Alright here we go. Sorry if you guys were expecting some sort of bizarre kidnapping, followed by an excursion to old Mexico to pick up some chicas and cheap tequilla. Didn't happen this time.
I got out of the hotel a little after 800am. I found city hall with almost no problem at all. Santa Rosa is a really small, quaint little town. All of the folks were real friendly and helpful. I even purchased some bolt snaps from the local hardware store.
Anywho, Richard, the town official in charge of issuing Scuba permits was real nice and real helpful. You have to go meet this guy to truly appreciate just how nice he is. He gave me my diver permit for $8 and we chatted a bit. He's used to talking to scuba divers. He knew the lingo and the gear even though he doesn't dive.
I found the Blue Hole with no problem at all. You will be amazed at just how small it truly is. You have to use your imagination here to picture me standing at the edge of the Hole with my mouth hanging open. Anywho, I got geared up in my drysuit
. The air temperature was a lovely 46 F. As I was finishing my gear up, a cold front blew threw :shocked2: I couldn't tell that the temperature dropped any but the wind sure picked up to about 20knots constant.
As I was walking toward the water, one of the turistas milling about the area stopped me and asked if he could take my picture. I said sure. He told me had just driven in from Albuquerque (insert Bugs Bunny joke here) and that he was just barely outpacing a blizzard that was following him.
I got in the water and performed a very unremarkable descent down to about 75 ft. Bumbled around a bit and found the "cave entrance". It really wasn't much of an entrance. Or at least not today. Looks like it's been back-filled with rocks and such. It does have a metal grate thing over it as well. That's at 81 ft. I found a lot of little knick-knacks laying around in the odd crevices and such. Just little cheap plastic trinkets that people have left around for decor and ambiance. Well, that's it. That's one dive. After bumbling around for 30 minutes or so on the bottom, I made my way back to the top.
Water temp is advertised as a constant 61 F. My gauge showed 63 F. Visibility was right around 80+ ft. I find myself quoting timeliner here. "Great visibility is overrated". Anyway, it was a fun little dive. Elevation is 4700 ft here so plan accordingly.
After arriving on the surface, I found that the air temperature had dropped a few degrees and the wind was still kickin' at 20 knots. Having seen all of the blue hole in one dive, I just couldn't see getting back in for another dive.
