Blue Hole

I read about the blue holes and how they are formed. They are described to be a cave then water levels rose and covered the cave and the cave collapsed. That must have been one huge cave. The size is enormous. Are they safe to dive and is it an advanced dive? I read in the dive mag that it is? I want to dive it. One is located in Belize Mexico which is cool because it's not far from Colorado. I might choose to take a trip on the Belize Aggressor Fleet. As a beginner diver could I dive it? I want to go their with members from this group.

Any suggestions, comments.

Thanks.

I would wait on Blue Hole until you've had some ocean dives under your belt. Even for more experienced divers the Blue Hole is a place where you must be careful not to exceed safe depths in the water. Somewhere like Bonaire is a better place for "first dives" as you aren't dealing with much current, the waters tend to not be choppy and you have plenty of dives that you can't get deeper than safe recreational diving depths.

I think it all depends on your ability and who you are with. I am a new diver and went on this last belize trip, but was also the buddy of a divermaster, kamala, the whole time. There was girl from another group that rented bad equipment and had a problem at depth and panicked. But I agree with uwfan. 130 feet can be intimidating since the surface looks like it's extremely far away and looking down is total blackness.

If you want a closer "blue hole" go to santa rosa, nm. It's probably 5 or 6 hours from denver. It is 87 feet of actual depth, add 10 more for altitude, and as long as someone hasn't hit the bottom and stirred up the silt you can see from top to bottom. You just have to be dressed to dive in cold water. It's 62 degrees year round. I dove it in a 7mil full with a beanie and only occasionally got chilled once I went under, but that's just me. Staying on the surface is pretty cold. It is comparable to the blue hole in belize as in that there really isn't a lot to look at. Only a few fish first thing in the morning before divers get in. You will also plan on swimming the whole time since the only thing to rest on is the bottom.

Once you get certified, call A1 scuba and set up a time to dive the aquarium in denver. It was my first saltwater dive and I got lucky that it was just me and the dive master. It's not huge but gives you a chance to dive with a lot of fish, nurse sharks and around coral. You can also dive in the shark tank, but you just sit on the bottom in that one.

Any dive where you do not have a hard bottom under you at 60 feet or less should be considered as advanced IMHO.

Deep dive training is recommended for depths greater then 60' and if you can exceed that then you should have either Advanced or specific Deep Dive training, or both.

In a Blue Hole environment you can expect a bottom of 400-800 feet depending on which one you visit. I believe there are fifteen or so Blue Holes spread out all over the world. There are wall dives in the Bahamas that go down 1200 feet.

Here is a video of a dive accident that took place in the Blue Hole off Dahab in 2000. Watch the first minute of this tape then think about this again.

Do not enter such an area unless you are 100% confident in your buoyancy skills, gear and have proper training. Keep a vigilant eye on your depth, air and buddy. Or as I call him / her, your alternate, alternate air source.

Safe diving.

Shad

+1

That's why I will always Dive with a "Buddy".I know, there is training for solo,IMO I will stick with the buddy system.SAFER ,it's a gamble,you never know,like going through a red light.

As another new diver... good luck on your cert - I got mine just last summer... I was in Belize diving in Dec and passed on the Blue Hole for the reasons listed by the others. I had a blast there, but was a single diving with people I did not know and with an operator that was for the most part picked out of a hat. I will be there again and I will make the dive. Just not right now. I am not an overly cautious wuss... I try just about anything, but while I may hike to the top of Pikes Peak, I know I am in no way ready yet for Everest... Passing on the dive was likely the correct decision and it gives me an excuse to go back later and enjoy it. Heck, I spent half my underwater time trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing - not looking around and really enjoying where I was. So the dives I did were fine...

Might be something you set as a goal. I started this whole diving experience because I travel to historical sites. On one of my trips to Normandy, I ran into a guy in Arrromache that dives the wrecks off the coast and thought I would like to give that a try. At only OW + 14 dives, I figure I am AOW and maybe nitrox training +??? (not sure exactly how many - I just know I am not anywhere near ready) dives (including moving on to cold water) away from making this trip. No sense making the dive if I am not ready. I want to enjoy it when I get to it.

Just my .000005 - I don't even rate .02

Edited by scrappykidz, 21 January 2010 - 09:59 AM.

Just a geographic correction, Belize is not part of Mexico. It's a country.

Have to agree with Shadragon.. Don't exceed your limits (60') untill you get a few dives under your belt and have furthered your dive Certs.
Fresh water is nothing like salt water.
Lake, Quarry dives are nothing like open water ocean dives.

Get your OW cert.. work on those skills.... FIRST!!
It will make you a better diver.

Just a geographic correction, Belize is not part of Mexico. It's a country.

Thank you!!

So Peter are you going to explain your first post???

+1

Its certainly a dive that pushes the recreational diving limits and the deepest dive I have done.

The dive itself was more of a check off dive for me, not an awful lot to see. But the 2 dives we did after it on the lighthouse atool are 2 of the best dives I have done in the Caribbean.

I meant that I agreed fully with what Shadragon had just posted.

But if Diveguy101 comes here and wants to dive the Blue Hole, I'll take him there.

I did the Blue Hole in question last week and without a doubt it is an advanced dive. The water was 72F, visibility was about 25 feet (it was a bad day), and it is a free decent to 130ft in about 75 seconds... 3 minutes max. If you miss it then you might end up 410 ft down. If you panic you will use all your air, descend too far, or shoot to the surface and have to be transported to Ambergris Caye for deco treatment. The operators in Belize run the gammut from very reckless to very reputable so drawing one out of a hat is not a good idea. I have heard that one of them will even do the Blue Hole as a Discover Scuba dive for people who are not even certified which is crazy, irresponsible, and down right insane. I would not advocate a new diver doing this dive at all unless you do it as a Rent-a-Buddy with Kamala and then only after several days of easier diving. I would not trust anyones life to a divemaster I did not know anywhere and that is exactly what you are doing as a new diver at the Blue Hole.

Everybody else is right, do Bonaire first. Worst that will happen is you will hit the bottom at 92 feet and stop. A free decent to 130ft is not for anyone without a deep speciality, several deep dives, a good buddy, and good briefings. The trick to diving is to take it slow and learn the skills first. It takes time to build it up but we all go through it and accept that of other divers just fine. Doing too much too soon is a recipe for disaster. Bonaire is your best bet right now.

Fair comment, but when I said that I would take him I wasn't thinking of straight off the plane. We'd do two or three days of work-up (down?) dives on the barrier reef first. After those, if I thought he wasn't up to it I would say so.