Texas Flower Gardens

The Flower Gardens are actually the northernmost coral reefs in the United States. Located about 105 miles directly south of the Texas/Louisiana border, they are perched atop two salt domes rising above the sea floor. Salt formation began 160 to 170 million years ago when salt layers were deposited in what was then a shallow sea subject to evaporation. In subsequent years, miles of sediments were deposited over the salt layers.

Eventually, internal pressures became great enough to push isolated pockets of salt up through the sediments, forcing the seafloor to bulge upward in distinct domes. The Flower Gardens coral reef community probably began developing on top of the domes 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. The community has thrived sufficiently to obscure all trace of the deformed bedrock on which it developed, forming coral reefs.

The nearest tropical coral reefs to the Flower ardens are 400 miles away off Tampico, Mexico. Scientists believe that corals at the Flower Gardens probably originated from Mexican reefs when currents in the western Gulf of Mexico carried the young corals (planulae), other animal larvae, and plant spores northward. A few of these planulae were lucky enough to settle on the hard substrate of the Flower Garden Banks.

At the turn of the century, only a few long-line fishermen knew the bounties of what they called the Flower Gardens. The name for these oases came from the colorful corals and sponges visible from the surface, pieces of which the fishermen sometimes landed, fouled on fishing hooks. The reefs appeared on nautical charts in the 1930s, but in 1950 the first detailed contour chart of the area was produced, marking the beginning of the age of exploration for the Flower Gardens.

The Flower Gardens offer a nearby opportunity to experience some of the best diving on the planet at a low cost. From the very small to the very large, the Flower Gardens offers the diver a rainbow of animal life to encounter; baby moray eels to manta rays, whale sharks, and huge schools of silvery jacks and many other fish frequent the area. You will be delivered to the Flower Gardens on the M.V. Fling or M.V. Spree in the capable hands of of Gulf Diving Charters and their highly professional staff. The Fling offers all the amenities: a sunning deck, air conditioning, air compressors and (most importantly) great food all day long! Following thorough and professional briefings, you'll be making a total of five dives the first day on the East and West banks, and two dives the following day on Stetson bank and one at an oil rig, a unique marine ecosystem in itself.

Satellite View of Texas Flower Gardens & Stetsons Bank: