Beginner - Diving the Blue Hole in Belize

[Aeolus]

I was there in May and we had a great time. The prices are VERY high for everything; just the Blue Hole trip was $175, not including Nitrox for the second and third dives. We dived with Amigos del Mar and I would say that their operation was very good, but I do question taking so many OW divers to that depth. Many of the people on the Blue Hole Dive were only OW divers. Some of them did not have very good skills yet. In my opinion, the main reason for the dive shops to take OW divers to that location is $$$$. They do monitor the divers fairly closely, but things can change in a heartbeat, especially if a diver is going throught his/her air fairly quickly with the excitement of the dive or poor buoyancy skills. Just keep in mind that the dive shop, your buddy or the DM may not have YOUR best interest as their primary concern. YOU need to be the one to determine if you are ready for this. I would recommend the AOW training, preferably prior to the trip as much as possible, just to get some experience with the differences in diving deeper. Just because the dive shop does this a lot does not mean that it is safe. I hope that you enjoy your trip. Let us know when you get back.

 

[tonyc]

I'm still fairly new too, but....
One of my first dives after certification was a deep dive; I buddied with my wife who got certified at the same time. In retrospect I think it was a mistake and could have been dangerous. Although my instructor spent extra time going over air consumption and minimum ascent pressures I ended up surfacing with less than 500 psi! It's amazing how fast you can go through 80 cuft at 100 ft. Then when your new, and you realize your getting low on air, you get nervous which has a cascading effect- higher air consumption rates. Do you have a ball park figure of what your SAC is? Do you know at what PSI you need to start your ascent? Do a search here on rock bottom ascent pressures. If you private message me your email, I can send you a spreadsheet that figures out those things.

Second of all, You will probably be narced- How is it going to effect you?? You won't know till your there. I felt so at peace and relaxed that I didn't care that I was getting low on air- even though I was watching the pressure gauge.

Just remember that the only person responsible for your well-being is you! Don't take comfort that because some dive-master is following or leading you that you can turn off your brain and just follow him. I believe my instructor said that most people that have diving accidents have less than 25 dives. Stay within your limits and enjoy this sport for years to come. Anticipate problems and identify them before they happen.

Tony.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Good luck whatever you decide. Please post a trip report to let us know how things work out.

Best wishes and safe ascents,
Grier

 

[SueMermaid]

I have done the Blue Hole on two different trips, and both times there were newly-minted divers accompanying us. I was one of them on my first trip, with a whopping 15 or so dives under my weight belt. Everyone did fine. There was one woman who had trepidation about diving that deep, so she and her buddy didn't go below 50'. That was fine with everyone all around! She said she enjoyed very much the bubbles coming up from the depths. On my first dive there, I had an experienced buddy, as did all the new divers. It worked out well. Nobody felt pressed into doing something they didn't feel ready for, and it was a very easy and unintimidating dive, and actually unlike any other dive site I have been to. Not a whole lot of the loud colors and visuals of the reefs above, but more of a sensual thing. It's a cool dive.
Just watch your depth gauge!

 

[DivePartner1]

As a first dive in to depths of 130 or so, it's a pretty stable venue--no currents but watch your depth.

I was there in January and the consensus was that it was a quarry dive with better viz. The surrounding reefs were much more interesting and almost worth the punishing boat ride through messy seas. I doubt I'd go out of my way to do it twice. I'll also doubt I'll go back to Belize.

 

[Sue-ba]

Do you have your bouyancy figured out? How do you normally do on air consumption?

 

[pasley]

Are you ready for it? Only you can tell.

Can you right now, pick a depth and hold it with out moving anything?
Can I take an AL80 tank to 50 feet and enjoy an hour dive and still have 300-500 PSI in the bank.

If not, then I would suggest you are not ready to dive over a deep bottom like the blue hole.

If your buoyancy skills are not honed enough to enable you to stop at your desired depth and hold that depth without thinking about it then I would argue you are not ready. If you air consumption is still on the high side, then how much time are your really going to have to enjoy it? I hear this is not a cheap dive. I also hear (never been) that it is rather disappointing as a dive in that it really is just a big hole in the ocean with not a lot in it.

Now ask yourself, what is the worst thing that could happen? Am I, at this stage in my diving really ready to handle that situation? Is that potential cost worth it on this trip or should I wait until I have more experience?

Were it me, I would not do it. Just not worth the risk. Bottom is what 400 feet? I have loged 139 dives in the past 3 years, and I would seriously question the cost benifits of this dive. By all reports there really is not much to see there and there are other dive sites that are better astetically speaking, and a whole lot shallower.

 

[Kez]

Thanks for all the replies - I will take all the advice on board!

So far my air consumption has been very low - quite a bit lower than others on my OW course - so not too worried about that. Didn't spend as much time on buoyancy skills as I would have liked, and was over-weighted (so my DM eventually concluded!) which didn't help - got the hang of it eventually though. I've booked on a refresher course next week, before I go, and will try to do the AOW course when I get there.

I'm also working on the assumption that I'll be accompanied by a DM or someone equally experience - if I'm expected to buddy up with another new diver, I won't be doing the Blue Hole!

P.S. DiveMaster1 - you say you doubt you'll go back to Belize - why's that?

 

[gdenny]

Hey there,

Was in Belize last year and in your shoes. I was certified with 5 dives when I arrived on Ambergris Caye. I did not do the Blue Hole. I felt comfortable enough to do it. My wife did not. She was having trouble clearing her ears on the way down on other dives and was taking more time to get down than allowable for the Blue Hole. We did the "prep dive" with others in our group, which essentially is going down to 130 ft to check everyone for narcosis.

There is plenty else to see in Belize. I personally think the coolest thing about the Blue Hole is the way it looks from the air. It is a go down, get through and, come up dive, with the possibility of sharks. I think I'd prefer to do more dives at other sites and spend less of my day on a boat.

My deciding factor was..." were we comfortable enough to go for it and have something go wrong!" My answer was no.

Have fun.
G

 

[Otter]

While I may get flamed for such an absolute answer, so be it. You haven't the training or the experience to go deep (defined per standards as anything deeper than 60').

Do freshly-minted O/W divers do that dive and survive, yeah. Do people drive with a car phone in one hand, a soda in the other, listening to music, going 80 mph and survive, yeah.

Things that you probably don't know, air consumption (probably much higher as a new diver), ability to deal with even little problems that get exagerated at depth (probably low), equipment condition (are you using rental or your own), narcosis effect, buoyancy control, how good/safe is your Divemaster, and a host of others.

As was pointed out, there are lots of other great dives in Belize that are shallower. Get some experience and training and then consider it for a future trip.