For years I've heard about diving the Flower Garden Banks off of Texas. A coral garden, and a National Marine Sanctuary. In researching how to get there, it seemed the dive boat Fling was, for the most part, was the only choice. My buddy, Bill and I booked a trip in August 2013. It was one of their rare 3 day trips. They usually do 2 day trips. They cater to a local crowd. For us from SoCalifornia, it was an ordeal. Plane flight, rental car and hotel stay.

Once we found the dirt road to the dock, and gave a pint of blood to the mosquitos as we loaded our gear. We huddled in the salon until we were underway and the breeze kept said mosquitos at bay. My definition of a liveaboard is SolmarV or the Nai'a. The Fling does not fit this definition. I'd put this in the same category as SoCal's Peace, Horizon and Truth 'liveaboards'. She's 100' long, and holds 34 passengers. The bunk rooms are mostly, two sets of bunk beds. There are communal bathrooms. She's a refitted oil rig crew boat, sort of like a large Spectre (another SoCal dive boat). And like the Spectre, she tends to roll a bit. The one job I wouldn't want on this boat is the galley crew. They were always cooking. I woke up, food was ready. I went to bed, they were cooking or cleaning. Food was plentiful, and always available. I did like the galley setup. On some of liveaboards I've been on, the galley is hidden. Who wants to see the kitchen? On the Fling, the galley crew were a part of the experience. They'd answer questions, offer advise, or a snack.

The divemasters worked well together. And they had rules. Lots of rules. In fairness, they were Boat-rules. Rules to the point of frustration for me and Bill. When Bill would get overly frustrated over the rules. I'd tell him, 'What was the last question on the form we filled out? 'Did you ever dive salt water?'" The Fling takes a lot of Midwestern divers, who have only dove lakes and quarries, out into the middle of the Gulf. On deep dives, with currents, swells, and no sign of land. I thought they did it very well. Being this is Texas, they set up a corral for us divers. A DM would attach a line half way down the mooring line. This line had floats on it. The other end was attached to the stern of the boat. The weakest diver would make a giant stride, float to the back of the boat and encounter the floating line. Then he'd pull himself to the mooring line. On night dives, they would hang lights on the mooring line to find it. The DM's didn't lead dives. But they did make the dives, just to survey their herd. And eventually, cut a bit of slack on the rules to those that seemed to have tasted saltwater before.

We dove the Flower Gardens, Stetsons Reef and a couple of oil rigs. I always heard things are bigger in Texas. SoCal's oil rigs dwarf the ones we dove. I would definitely recommend this fine vessel. The crew works hard and takes you to fairly advanced sites. Weather can be an issue. It's not uncommon for the trip to cancel due to weather. Prior to the trip, I was very busy at work. I prayed for a hurricane. A usual, the lord messed with me, and gave us mirror-like glassy conditions. If you ever find yourself near the Texas Gulf, this should be a 'must do'. If you're looking for an inexpensive and out of the ordinary, warm water experience. Try a little Fling.

My video http://youtu.be/JHW6aYvDqiU