Question Blue Hole at Santa Rosa NM

[tcole89]

I typically dive it dry, but a 7mil with hood and gloves is perfectly adequate. As others have noted, this should either be provided or rentable through the shop you’re with. Since most training dives are around 20-30 minutes, I have seen people use a vest with less thick wetsuit, but they aren’t usually super happy by the end of their dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yes, 4,600 ft. More importantly, the drive takes you over passes that are significantly higher. However, I highly doubt you can dive a couple single-cylinder dives, pack up, and have issues by the time you get to those passes.

Inquisit's link takes you to the middle of a thread I started years ago detailing the drive from Santa Rosa to Colorado. Although the peak of the journey is Raton Pass, which is about a 3,000 foot elevation gain, that does not come for 2.5-3 hours of driving. Most people don't realize you get nearly that high in only an hour at Las Vegas.

The details and an analysis are here:

Ascent To Altitude From Santa Rosa

Divers traveling north to Colorado from Santa Rosa, which is a high percentage of the people who dive there, know they have to ascend to altitude, and they have to make a decision about how and when to do that. I think everyone knows that if we go by the rules about flying after diving, we can't...

scubaboard.com

 

[boulderjohn]

Although diving at Santa Rosa is indeed diving at altitude, most people who dive there are not doing dives where that will be anything to worry about. That is obviously especially true for OW divers, and anyone using a dive computer that automatically adjusts for altitude should also be OK. The ride home is indeed more of a concern for them.

There is another sink hole a few miles away from that, Rock Lake, that is much more problematic because it is used for technical diving, with a maximum depth of 280 feet. That's as deep as I have found, at least.

 

[bryankwatts]

I live at 8600 feet and will be driving down on Friday and doing dives on Saturday & Sunday and then driving back home after diving on Sunday. Remember I am new to diving ..... will coming down from 8600 feet to do my 4 dives in Santa Rosa and then heading back to 8600 feet cause any issues?

 

[broncobowsher]

You will quickly acclimate yourself to the 4600' elevation during your stay. Starting at 8600' for a multi-day visit isn't going to give any advantages.

How much diving will you do? How close are you going to be pushing it? How fast are you transitioning from the dives to going up the mountain?

For reference I like diving in San Diego. To get home there is a 4000' mountain pass I have to go over. I know one dive shop that requires you either spend the night in San Diego after diving or drive up through LA and come back that way since the mountain pass is much lower (This is a Phoenix, AZ based shop). From Long Beach I tend to drop into San Diego to get home faster by avoiding LA, this is how crazy the head home through LA plan is. What do I do? I enjoy the boat ride back to shore, load up the truck, go find a nice sit down dinner (or lunch). Then take that 4000' mountain pass. I'm 3 hours+ out of the water, it is a slow and gradual climb. Not a rapid ascent (think airliner, unpressurized). It is also a smaller pressure change starting at sea level than starting at 4600'. Then again, how much gas are you actually racking up in the Blue Hole?

I get it, some will take the most severe guidelines and apply that as a blanket answer to every situation. When in doubt, throw more layers of safety guidelines at it. Or I just look at the tissue loading graph on my Shearwater, nothing is high and it is dropping off fast as I am eating before my drive. Off I go...

 

[bryankwatts]

You will quickly acclimate yourself to the 4600' elevation during your stay. Starting at 8600' for a multi-day visit isn't going to give any advantages.

How much diving will you do? How close are you going to be pushing it? How fast are you transitioning from the dives to going up the mountain?

For reference I like diving in San Diego. To get home there is a 4000' mountain pass I have to go over. I know one dive shop that requires you either spend the night in San Diego after diving or drive up through LA and come back that way since the mountain pass is much lower (This is a Phoenix, AZ based shop). From Long Beach I tend to drop into San Diego to get home faster by avoiding LA, this is how crazy the head home through LA plan is. What do I do? I enjoy the boat ride back to shore, load up the truck, go find a nice sit down dinner (or lunch). Then take that 4000' mountain pass. I'm 3 hours+ out of the water, it is a slow and gradual climb. Not a rapid ascent (think airliner, unpressurized). It is also a smaller pressure change starting at sea level than starting at 4600'. Then again, how much gas are you actually racking up in the Blue Hole?

I get it, some will take the most severe guidelines and apply that as a blanket answer to every situation. When in doubt, throw more layers of safety guidelines at it. Or I just look at the tissue loading graph on my Shearwater, nothing is high and it is dropping off fast as I am eating before my drive. Off I go...

On the last day (Sunday) we complete our dives in the morning and then we were planning on having lunch and then driving home. It's not a crazy elevation gain coming back for about 4 hours and then there is a 3000 feet elevation gain over the last hour of the trip home. We are only doing dives in the 60 ft range for about 30 minutes or so each dive with two dives per day.

 

[boulderjohn]

I live at 8600 feet and will be driving down on Friday and doing dives on Saturday & Sunday and then driving back home after diving on Sunday. Remember I am new to diving ..... will coming down from 8600 feet to do my 4 dives in Santa Rosa and then heading back to 8600 feet cause any issues?

Starting at that elevation gives you some small advantage when you start, but that small advantage will be gone before too long. The problem everyone has in advising you is that the most common official advice will tell you to wait until the next day. Anyone telling you different is working without official backing.

But there is an official option--the US Navy tables and the US Navy ascent to altitude tables. If you are doing OW certification dives, you should be able to use the US Navy tables and find an official pressure group letter. Then you can go to the ascent to altitude tables and see how long you have to wait before leaving for home. You can find links to both tables on the thread linked above. I am pretty sure you will be OK with the results.

 

[bryankwatts]

Starting at that elevation gives you some small advantage when you start, but that small advantage will be gone before too long. The problem everyone has in advising you is that the most common official advice will tell you to wait until the next day. Anyone telling you different is working without official backing.

But there is an official option--the US Navy tables and the US Navy ascent to altitude tables. If you are doing OW certification dives, you should be able to use the US Navy tables and find an official pressure group letter. Then you can go to the ascent to altitude tables and see how long you have to wait before leaving for home. You can find links to both tables on the thread linked above. I am pretty sure you will be OK with the results.

Excellent. Thank you John.

 

[boulderjohn]

You can also check with the instructor for their plans. Many dive shops deal with this issue through their schedule. They are allowed to do a maximum of three training dives a day, and many will do three dives on Saturday so that you only have one dive to do on Sunday. If they do that, I can guarantee that you will be OK on the US Navy tables if you wait a bit before leaving.

 

[bryankwatts]

You can also check with the instructor for their plans. Many dive shops deal with this issue through their schedule. They are allowed to do a maximum of three training dives a day, and many will do three dives on Saturday so that you only have one dive to do on Sunday. If they do that, I can guarantee that you will be OK on the US Navy tables if you wait a bit before leaving.

That is comforting. Thank you. Yes, I will be diving with a group from Underwater Connections out of Colorado Springs. It looks like they have groups up there very often during the winter months.