Balmorhea State Park, Texas

We're on our fourth dive here, on a weekend escape to this West Texas oasis, but we still haven't accomplished our main objective: spotting and photographing elusive crawfish in their natural habitat. For years, while diving Texas lakes, we've tried to find them, and so far on this trip, the same thing is happening--we're coming up short and getting frustrated. Finally, we ask another diver who knows the area well to join us for our next dive. While we're exploring the sandy bottom, our new dive buddy moves some rocks and looks under them--and there they are, a couple of 2-inch crawfish scrambling around, trying to nudge their way under other rocks. Quickly, it becomes clear why: A swarm of tetra fish swoop in on the crawfish, trying to eat them. So after taking a few shots of the crawfish, we decide to leave them alone--and let them slip back into survival mode.

The desert isn't the first spot most divers think of visiting to make new underwater discoveries. But Balmorhea State Park's San Solomon Springs--a 47-acre pearl south of Pecos, in West Texas's Chihuahua Desert--is just such a place. The spring's concrete and rock structure--built by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1934 and 1941--and 1.75-acre surface make it one of America's largest man-made pools. The spring boils up through a sandy bottom, making the temperature 78 degrees, like a warm bath. The water is 22 feet deep and the continuous freshwater flowing in hosts a varied aquatic ecosystem, ranging from schools of 1- to 2-inch tetra fish to foot-long catfish. The park also has two endemic, endangered species: the 1-inch Comanche Spring pupfish and the half-inch Pecos gambusia, also called the mosquitofish.

Long before our crawfish encounter, we almost completely miss this divers' oasis. On the way there, we spot a beacon--a red-and-white dive flag sign painted on the wall of an appropriately named business, Funky Li'l Dive Shop. We walk to what looks like a standard-issue concrete swimming pool, where children are shouting and playing. At first, we're disappointed. Did we really drive for hours only to dive in an outdoor swimming pool?

But after paying the park entrance fee, we take a closer look into the pool. What we see amazes us--divers swimming in crystal-clear water. That's what we're talking about! So we hurriedly gear up, descend down a staircase into 5 feet of water and plunge into a brand-new adventure.

Soon, we're surrounded by a school of catfish that appear unusually dark. Some people in the area later tell us that's normal, because the fish get suntanned. People tell us beforehand that the fish here are used to being hand-fed, so we bring slices of bread for them to eat. As soon as we take the bread out of the plastic bags we're carrying, we're harassed by hundreds of 2-inch Rio Grande tetra fish, fighting for pieces of the precious treasure. Before long, the tetra school becomes so dense, we're completely enveloped in a dark moving cloud.

Even as we're running out of bread, we're enjoying the water's warmth. Then we swim to the deepest part of the spring's rocky bottom, once again looking for crawfish. We see several Texas soft-shelled spiny turtles during our dives, either swimming at the surface or hiding in the grass covering the bottom. Usually, the color of lake water is green or gray, but here the water is so pure, without sediments or bacteria, that when the sun is rising or setting over the spring, all the rays of light filtered by the surface give a magic impression of celestial light.

Perhaps it's some kind of intervention from the heavens that at last gives us our first crawfish encounter. Our excitement is showing on our faces, in our body language and in our voices after we surface--much to the amusement of local divers who can't help but laugh at our enthusiasm. We explain that while for them seeing these 2-inch critters may be commonplace, for us, it's as exciting as seeing our first manta ray or whale shark.

Later, after our diving is done and we're driving east through the desert, we're appreciating the true meaning of the word "oasis" and how for divers, it's even more powerful. And knowing that we've finally seen crawfish somewhere other than listed on the menu of a Texas seafood restaurant, it makes diving in these magical waters, in such an unlikely place, unforgettable.

InDepth

Getting Around: The park is located in Toyahvale, about a three-hour drive east of El Paso. From Interstate 10 East, take exit 192, Route 3078 East, for approximately 15 miles, to the park entrance. Certified divers may dive daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Park fees are $5 per day, per adult, from October to April and $7 from May to September. Camping is available in the park, and motels are available in the park and in the nearby town of Balmorhea.

Dive Conditions: Water temperatures are between 74 and 78 degrees year-round.

Dive Outfitters, Charters and Education Centers: Funky Li'l Dive Shop rents complete sets of gear for $50, rents tanks for $15 and charges $10 for tank fills. For more details, log on to toyahvale.com, or call (432) 375-2572. For more information about Balmorhea State Park, visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site, tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/balmorhea.