galscuba
Contributor
Is anyone heading out to Santa Rosa this Saturday, by chance? I'm heading out on Friday after work for some good diving on Saturday. Let me know if you will be there!
Blue Hole, NM 7/22 Anyone??
- Thread starter galscuba
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
galscuba:
Just FYI,,,,how far in miles/time is it for you in Ok.??
Blue Hole is 173 miles from my house here in Amarillo, TX. I make the trip usually at least once a month. I'm actually going to be there Thursday night - Saturday morning for a Decompression Procedures class. On Saturday morning I'm driving to Balmorhea to help my lds with an open water class.
Check out the Rocky Mountain Oysters group here on ScubaBoard. I meet some regulars from the Albuquerque area there and they are usually out there on the weekends. I know that there is going to be an advanced open water class going on there from a shop in Lubbock.
From my house it takes around 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get there. NM speed limit is 75mph. There is about 20 miles of road construction, on I-40, just before Santa Rosa that will slow you down between 45 - 60mph (depending on how the people infront of you are driving.)
Water temp is 62 degree's year round (although I did some dives in February where my computer was saying 56). Try to get there early befor the classes and the 'cliff jumpers' start getting around to get the best experience out of the Blue Hole. Night dives are really cool there too!
Also, if any swampers head that way let me know! I'll go diving anytime I can!
Check out the Rocky Mountain Oysters group here on ScubaBoard. I meet some regulars from the Albuquerque area there and they are usually out there on the weekends. I know that there is going to be an advanced open water class going on there from a shop in Lubbock.
From my house it takes around 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get there. NM speed limit is 75mph. There is about 20 miles of road construction, on I-40, just before Santa Rosa that will slow you down between 45 - 60mph (depending on how the people infront of you are driving.)
Water temp is 62 degree's year round (although I did some dives in February where my computer was saying 56). Try to get there early befor the classes and the 'cliff jumpers' start getting around to get the best experience out of the Blue Hole. Night dives are really cool there too!
Also, if any swampers head that way let me know! I'll go diving anytime I can!
OP
galscuba
Contributor
It takes me about 6 hours to get there from my house. Yea, it's a long drive, but after a long work week, it's nice to get away and it gives me time to "decompress"! I've dove the Blue Hole a couple of times, but it's been a while. I'm looking forward to it and hope to meet some great people there. Thanks for the tips amascuba!
diverdiane
Guest
I will be there, would love to meet up with a fellow Texan or even an Okie!
PvilleStang
Contributor
So I've been considering it for a weekend trip, but i want to know some details...
What's the depth, viz, and surrounding area like? What's the entry like? And what're the two lakes across town like?
Thanks!
What's the depth, viz, and surrounding area like? What's the entry like? And what're the two lakes across town like?
Thanks!
The Blue Hole is a natural bottom fed spring with clear water. It is bell shaped with the top of it starting at about 60 foot across and fans out to about 120 feet. The Maximum depth is 82 feet. There is a cave entrance that the water comes from, but the cave entrance is grated up so that divers can not get into the cave system.
The visibility really depends on how many people are at the Blue Hole. During the week and early in the morning you can have limitless visibility and be able to see the entire thing end to end, but when classes and "cliff jumpers" are at the Blue Hole then the visibility can dwindle pretty quickly. That problem should be some what better though as the Army Corp of Engineers spend weekdays for two months dredging out the silt and removing some of the rock from the bottom of the Blue Hole. On July 4 I was there and was one of the first divers in the hole that day and the visibility rocked. As the jumpers came and started swimming and jumping into the hole the visibility started getting worse. You could see silt clouds just exploding at the surface, but the visibility below 30 feet was still very good. Being as the water flows from bottom up, the silt didn't fall very far before being washed out.
There are two entrances, well three if you want to take a giant stride from about 12-15 feet up. There is a giant stride platform that is about 6 feet high from the water and there is also entry via the stairs.
Water temperature is supposed to be 62 degree's year round. From personal experience the water temperature will be mid to high 50's in the winter and low to mid 60's in the summer.
