MV Fling, the Flower Gardens, Texas: Undercurrent 09/2024

MV Fling, the Flower Gardens, Texas

coral gardens, oil rigs, and plenty of fish

from the September, 2024 issue of Undercurrent

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Several months ago, I asked one of our long-time correspondents to review the MV Fling, which makes two-night cruises into the Gulf of Mexico out of Freeport, Texas. "Yes," came the reply, but bad weather cancels, so it's never guaranteed. Early August weather was just fine, so we got our story.

Of course, no one expected that three weeks previously, two Fling divers would get lost at sea for 39 hours. We covered that story in our July issue. While the search and successful rescue of the two experienced Oklahoma divers, Kim and Nathan Maker, was national news, the story was always about them and never the boat. So if you want to know what diving from the Fling in good weather is like, our anonymous reviewer has a story to tell.

-- Ben Davison

MV Fling, a converted oil platform supply boat Living as I do 150 miles inland from a sandy coast, I don't get much chance to see reefs or even clear water. The coast of Texas is sand or mud. The best-known diving site in the northern Gulf is the Flower Garden Banks,120 miles from the northeast coast of Texas. And diving there is tough to schedule. While one must sign up for trips well in advance, the Fling captain doesn't say "go" until noon on the Friday you leave. You see, they are watching the weather, and if the seas are high or a storm is on the horizon, a trip may be canceled. The uncertainty deters a lot of divers from signing up, especially those who fly to Houston and rent a car to drive the 80 miles to the Freeport dock,only to find out that weather canceled their trip.

I hit it lucky. While wind and seas can be rough, the offshore forecast looked good. I had signed up well in advance for a trip on one of those wonderful weekends when the Gulf of Mexico was calm. Just after lunch in early August, I tossed my bags into my car and prepared for a three-hour drive south, the scariest part of the trip.

Oil/gas platform I arrived in plenty of time for the 7:00 P.M. departure from Freeport, a small town southeast of Galveston, where commercial shrimp boats and chemical tankers dock. The contrast between the murky brown water of Freeport and the sea out on the reefs would be remarkable. I met other divers -- mostly people from Texas but one from Pittsburg -- either dive instructors, dedicated photographers, or people like me who longed for beautiful reefs. And one was a new diver, though it's not a wise trip for beginners, people who have never dived in salt water, or people who are really out of shape. Some folks get out there, get frightened, and quit....

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