Experiences at the Blue Hole

[fooks]

We are going to be staying in Caye Caulker in February and i just wanted to hear peoples experiences at the Blue Hole.

What operator did you use?
Was it worth it?
What was your experience level diving?
How comfortable were you?
etc...

Thanks in advance.

 

[calicant]

We used Aqua Scuba and were pleased with the trip. This was late December 2010

The Blue Hole was dive number 18 for us, so we are definitely beginners.

We felt comfortable with the leadership of the DM. He told us what to do and we did it. We kept close and followed behind him the whole dive including around a few of the stalactites. Glad we did it but the second two dives are fantastic and make up a lot more of the trip.

Take a fleece and rain jacket in case the weather is bad. We had a full wet suit on for the unusually cold conditions. I was nice and warm in a 5 mm. It's quite a long boat ride there and back but well worth it.

 

[craracer]

I've dove the Blue Hole twice, with the most recent time being early last year. The large stalactites were interesting, and you're almost guaranteed to see sharks, but aside from that it's not what I would consider a great dive. I didn't want to dive the Hole a second time, but was out-voted my others on the boat.

After diving both times, the general consensus was that it's something to do once, just so you can say that you did it.

Most, if not all OP's do a surface interval at the Boobie Sanctuary. Wonderful island to explore.

What operator did you use?
Turneffe Island Resort and Turneffe Flats
Was it worth it?
Not for what they charge.
What was your experience level diving?
Advanced EANx and Deco
How comfortable were you?
Quite comfortable, as were the other divers.

 

[TremayneJohnson]

I did the blue hole a couple months ago - also with Turneffe. An interesting diversion from the coral we had been used to - but nothing too much more than that. Something different and I defy anyone getting back onto the boat to say they want to go and do it again straight away! Sadly didn't see any sharks but as has been said I think they are about.
What I would say is that some of the normal diving (Lighthouse Atoll) was some of the best we did all holiday.
All things considered - you should probably go and do it, or you'll only end up wishing you had!!

 

[farsidefan1]

I stayed at jouneys end. Not sure what the name of the operation was as it was my first dive trip after certifying and I just hooked up with my local dive shop. I thought it a bit over rated. Best critters were seen doing deco right under boat. Stalactites are interesting, we saw a shark before we dove but then he went off and hid. Lots of great reef fish right around the edge in shallow water. The tour of the bird island was nice. We also did a site called the elbow near there which was excellent. At least I think it was right there near the blue hole.

 

[PhilC]

Went with Blackbird Caye. We both had 90 dives or so and are Nitrox certified. Was completely comfortable with the dive. Glad I did it so I can say I have but wouldn't bother doing it again. Every operator in the entire area seems to go on Tuesday so there are a LOT of people down there stirring up silt. Vis frankly sucked, maybe 25 feet, about what we get on good days in the quarry. We did see sharks and a huge grouper off in the distance but vis was so bad we couldn't even tell what type of sharks they were. The two other dives you do off Half Moon Caye are awesome dives though so the trip out is worth it. Next time we go to Belize we will probably take the trip out again but skip the blue hole dive and try to get dropped off the boat on the way to the dock at Half Moon instead and do a swim-in dive while the rest of the group off-gasses and starts lunch.

FWIW, the Elbow is nowhere near the blue hole, I think a very fast boat would need at least an hour to get between the two sites.

 

[fooks]

Thanks everybody for your responses so far. Please keep them coming.

 

[Downing]

I've done it three times, all with Turneffe Island Lodge/Resort.

Worth it? Absolutely! It's a unique dive. Viz can be great but even if it's only ok you'll probably see more sharks on that dive than the rest of your dives in Belize combined. And the stalactites are huge. Plus, as others have said, the other diving in that area is fantastic so even if the BH isn't worth it the other dives more than make up for the trip.

Experience level? It's been a while, but I'm guessing I had around 40 dives the first time, 60 dives the second time (it was a week later) and about 100 dives last time. I got my AOW card in advance of doing the dive just to get some deep dive experience as I thought it might be required--it wasn't but it's still a good idea.

Comfort level? Having grown up in Florida, I've been comfortable in the water all my life and would have done this dive as my fourth OW cert dive if the dive op would have let me, which is doubtful and probably rightfully so. Assuming the dive op is competent, you'll be in a group that's closely monitored by the DM(s). You'll first go to to the lip at 50 feet, gather there, then zip down to 130 feet. You'll hang there for five minutes or so, then it's time to go up to the lip again, hang out there, then it's safety stop time and back on the boat. It's really that easy. Not a lot of reason to stress as it's in-down-pause-down-pause-up-pause-up-pause-up-out. Voila! Dive over and now you're in for one of the greatest boat rides on the planet down to Half Moon Caye.

Having said all that, if the trip was to the BH only and did not include the other dives in the area, I'd probably pass on it in the future. And as I said in a thread here not too long ago, I've seen experienced divers who made the trip but passed on the BH because they didn't feel it was worth getting wet again. I don't know if I'll ever feel that way but for now if I'm on a boat and there's a dive to be done I'm doing it no matter how many times I've done it before.

Per your profile, you're in Canada and have over 50 dives under your belt. I can't imagine that the BH dive is more stressful or in any way harder than is a typical Canadian cold water dive. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you've definitely got the skills and then some for this one.

 

[laurenceh]

the divers staying on live aboards and on the cays (turneffe etc) get the best dives at the blue hole because they get there earliest. once all the boats from ambergris cay arrive its too crowded and gets a bit silted up.

 

[redgym]

We chose not to go all the way down. Stayed at TIR, and on the way to the BH we asked the DM some questions re the dive. After that discussion, I didn't feel that he would be in a position to assist if things went wrong. The BH was approx dive 25 for me, and I wasn't willing to risk my wife's safety if I wasn't able to help her if something happened. We did the dive around the edge and it was ok. A few sharks, but vis was pretty bad.