The Scuba Ranch is a great place for a refresher course or to dive with friends. Cabins or RV spots are available, no reservations needed for tents. Lots of cool things to see, hidden at the bottom of the lake. There is a tank refill station on site and a pool for rent to groups for classes. Friendly employees, too! read more

Every time I've come to dive The Scuba Ranch, it has always been such a wonderful experience. Fantastic people at the front, the air fill station, and throughout the park coming to check on you. Some days it is so beautiful in the water and you can see really cute fish, like bass, perch, and even an occasional turtle! It's such a fun, relaxing place to enjoy scuba and I so appreciate the beautiful bathrooms and showers. Makes for such a great scuba diving, full of bubbles weekend! Can't wait to go again and hang out with my diving friends at the ScubaBros pavilion! read more

See all

Great place for training dives or fun dives to build your experience. If you want to do training/certification Scuba Ranch doesn't do that so you'll need to contact your local dive shop. Just completed another weekend of diving out there. The visibility was about 10-12 feet both vertical and horizontal where we were diving and there's no thermocline from 20-40ft...the temp is the same. I've been out several times with the vis over 30ft and lots of times at 20ft. The visibility can vary from day to day but over the last 8 years the new ownership have done a great job of maintaining and improving the place. They are always a pleasure to deal with. We'll be back for sure! read more

The Scuba Ranch - Divers at The Scuba Ranch - Scuba Diving Near Me - Terrell, Texas

My wife and I got our open water scuba cert a few years ago here. Great experience. My son just got his certification & we had a great time diving with him here! read more

The Scuba Ranch - Scuba dude - Scuba Diving Near Me - Terrell, Texas

Good lake nice artifacts did a certification class here. Well maintained and preserved. The staff at the refill station is quick and efficient but the prices for entry are a bit high read more

Did you know August is algae bloom month? Visibility was zip. It seems that they need more workers as the two available on a Saturday where a bit frazzled with several scuba group locations mixed up, people needing equipment and cars everywhere. One of our tanks had a leak. 2 of my octo hoses had stress cracks. (Could be fine but not chancing.) I didn't see a warning on website about terrible visibility. I think necessary if want repeat customers. That's a lot to spend for rentals and scuba to not see a thing. read more

What a great diving spot! Not just for training but for fun diving too. The new owners continue to go out of their way to try and make the experience fun for all. When you go diving there, make sure to get your photo taken with Sisco UPDATE (July 2019): The Scuba Ranch has begun bringing in food cart vendors, had a great Fireworks show recently, and they continue to provide excellent service! read more

So thankful to be certified here! I would like to thank Kevin, Renee, Shellie, Brian, and Bob for help certifying us at the lake. The rest of the staff were also supportive. It was a blast! read more

So, here's the deal. This is the only place within 50 miles of DFW that's specifically for scuba, so if you go to certify (either NAUI or PADI) in DFW, you're likely going to do your certification here. Due to the droughts a few years ago, the visibility in this lake is about 10 ft at the surface on a good day, about 5 feet at the first thermocline, and completely pitch black at the 2nd thermocline. Are you going to "enjoy" scuba diving here? No. Is it safe and a good place to learn your skills? Yes. Now that you know the deal, here's the most important part. BRING CASH. LOTS OF CASH. THERE IS NO ATM. It's $20 per day per diver to get into the park. If you're just observing a diver, it's $10/day to get in. $8 tank fills (ask your instructor how many you will need). They also have gear rentals, but it's going to be old and worn out, so be warned if your place doesn't bring their own gear. ScubaToys had a totally pimped out area with tables, a roof to stay out of the sun, and a giant pod full of gear in different sizes and a nice dock. The front also has a little food/drink you can get for cash, but I just brought my own in a cooler. No big deal. You can camp here overnight if you want, but be aware that they lock the gates and there's spike strips at the exit, so if you leave, you won't be sneaking back in. The speed limit in the park is 10 mph and they are very strict about it. Dirt roads and lots of pedestrians makes it important and the owner can and will kick you out, and then you're SOL getting certified locally. Honestly, because Scuba Toys was so awesome, it wasn't a bad experience at all. I enjoyed learning everything I did, and I enjoyed learning it in a safe environment like CSSP where no boats or anything like that are allowed. Do I wish I'd been able to see, well, anything? Yeah. But I can do that on my trip now that I'm certified! WOO! read more

