Blue Hole Nov. 7th

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Ocean One

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
1,313
Reaction score
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Location
Fort Collins, CO.
# of dives
200 - 499
Arrived at the Blue Hole on Friday for a night dive specialty thinking it was going to be clear and pristine. Not! You could see the platforms at 20 feet with the natural sunlight. We entered just before dusk to get toriented and began our decent. The deeper we went the worse the visibilty got. Apparently the group that let as we arrived had really mucked things up. Visibility was down to <10 ft. :depressed:
April 08 was the last time I was here and was disappointed to see all the graffitti that had shown up on the walls underwater since then. Looks like the sides have become everyones personal tag or art display! I don't know whether it is the locals or students or just divers that seem to feel they need to leave their lil drawings or names all over the place. :shakehead:
Along with that there is a layer of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of silt on everything. This seems to be getting worse over time. :shocked2: Not sure if that is being caused by the construction or what?
What is my point! What was once a beautiful natural springs to dive in is becoming an eyesore! Those that respect the Blue Hole need to step up and stop some of this by not letting people write all over the place. Maybe when the construction is done the Army Corp. of Eng. can come in and vacuum the walls and get rid of the silt or we can get a group together to do it over a weekend?
Please do your part to help keep this natural spring enjoyable for everyone!:D
 
when we were down in Sept, the vis was crystal clear, but there was still alot of silt on the rocks and walls.

This silt problem has gotten progressively worse over the past few years since a dive shop quit "cleaning" on Sundays. A group used to wait until all the divers were done on Sunday then take down some half-full tanks and use them for blasting the silt off the walls. It worked really well and the silt was carried out over the waterfall. Vis sucked for the rest of the day, but hey, the walls stayed clear of silt. I have suggested over the past year that a group of us go over mid-week and do this again, taking some brooms and tanks, and sweep the walls down. It would be a huge help. I haven't had but 2 persons say they would join me. I still plan to go over and do it this winter sometime. I will post the date here when we get one set.

Can't do it this month as we are heading down to Cocoview this Saturday..... Woohoo!!!:D

robin:D
 
Living near Denver, it's difficult to form a *keep the Hole Clean* squad. When we do the six hours down there, we want good vis as much as the next diver. The muck on the walls does result in poorer vis as the bubbles run up from the bottom and dislodge some slit. However that is nothing compared to what a poor diver at the bottom can achieve by constantly kicking up silt.

Last I was at the Hole we had top to bottom vis, silt on the walls and all. Unfortunately it just takes ONE or a couple of groups that go to the bottom, and kick the junk out of it to ruin vis quickly. Vis on Friday was outstanding, less so on Saturday evening and Sunday Morning as AOW students first sit on the bottom, and do their narc exercises, and then kick the junk out of it tooling around the place.

Maybe the ABQ folks can find some divers interested in cleanup, and that would help some. But the vast majority of the problem is inexperienced divers, and even some teachers who just don't really care about staying off the bottom.
 
Is it possible that some of us doing the 6-7 hour drives to get to the Hole could do some cleaning our last dive before we return? That would typically be around noon, to give us time to off gas before going over the pass(es) and still get home at a reasonable time. I wouldn't mind helping. I could also possibly stay over an additional night and return Monday, once or twice a year, given enough advance notice. I'm guessing we'd have to have Stella there to get air. I rarely have 1500 psi in my tanks after a dive, and I usually only bring down two tanks anyway. If I'm breathing one, that only leaves one to clean with - how many tanks does it usually take? Would you be willing to conduct a "Hole Cleaning Class" :rofl3::rofl3::rofl3:
 
Is it possible that some of us doing the 6-7 hour drives to get to the Hole could do some cleaning our last dive before we return? That would typically be around noon, to give us time to off gas before going over the pass(es) and still get home at a reasonable time. I wouldn't mind helping. I could also possibly stay over an additional night and return Monday, once or twice a year, given enough advance notice. I'm guessing we'd have to have Stella there to get air. I rarely have 1500 psi in my tanks after a dive, and I usually only bring down two tanks anyway. If I'm breathing one, that only leaves one to clean with - how many tanks does it usually take? Would you be willing to conduct a "Hole Cleaning Class" :rofl3::rofl3::rofl3:

Only if it gets me the PADI certification for hole cleaning..
 
they are still working on it?????
What are they doing, making homes for all the Crawfish???????

I thought the bottom dredging was all finished earlier in the summer. They must really be worried about the bottom collapsing on it. I know it had dropped a few inches in the time I was diving it.....
 
The last time I was there (August 08), it was the same. Way too much silt, but it does settle after a day. Does anyone know how much progress the new dive center there is going? Since it took them over a year to make a road, one can only assume that the new dive center still is in the beginning stages. Has anyone been there lately and seen their progress?
 
My husband and I dove the weekend of December 20th and 21st. We were the first ones in that Saturday morning and it was crystal clear. Very nice diving. I've inserted a picture of the construction of the Blue Hole dive and convention center....looks like it will be very nice. (first time for uploading a pic, hope it comes through ok)
bluehole1.jpg
 
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Wow, concidering how slow Santa Rosa is in doing anything, they have gotten pretty far with the construction. Still looks cold! I could live with the water temp, but after getting out, I just don't feel like shivering or getting the car wet just to warm up. It will much nicer when they finally get that center complete. By the way, nice picture! Thanks.
 
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