MARCH 2026 OUTING – SAN MARCOS RIVER UNDERWATER CLEANUP
The Diving Rebels and the Scubadillos will continue what has become an annual tradition of the
underwater cleanup of the San Marcos River on Saturday, March 21st, 2026. As usual, we will
meet at the parking area of Rio Vista Park to gear up any time before noon. Once folks have
geared up, we will be shuttled to the parking area near the Aquarena Springs Drive bridge, from
where we plan to enter the water. There has been some misinformation regarding parking fees
at Rio Vista Park. A February 2, 2026 posting on the City of San Marcos website notes that
parking at the park is free and no reservation is required to use the park.
Last year, Mike Schaefer, a former Dillo member now living in San Marcos, coordinated the
shuttle operation with members of the Kissing Tree Pool Club there in San Marcos. This year,
Mike will be diving in Mexico this weekend so we could use some volunteers to transport divers
from the exit to the entry locations. Please see the attached map noting these locations.
We want to get in the water about 1 PM, so please plan your arrival accordingly. Before we get
in the water, we will get everyone together for a group photo there at the access point below at
Aquarena Springs Drive bridge. We will exit at Rio Vista Park, about one mile downstream. The
attached map also notes the exit location. For the most part, this is a relaxing fresh-water drift
dive and in some places early in the dive you can just obtain a stable, motionless position and
let the current move you along. Depending on the water level, there may be some rather
shallow spots about one-halfway along the dive, but these are navigable.
The underwater distance is about one mile and folks spend anywhere from 45 – 90 minutes
underwater, depending on their trash gathering efforts.
If you would like to participate in the underwater cleanup, please bring a mesh bag of some
sort to collect the trash/treasures you may find. Extra mesh bags will be available if you don’t
have one. If you prefer to just drift along for the ride and not collect trash, that is certainly
permissible as we want you to enjoy the dive.
We will have 1st and 2nd place prizes for the collector of the most trash and as well as 1st and
2nd place prizes for the collector of the most unusual piece of trash, as voted by the
participants. So, bring your mesh laundry bags and/or onion sacks and be prepared to scour
the river bottom for collectables.
As usual, Steve Ogden (me) is the outing coordinator, and my cell number is (214) 641-6013. If
you would like to participate in this event and either did not sign up at any of the recent Rebels
or Dillo’s monthly club meetings, please contact me either at my cell number via either call or
text. Also, let me know if you will join us for dinner, noted below. For the day of the outing,
call me if you are running a bit late so we know to wait for you. If anyone is interested in
carpooling, you can either make your own arrangements or contact me.
After the dive, for those who are interested, we will meet for our traditional Saturday evening
dinner together. As our previous favorite haunt, The Root Cellar Café, now is only open until 4
PM, we will plan on heading to Ivar’s River Pub about 6:30. Ivar’s overlooks Rio Vista Park and
provides a great view of our get out point from the river.
On Sunday morning, we most likely will follow our past practice of breakfast at Herbert’s Taco
Hut (http://www.herbertstacohut.com) for those who would like to join us there.
There are a number of reasonably priced motels in the San Marcos area, fairly close by the
river. You might want to check out https://www.booking.com/city/us/san-marcos.html. In a
couple of previous years, I was able to book a room in a private home
using https://www.airbnb.com/s/San-Marcos–TX–United-States/homes. Camping is also
available in the area if you are so inclined.
For those outing participants who have completed the Dive Authorization Course (DAC) or the
former Diving for Science or Scientific Diver certification programs and are interested in
performing a volunteer dive in Spring Lake on Sunday, there is again an opportunity for you to
perform a volunteer dive in the lake. All requests to dive are now submitted through the online
system. You can find the form using the following
link. https://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/Stewardship/Diving/AquaCorps/volunteer-dive-request .
Please contact me with any questions.
Steve “Oggie” Ogden
(214) 641-6013