This is one of my MOST favorite places to be!!! I am a Scuba Instructor and avid camper. I have been coming her for years and I have to say... the new owners have made a 200% improvement here. They care about the park, the students and shops and are continuously making improvements!! You MUST check it out especially if you are familiar with the old clear springs!! I CANNOT give this review enough !! Also, bring non divers, it's beautiful and swimming is new and you can rent stand up paddle boards, kayaks or catch a movie while floating on a tube!!! Thank you Scuba Ranch for providing me a home away from home read more

See all

In my son's and my first visit visit to CSSP we were surprise with the $20 per diver fee but more surprised by the $10 per spectator (non-diver) fee. My wife doesn't dive but wanted to hang out by the lake and she decided to bring her mother for some sun and fresh air, not sure why we had to pay $20 to just so they could breath the air. The tank refills were $8 per tank as described in another review and the guy (didn't catch his name) who refills the tanks was quick, efficient and friendly. There were also a few friendly dogs running around which my son (animal lover) was happy about. The lake itself was warm (85 F) when we were there (2-3 Aug 2014) with the thermocline at around 25 feet. The visibility was pretty low, probably 2 - 5 feet. There is very little to see in the water. The metal shark (Sisco) was cool but you need to be pretty good on the compass to get to him due to the visibility. There is also a small sail boat sunk just North of Sisco and there are some small fish but all in all, not much. My son (who loves the water) was ready to leave after only 2 dives on the second day. read more

The Scuba Ranch - Sisco the Shark about to eat a smiling 11 year old - Scuba Diving Near Me - Terrell, Texas

This is a great place to practice scuba diving. There is plenty of space and areas to explore underwater and multiple sunken attractions like boats and planes. If you are looking for a good place to practice that's not to far from the metroplex this is it. read more

This was our first time to be at The Scuba Ranch. We were there for the Open Water part of our Scuba cert with Adventure Scuba in Plano. We stayed at one of the Rv campsites at the ranch. There was water and electric hook ups. There wasn't a bathroom on that side but the porta pottys were very clean and maintained. They mowed the main areas and asked that people stay within the mowed areas, which was good if you don't want to get chiggers or ticks. I really liked that the new owner was removing the invasive cedar trees and using the tree trunks as support for the pavilions. We got there early and was greeted by the manager, whose was very friendly and helpful. He let us know about a discount card they had for air refills, which was helpful because there were three of us, my 14 year old son and me and the husband. The water visibility wasn't the best but better the most lakes in Texas. And really we decided it was just fine because we needed to pay attention to our dive instructors instead of looking all around. I do look forward to going back and seeing more of the sunken things they have to explore in the lake. read more

If snottiness, lack of consideration, and greed were currency - this place would be making a killing. Since that's not how the real world works, they'll just have to settle for extracting as much cash as possible from student divers every weekend. I did my open water checkout here years ago and not much has changed. The water is still as murky as I remember. Their visibility reports posted on the 1990's era webpage are outright falsehoods. Bring cash - and a lot of it - because it's all they accept. Don't ask for a receipt, because that's a paper trail and they wouldn't want one of those fluttering around for the tax man to stumble across. Don't expect to sit and wait for a friend or child without forking over $10 to set foot on the hallowed ground inside the spike strips and gestapo entry gate. To the management: Seriously guys, just because you're the only place within 50 miles of DFW to do these checkout dives doesn't mean you have to be greedy AND rude. Settle for one or the other. I gave the guy a few words on my opinion when leaving for the weekend. It won't do any good though since the dive shops are their actual customers, not you who is forking over the $20 a day to dive in their mud puddle. I'll share my opinion with the class coordinator and if enough people do, maybe they'll start to feel the pinch. Go to Lake Travis or do a referral to your blue water destination to finish your open water cert if at all possible. It will be a far better experience, might even be cheaper, and you won't have to support these people. read more

