Diving the Blue Hole

[Michele Cherry]

I am a new diver, having received my OW in February. I am going to Belize this week and plan on taking the Advanced Open water course so I am able to dive the Blue Hole while there. The dive resort I am staying at requires it. Do you think it is safe with my limited experience or should I forgo it and stick with snorkeling the Blue Hole for now and wait until I have more dives under my belt. I only have 8 dives at this point.

 

[drbill]

Depends quite a bit on how deep you plan to go (within the limits of your certification, of course) and who you are diving with. Although I was on Lighthouse Reef MANY times in the past (working as a marine biologist on an eco-cruise ship), we could never spare a Zodiac to take divers to the Blue Hole since they were needed for our other passengers. Finally did a blue hole in the Bahamas last month and although it was interesting, there was not much life down to my max depth (112 fsw I think) and I ascended to spend most of my dive near the top where the filming was more interesting.

Another factor I always recommend divers consider when doing a dive that differs from their normal experience (such as this or solo diving)... have you experienced any unexpected emergencies so far; and if so, how did you respond to them. If you panicked, I'd recommend more experience. If not, maybe you'll be fine.

If you notch a few more dives and are diving with buddies you feel are safe and capable of handling any emergency that might arise, I'd consider it... at least to the limit of your certification.

 

[Doubler]

Really it is just a deep, dark, cold hole. A "been there, done that" dive that can wait. You go to 130 plus on this dive and can get real deep real fast if you are not paying attention to your computer. My advise is to skip it.

 

[mikeycanuk]

Somewhere on SB there is a long post about someone who got to ride the chamber after a blue hole dive. Many reports about how big of a waste of time it truly is, not to mention the dangers. They do look cool from an aerial view, but that's about it.

 

[rhwestfall]

If you need to ask, you shouldn't do it......

 

[Hawkwood]

AOW=100 feet

Blue Hole = 140 feet

---------- Post added March 18th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ----------

If you need to ask, you shouldn't do it......

And even if you don't need to ask, there is no reason to do it.

 

[diversteve]

Agree with what they both said ^^.

You can also dive around the edge of the Blue Hole while the others go deep. But be certain that your dive operator understands that you plan to do so and can provide a DM for you - they all may be busy keeping the other divers alive. Doing a trust me dive on open circuit to that depth really is just that for anyone who does it.

Plus it's a long way back to civilization on the boat if something does happen. There's no air-evac Coast Guard chopper to pick you up there either - it's not near any substantial land-mass.

Technically it's a DECO dive if you drop below 132'. You really have no business doing that. Nor any training for it. Especially after just completing AOW. Neither do many people who do it unfortunately. AOW isn't really going to teach it either - or allow you to simulate that sort of emergency.

Experienced Nitrogen Narcosis yet? You might below 100' - so may want to do it in more controlled conditions first. Although every time can be different. I have a buddy whose an ex-commercial saturation diver. Been down ungodly deep on the oil rigs. He told me once at 140' on air, he took the pretty regulator out of his mouth and stared at it intently for about a minute till he couldn't breathe.

Seems like a bad idea to me...just the fact that you have to ask likely means you shouldn't. I don't see the thrill, it's often a murky dive and the sharks are often several hundred feet below. To see the stalagtites requires exceeding AOW limits. Dive a nice reef nearby instead. I've heard the second dive nearby is actually better. But it's not the Blue Hole...in this case the hype exceeds the reality.

It's a risk you just shouldn't be taking now.

I'm sorry if this comes across as harsh but the reality is you shouldn't be even considering it now.

 

[boulderjohn]

I led a group trip to Belize a few years ago, and one of my new students went along. When we did the Blue Hole trip, she went along and snorkeled the coral around the outside. That meant she could do the rest of that trip, which typically includes two wonderful dives on nearby Half Moon Cay. It also typically includes a surface interval on Half Moon Cay, which has a great observation tower where you are surrounded by nesting boobies and frigate birds. The blue Hole is the boring price you have to pay to get those excellent dives and the shore experience.

Check and find out if you will do something similar.

 

[BDSC]

This will give you an idea of what you see down there.

[vimeo]8565648[/vimeo]

 

[Michele Cherry]

Thanks everybody. This confirms what I was already thinking. I'm still going to do my AOW certification, but I'm going to stick to the snorkel around the ring. I'm more interested in the fishies and coral. Hopefully, I'll still get a chance to see some shark during my other dives.