Great Blue Hole Belize what was your experience?

[Downing]

Not only the lovely beach but just the feeling of being on the edge of the world. A truly unique experience.

Unfortunately, I'll also always associate Half Moon Caye with the accidental death of a Ramon's Village crew member from lung overexpansion. This happened years ago, but I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the RV crew and passengers as we walked by them on the dock. They were understandably devastated.

Keeps me humble and is a powerful reminder to always put safety first because even the simplest, spur of the moment mistake can lead to terrible consequences, especially underwater.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

We did BA3 in Jan2020. My wife and I are in our mid-60s and the novelty of "tech" diving has definitely worn off for us. When we boarded the vessel we decided to wait until we actually moored at the GBH to make our decision about doing the dive. After sitting through the excellent briefing we decided that it was more technical than recreational and we opted out. We did get in the water at GBH however, and we had a good look at the sea life in the shallows. So on our bucket list we have checked the box for GBH with an asterisk because we can honestly respond to the question of "did you dive the GBH?" with "yes". Our BA3 trip was a wonderful experience and we would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, even if you don't dive the GBH.

This is exactly how we will do the dive! We will listen, and judge it at the time but I'm sure we will be in the shallows, where my happy place is.

 

[Hoag]

This is exactly how we will do the dive! We will listen, and judge it at the time but I'm sure we will be in the shallows, where my happy place is.

Virtually everybody who goes there, does that trip to see the GBH. As a result, very few people dive the shallow reef. It is pristine and it is spectacular. The GBH is worth diving for the "Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt." aspect of it but I enjoyed the shallow reefs far more.

 

[salth2owannabe]

As a result, very few people dive the shallow reef.

Since the Blue hole dive is essentially a bounce dive, down and up, there is a lot of opportunity to spend the end of the dive checking out the rim. Talk with your dive master about it before the dive, but if you're hanging out at the mooring line doing an extended safety stop while waiting to get back in the boat your wasting an opportunity. You can do your safety stop while getting 15-20 minutes checking out the shallows.

 

[ibj40]

Since the Blue hole dive is essentially a bounce dive, down and up, there is a lot of opportunity to spend the end of the dive checking out the rim. Talk with your dive master about it before the dive, but if you're hanging out at the mooring line doing an extended safety stop while waiting to get back in the boat your wasting an opportunity. You can do your safety stop while getting 15-20 minutes checking out the shallows.

Exactly what we did when we dove it several years ago. Even with the Midnight Parrotfish hanging around at the mooring, there's lots more to investigate if you just wander around the rim.

 

[R.Chisholm]

I did the dive a couple of years ago as a novice diver with all of 30 or so dives to my name.

The operator let us know that this would be a "deep" dive - those that were certified for Nitrox would be diving with Nitrox 26. Those that were not certified would get air. Oh and there would be a "deep stop" in addition to a safety stop.
We were advised to follow the guide. No other restrictions on participation were imposed.

We started out from the boat and descended ca 15 feet to a sandy bottom and swum towards the edge of the blue hole and descended. From there a steep wall descent followed to about 70 feet or so. The wall got steeper and overhanging and I could see the outline of the first stalactites. I decided to descend to the tip of one stalactite and stopped at a depth of 150 feet.

Several other participants descended at least 30 feet deeper than that.

At some point the guide started banging his tank and we descended first to the "deep stop" at 70 feet or so and then for our safety stop on the sandy bottom. All very uneventful & no pelagic fish.

Looking back though and having done a lot more diving since I'm no longer convinced this was an especially good idea for all of the following reasons:

- Diving deeper than 100 feet let alone deeper than 130 feet on a single 80 cft tank with a single 1st stage regulator is marginal from a spare gas and equipment failure perspective.
- This is especially true if coupled with an unknown "insta buddy" and rental equipment of unknown servicing history.
- For a day trip from San Pedro this is likely to be the first dive with limited opportunity to do a proper weight check
- This is not a good dive for novice dives with poor buoyancy skills.

So in summary - interesting but probably not worth a 3 hour trip from Ambergris Caye. In any case if I repeated I don't think I'd go deeper than 100 feet with req equipment.

You might want to ask the operator which side of the crater rim they plan to dive - I'm told some sides have the stalactites a lot closer to the surface.

 

[Carlos Diver]

Came across this thread while considering a return to Belize. My last trip to Belize the BA4 was unable to make it into the Blue Hole. Its about 50/50 that the conditions will permit them to make it there. Hopefully I get to return to Belize sooner than later, and if offered the dive I wouldn't hesitate to take it.

While not a technical diver, I wouldn't worry to much about a bounce down to 130 for a few minutes. 130 is still within the rec limit and within the constraints of no deco diving. Going down to 150 is something that is completely on the diver who should know the limits of rec diving, especially on a no-deco single tank dive.

Also, modern equipment failure at 130 is highly unlikely. In the case it would happen, you are surrounded by fellow divers. The likelihood of multiple failures would be be statistically nil.

It will always come down to your comfort level, like with any dive. I would have liked to hear how the BA conducts the briefing and how they address newer or less experienced divers and their approach to that dive. Maybe next time...

A brief read on the 130-depth limit of rec diving.

Why is 130 Feet the Depth Limit for Recreational Scuba Diving?

 

[Dan]

Perhaps it's on 28%? It I were going to Belize, I would probably do the Blue hole, once. I hear the other two dives are quite good, maybe Half Moon Caye?

I plan to do exactly that in 2 weeks, staying in Ramon's Village in Ambergris Caye.

 

[Damselfish]

We only did it one of the 3 times we were there on the Sun Dancer (now BA4.) Meh. Another time we skipped, and the third the whole boat voted against going there.

The fact that the livaaboards waste half a day on the BH and beach picnic actually discourages me from doing one again. I would be more likely to sign up for a guaranteed BH free trip. I would actually love to dive the rim, but at the time at least they would only allow people to snorkel there if not going down with the group, like they were afraid someone would go rogue or lose all bouyancy control or something. If I knew I could dive the rim that might be fun.

 

[Shasta_man]

<<modern equipment failure at 130 is highly unlikely. In the case it would happen, you are surrounded by fellow divers. The likelihood of multiple failures would be be statistically nil.>>

It's likely that many divers could complete the Blue Hole dive successfully, but the statement above is not a good basis/assumption to do the dive or any dive. Things fail at 40 feet and people have drowned in 10 feet. People like to think they are good buddies but frequently are some distance away from their buddy just like everybody else diving a large area. You go through air quickly at 130 feet and you could also experience narcosis without realizing it so you make dumb decisions.

So no need to angst over the possibilities but it is healthy to respect the possibilities and to give them appropriate weight when considering any dive.

.Whether the Blue Hole is worth going is another question. To each their own. I can dive to 130 feet in many places around the world and see similar topography at less depth which is pretty much all you see down there other than the random shark.

As Damselfish says, I'd be interested in diving the rim and surrounding area.