I went to Scuba Ranch for my OW certification with Adventure Scuba Plano. Leo, our instructor was great at informing us that the park had new owners and it was no longer cash only and that the park had a mini food stand but we were welcome to bring a cooler with our own water and snacks, which we did. Upon arrival they the park office was very friendly and showed us where the dock and area for ASP were located. They told us about the facilities and where all the cool items were, like a huge shark named Sciso, a plane and boat too! The viability was about 5-6 ft and the thermocline was still very chilly in a 3mil wetsuit but didn't stop us from having a great class. Since being certified I've gone back three more times and the viability was much better, the thermocline wasn't bad either. It's a great place to go for training as well as fun! Highly recommend checking it out. read more

This place was okay at best. The diving itself was great but the people who run this place are assholes. Watch out for Walker Texas Park Ranger. The guy that owns the place bitched us out THREE times for going to fast on his gravel road and accused us of kicking up too much dust. We never got over 12mph. He then woke us up from our tent at 7:00 am before we were even awake to make sure we had paid for the day. This place will squeeze every penny out of you possible. Nice place but awful staff and terribly over priced. $20 PER person PER day. Another $5 PER person PER day to camp. Another $8 PER tank for a refill. Needless to say, we will not be returning. I loved my group and my diving instructor but the staff and ownership made us not want to ever return. On top of that, the place is IMPOSSIBLE to find. Be prepared to get lost getting there. Rant over. read more

I've been wanting to get SCUBA certified for the last 10 years and the wife surprised me with SCUBA diving classes. Our open water certification dives were here at Clear Springs Scuba Park. This place is dedicated to scuba diving. No fishing, swimming, boating, canoeing or anything. Only diving so you're not going to get cut up by a screw if you're just below the surface and you won't get caught in fishing lines. If you're new to diving, then this is the place for you! We certified in August and it was in the middle of our 70 days of triple digit weather. The water was perfect, too hot for a wet suit but I'd still recommend wearing a rash guard of some sort, even if it's a t-shirt. The thermaclimes will easily drop 5 degrees so be aware that if you're going down more than 20 feet, you will get a little chilly. This used to be an old rock quarry so there isn't a lot to see on the bottom, but they have sunk an airplane and two planes as well as a shark (we couldn't find the shark) so at least you have something to explore. There is some wildlife so check them out while you're under. They have a fill station for $8/fill. There are places for camping, a concession stand and a bathroom for those of you who need a toilet. All-in-all, I'm very impressed by their operation, though I don't really have anything to compare it to, so take that with a grain of salt. Just remember your SORTED (which almost sounds a little to close to Morbid) Signal, Orient, Regulator, Time, Equalize and Decend Have fun and see you at Clear Springs Scuba Park! read more

This place is a whole dug out to build 30. Like all Texas lakes its not going to clear, however you can see your buddy and instructors within reasonable distance. It is expensive to come out here. I thought $8 to fill your tank was overkill, especially when the tank was just under half full, and they didn't even fill it up to 3000 psi. This happened to a few student actually. They are old school so bring plenty of cash, and no, they don't have atm's. read more

The Scuba Ranch - Scuba diving weekend done right - Scuba Diving Near Me - Terrell, Texas

This is really the only scuba park in the dallas area. It is specifically for scuba, and each dive shop has their own site here. Make sure you bring cash. I rented my gear from the dive shop and apparently the visual inspection sticker fell off and they would not refill my tank. The bathrooms are okay in that they are attended to- there was always toilet paper and hand soap and kept to par. There are two outdoor showers as well and hot/warm water. Other than that, there is a porta potty at each camp site. The water has very poor visibility where sometimes you can only see three feet in front of you. Better keep close eye on your buddy. Sometimes however you may be able to see 20 feet but still very green water. There are box turtles swimming around and plenty of fish. In terms of structures you can find underwater- metal shark, two boats, air plane, and a wall which is an flat edge up against the land. Most of the lake is about 25 feet deep where you can feel the thermalclimate at 20-21 feet. I've heard there is an even deeper area of the lake for deep certifications. There are dogs that will come to your site as soon as you start cooking something, they are friendly just hungry. Overall since it's pretty much the only place to go to, it's okay and gets the job done without being unpleasant. read more

