did! We live less than 15 minutes from another park but will gladly make the 4 hour drive anytime!

My wife and I enjoy diving at Athens Scuba Park. We have gone a few times a year for a handful of years now. The diving is pretty simple. Docks from your camp/day site. Lots of submerged items/gear/vehicles to explore. Good dive shop, bathrooms and changing rooms.The viz gets bad sometimes but hey it's a small lake in Texas...get out your compass and work on navigation. You probably can use the practice.Lots of fun at a reasonable price. We enjoy a day trip to ASP from Dallas. Pack some lunch for a picnic or run up the street for some KFC, MCD or something local.We like Clear Springs in Terrell too. It is a little deeper but more things to see at ASP.

Athens Scuba Park is a great place to practice your diving skills. They have several things underwater to dive around. There are no fish in this scuba park and sometimes can be very murky. Practice your wreck penetration and log some time!

We decided to take a family dive weekend in Athens, Tx. We heard about the park from our Dive Shop. We were there in August, the water level was very low due to the drought . The water was like bath water, the visibility was very low, the silt was about a foot deep. It was good to check out dive equipment and see a few sunken things but I would wait for until the drought is over and silt has settled to go again. PS do not plan on camping, unless you are okay with a train going by every hour and half, most of the night. Our son gave it up about midnight and got a room in town.

This is the perfect place to dive. It seems remote, but is only a half block off of main street. It has everything you could possibly want. Training platforms, wrecks, and even a cave system. The staff is amazing and could not be more helpful. It is also really cheap to dive there!! Air fills are only $5 and gear rental was cheap for my wife and I. You can camp or setup an RV like us when you get there. The dive shop is better stocked than anything I have seen in a while. They have the necessities as well as the toys you dream about. I highly recommend this park, and will be going back shortly!!

Athens Scuba Park Trip Report: Park will NOT fill tanks older than 1992. Viz: 15-20 feet, after park closes and less people, viz obviously increases. Water hovered at/around 71 degrees. Depth was no more than 22 feet, bottom is clay, so stay off!! From Dell Diamond it was aprox. 3 hour drive. Camping is great, with showers, and bathroom (1). If you are camping there is a train that came at least two times late at night and early next morning.

This was an amazing lake to dive in. We had such a blast! The wrecks that they have sunk are unbelievable! We swam through over 30 wrecks while we were there. They have two 60 ft jets that were so interesting to look at! I highly recommend staying a weekend down there. Great fun for the whole family!

The park was really cool and I had a great time! They have over 35 underwater sunken wrecks such as jets, dart busses, house boat, cabin cruisers, and a whole lot more!! The visibility varies due to the amount of people that have been in the lake that day but it was around 15-20 when we went for the first time. The second time we went the visibility was like swimming in Cozumel, 60+ feet! I highly recommend going to this place over anything else. Hope this helps y'all!

We recently visited Athens Scuba Park and found the trip to be a bit of a mixed bag.First off, let's start with the good - The park is located in downtown Athens so it is easy to find and you are close to restaruants and hotels. The staff is friendly and there is a well stocked dive shop on site. There are multiple docks with parking close by so unloading your gear is easy. Entrance fee is only $15 per scuba diver and air refills are only $5 so the prices are very reasonable. Also, one of the underwater attractions is a bus with "culvert" caves attached. This was a great way to practice bouyancy. The water temperature was also quite nice at 79 degrees.The bad - The website advertises depth of 20-35 feet and an average visibility of 35-70 feet, We found the average depth to be more like 15-20 feet although we did not dive the entire lake due to the low visibilty. On the day we visited the park website had the visibilty listed as 15 feet. It may have been first thing in the morning. However, the bottom of the lake is clay and there were tons of diving schools present. Students often have a hard time staying off the the bottom and because of that visibilty was as little as 1 or 2 feet during much of the day. This was especially true near the docks that dive schools were using. After many of the schools finished up, the lake settled and visibilty might have been in the 6-10 foot range. Although this isn't horrible, we typically have 15 feet visibility at the lake near my home so it was disappointing to drive 6+ hours and experience what we did. The other downside is that the only thing to look at in the lake are sunken objects such as boats, hot tubs, and air craft. I really would have enjoyed the lake had it been stocked with fish...just my personal preference.Bottom line...if you don't have a lake with reasonable visibilty nearby or don't mind seeing only inanimate objects on your dive; you may enjoy the Athens Scuba Park. As I said, the location is convenient and staff is friendly. However, if you have good visibilty close by or want to see a little wildlife on your dives, then this may not be the place for you.

Viz on Fridays are better than other days due to the clay bottom and student divers on weekends. I was there last 2 weekends for classes and the water temp was 74-78°F depending on which side of the lake you are on. South side of the lake was a bit deeper 18-24 feet - North side, the platform was 13 - 16 feet deep. I wore 3 mm shorty and full depending on surface temp but easily get by with shorty. They have a couple of planes at opposite ends of the lake and it is a good training lake. They have a few platforms to practice descents without mucking up the bottom. The planes, bus, and tubes are good to practice your buoyancy. There is a train track near the scuba park and if you are thinking about camping, you won't enjoy the train's horn. I camped there a year ago and I was having trouble sleeping. There is several motels/hotels but I always stay at Super 8 - $53+ for single room. From there, if you drive east on Tyler st. it is an easy albeit a slow drive to the scuba park.No fish in this lake.

Facilities are fantastic. Water was low due to the drought, but still lots to see. Friendly, helpful staff. We will definitely go back.

It was great to perform our check out dive without boats. There is a school bus, boats, and airplanes to check out! Visibility was less than 10 feet however we are in drought. Family owned and operated - great folks!

Once again, the owners have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we had a good dive. I had a minor issue with a dive computer. The staff was very helpful in getting this resolved so that my dive was trouble free. We will definitely be back. Water was down due to drought in Texas, but it will be back full just as soon as we get the next big rain.