Permits cost $8 per week or $25 per year. You can get permits from city hall, but they aren't open on the weekend and the city rarely has a code enforcement officer at the Blue Hole on the weekend.
http://www.santarosanm.org/permit_application.doc
The link is a permit form. Download the form, print it off, fill it completely out, except the date and put it into your log book. Bring cash or a check book and if you happen to see a code enforcement officer there then give him the form and money. If you don't then don't worry about it.
The only other local lake I've doven in is Perch Lake. It's about 60 feet deep and in the summer the visibility can be anywhere from 2 - 20 feet. There isn't much in the way of life, but there is a sunkan plane, car, and other sunken obsticles. The surface temperature is around 80 degree's with a thermocline at around 33 feet that can drop down to the low 70's to high 60's in the summer. In the winter the water temperature is low to mid 40's.
As far as the 'surrounding' area. It's the desert in a small town. If you are into hiking or archaeology then it will be a really cool area, but other wise it's best to keep to the diving.
You can also dive in Lake Conchas and Ute Lake less than an hour away, which are both pretty cool dives if you like lake diving.
Here are some pictures that my buddy took when we went on July 4:
http://www.securitygeek.net/gallery/Blue_Hole_July4-2006
The visibility really depends on how many people are at the Blue Hole. During the week and early in the morning you can have limitless visibility and be able to see the entire thing end to end, but when classes and "cliff jumpers" are at the Blue Hole then the visibility can dwindle pretty quickly. That problem should be some what better though as the Army Corp of Engineers spend weekdays for two months dredging out the silt and removing some of the rock from the bottom of the Blue Hole. On July 4 I was there and was one of the first divers in the hole that day and the visibility rocked. As the jumpers came and started swimming and jumping into the hole the visibility started getting worse. You could see silt clouds just exploding at the surface, but the visibility below 30 feet was still very good. Being as the water flows from bottom up, the silt didn't fall very far before being washed out.
There are two entrances, well three if you want to take a giant stride from about 12-15 feet up.
There is a giant stride platform that is about 6 feet high from the water and there is also entry via the stairs.Water temperature is supposed to be 62 degree's year round. From personal experience the water temperature will be mid to high 50's in the winter and low to mid 60's in the summer.
Permits cost $8 per week or $25 per year. You can get permits from city hall, but they aren't open on the weekend and the city rarely has a code enforcement officer at the Blue Hole on the weekend.
http://www.santarosanm.org/permit_application.doc
The link is a permit form. Download the form, print it off, fill it completely out, except the date and put it into your log book. Bring cash or a check book and if you happen to see a code enforcement officer there then give him the form and money. If you don't then don't worry about it.
The only other local lake I've doven in is Perch Lake. It's about 60 feet deep and in the summer the visibility can be anywhere from 2 - 20 feet. There isn't much in the way of life, but there is a sunkan plane, car, and other sunken obsticles. The surface temperature is around 80 degree's with a thermocline at around 33 feet that can drop down to the low 70's to high 60's in the summer. In the winter the water temperature is low to mid 40's.
As far as the 'surrounding' area. It's the desert in a small town. If you are into hiking or archaeology then it will be a really cool area, but other wise it's best to keep to the diving.
You can also dive in Lake Conchas and Ute Lake less than an hour away, which are both pretty cool dives if you like lake diving.
Here are some pictures that my buddy took when we went on July 4:
http://www.securitygeek.net/gallery/Blue_Hole_July4-2006
OP
galscuba
Contributor
We hope to see you there Diverdiane! We will be in my black Toyota RAV4 if you want to stop by and say Hello!
I found a new depth after my first decompression procedures training dive. 86 feet.
As of Friday morning the visibility is around 30 feet. We got to the hole around 8:30 AM Mountain Standard Time and there was two jumpers aready swimming and one diver in the water.
We are doing a second dive at 4:30 Mountain Standard Time and I'll post the what the visibility looked like after that dive.
As of Friday morning the visibility is around 30 feet. We got to the hole around 8:30 AM Mountain Standard Time and there was two jumpers aready swimming and one diver in the water.
We are doing a second dive at 4:30 Mountain Standard Time and I'll post the what the visibility looked like after that dive.
Similar threads