We completed 4 dives at CSSP and experienced nothing but positives. We were worried since not all of the internet reviews were great but we personally had a fabulous time and saw NONE of the previously mentioned infractions. There were at least 75 people (tons of students and instructors mostly) who came through the park the same day we visited it and everyone we saw had a wonderful time too. I searched constantly and could not come up with a single issue! We easily found the place via our iphone gps. When we arrived 2 nice ladies greeted us/checked us in/gave us a map and a briefing. We then drove both sides of the lake and found an empty spot to gear up. We dove twice then exited the water and got air fills from a very nice man. We had a small lunch that we brought with us and dove twice more before leaving for the day. We couldn't be happier personally but here's the facts of the day: *Park is kept super clean. *Park entry is $20/pp and accepts cash only. *Park has clean/sufficient bathrooms/showers/etc. *Park provides air fills @ $8/tank. *We did see 3 dogs whom were all around the entrance booth area all laying down/being lazy/never paid us any attention and we never saw them again after entry. *Park has multiple high quality entry docks and pavilions scattered around the lake. Many are permanently reserved by local Scuba schools. We still used several docks and picnic tables and every school/person was super friendly. *Visibility was terrible when we went. It ranged from 12'-15' on the surface to less than 5' at mid-depth to almost completely dark at 50'+. *INTENSE thermoclines! I'd say 83 on the surface and mid 50's at the deepest point. We had on skins and full 3.5mm and could only stay at depth less than 2 minutes. Wild ride! *There were a decent amount of sunken boats/platforms/etc but not near as many as in Athens. Much deeper water here though (and a decent amount of friendly fish!) that more than made up for it. Great diving experience imo for Texas lake diving. All in all we had an amazing time and we will definitely be back. IMO every top Scuba school in DFW wouldn't permanently establish themselves here if all of the negative stuff was true so (again imo) they must have really squared this place away from whatever issues they were having before. Bottom line - we loved it and highly recommend! 5 stars! read more

I'm giving it a 3 specifically for the cost $20 per day per person and $5 to camp. My husband and I went last weekend to do our night dive specialty and it cost us $95 to enter because we were diving Saturday possibly diving Sunday morning and going home. $10 just to watch but my guess is that is because they want to be sure they are getting paid if someone lies and does dive. You do have to fill out a release before diving. Refilled 4 tanks at $8 a piece. Ended up costing us a much to dive in a weekend as the night specialty cost us through our dive shop! The port a potties were clean and the picnic areas/pavilions were clean. The map of what is sunk where needs to be updated on their website. There are only lines to some of the sunk items but that's ok because it forces you to learn navigation. It is small but that's ok too because if you get lost underwater at the end of your dive you can surface swim back without swimming for a mile! The visibility isn't great but it's a Texas lake so there's that. They do allow snorkeling but you won't see much. It does have a thermocline so I would at least wear a shortie in the summer unless your staying very shallow. Hotels aren't close but that's ok my husband and I like to camp so we were fine with that. No alcohol allowed on premises but you don't want to drink and dive. I'm sure we will be back for more specialties and certifications with our shop but wish that price was cheaper. It is the only strictly scuba park I know of in Texas. read more

The Scuba Ranch - Scuba Diving Near Me - Terrell, Texas

See all

I got my open water certification out at Scuba Ranch. One word about this place? Awesome!!!!! From the moment you go in to check in everyone is friendly and very helpful here. You can camp in a tent or a camper for very very reasonable prices with complete hookups. I'm afraid to say I do believe my husband and I will be addicts of scuba ranch and will be there quite often next summer. This place is great, check it out you won't be disappointed! read more

The goal of this place is to nickel and dime you as much as it possibly can. They also accept CASH only...one can only wonder how much of their overpriced take-home is actually being reported. There is no ATM nearby...at least 5 mile drive away to the nearest. I went here for my open water certification, as most people who come here probably are doing. We were told how wonderful the visibility was during our weekend. If that was good visibility...I feel sorry for anyone who comes during the summer when the algae is blooming. Underwater, everything is a murky brown/green. They've sunk a few things around the quarry for you to look at (a couple boats, a "shark", and a plane) but other than that...you'll see maybe a couple fish and nothing else. There's really nothing to look at down there of any interest. The ONLY reason you're diving here is because you're stuck in Texas and you don't have any other options. When we visited, the surface temp was 65 and the bottom temp was 49 so we had no desire to stay under longer than necessary. If anyone in your group touches the very silty bottom, you'll immediately lose sight of everything. They charge you $20 every single day you are here, which is ridiculous. You even have to pay if you're NOT diving! Since our trip was two separate days...$40 just for entry. And they'll yell and chase you down if you happen to exceed 10mph. Nobody was exactly speeding around here but they kind of go overboard with the 10mph threats. There are a lot of dogs walking around...some belong to the park and some are strays. The strays are covered with ticks and terribly underfed so you can spot the difference. They're all friendly and probably used to getting fed by visitors. We had a guy in our group who was iffy about dogs so they made him squirm. The next place they'll take your money is with equipment rental. $35 for a wetsuit. $5 for gloves. $5 for hood. Not sure the prices for other stuff. The wetsuits they have are 5mm. Their equipment has seen better days...the ones we rented have clearly been rented hundreds of times so they're making bank on rentals. They gave no proper advice as to what all we'd need, even tried to talk me out of a hoodie when I first asked for one. I insisted, but did not get gloves. After the first dive, EVERYONE in the class went and got hoodies and gloves. Some of the people in our class were given RIPPED hoods! The nerve to charge people to rent them ripped equipment is just mind blowing to me. $8 for tank fills. Our school estimated that we'd need to refill 6 times all weekend but I only ended up needing to fill up twice, once at the end of each day. Some others in the class who used more air filled up 4 times. It will depend on how many people are in your class, how long you stay down for, and your own personal air consumption. The dock that we were entering the water from was down a small set of steps that could get slippery. Be very careful getting down there and I can't imagine doing this without booties. Bring mosquito/bug repellant. This place is in the middle of nature so there's all kinds of critters and bugs (and we saw snakes). At the end, I spent $20+ $20 + $35 + $5 + $5 + $8 + $8 for the weekend, $101 total. Factor that in to your total expenditure for those of you who are getting certified. Perhaps some dive schools will include this in their cert costs but mine did not. read more

Just finished my open water certification at The Scuba Ranch. Staff was more then accommodating making me feel like part of the family. There are plenty of obstacles to explore and practice your skills. I can't wait to get back in the water! read more

Website stated their hours of operation. I arrived 30 minutes after they were supposed to be open. The gate was locked. I called the phone number and left a message and then emailed them to find out if they were just running late or if they were going to open at all. There was one guy at the office but he would not come to the gate. After an hour wait there was no return call, no return email. We still have not received a response 3 days later! We were from Virginia trying to get in a couple dives while in Texas. Basically, drive out there at your own risk. You may be just wasting your time and gas. read more

A 22 acre spring fed lake. Last weekend was my open water certification dive, so it was my first time out there. The park is nothing fancy. They have a few covered picnic tables here and there and plenty of places to camp out. They do have some porta-potty's but also have one real restroom. I went in September. The visibility was 2-15 ft depending on location and whether or not a group of divers had kicked up soot. At almost exactly 30 ft, you will reach a pretty drastic thermocline so it's recommended using a full suit. The park includes a sunken boat, airplane, and a 50 foot shark named Sisco. The lake has bluegill, bass, catfish, and evidently at least one albino catfish. Tank refills are $8. They do not fill nitrox. I had a good time and some of the instructors say that this is their favorite local lake to dive in, so that's a pretty good indicator. I will also say, I went with International Scuba and they are great! Tell them Nolan sent you. read more

What a nice place. Bob is a man of few words and very nice. He got a good laugh over the alligator (fake btw). Lol. Stephanie also very nice. Bathrooms were clean as we're the port-a-potties. Visibility about 20' on Friday 7/6/12 read more

I have dove Clear Springs many times. It is a great place for dive training and to just have a fun relaxing weekend, The owners have always been nice to me and the park is always clean. read more