Great Blue Hole Belize what was your experience?

[donhealy]

I've done it 4X. Each time I say that it my last one. But you know what - each time I see something different and never the same way twice. Bottom time at 135' is 6 min's max. Deep safety stop is required and then get to hang out at 10 feet under the boat for a while searching for macro. Task loading is certainly an experience to have under your belt. Watching newbie's is hilarious and I always wonder why they are allowed that deep with so few dives. EAN of 26 seems to be the preference for Aggressor boats. Liveaboard is the best way to go. The remaining dives that day are far more colorful and fish laden. But you are going down there to see something that very few others get to see in person. And you always have bragging rights when watching Discovery. Most important advice; watch your computer and mind your depth, the NDL and deep stop.

 

[Dan]

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I just made an appointment to get it through their mobile van in Houston for next Tuesday and they will email me the results in 24-48 hours. I’m going to Belize on Saturday, February 6. I need to get the PCR test done within 96 hours. The plan B, if you don’t get the test ahead of time or you get a “false positive”, you still can get a retest of antigen test in Belize airport for $50. Hopefully you will get a negative result then or you will spend 2 weeks in the quarantine there.

Last month I had to spend $130 / PCR swab through QuestDiagnostic.com before going to Cocos. Also the same thing three weeks ago, before going to Socorro. I’ll have 9 more trips after Belize. Curative would save me a bundle in getting free PCR tests prior to traveling overseas.

 

[Jaaron82]

I’ve done the dive once , it was fun I would do it again. Like others have said it’s basically a bounce dive on a wall to see the geological features. I saw some sharks around 80ft that came in for a look. Really long boat ride but a neat experience.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've been in the Blue Hole about a dozen times. As has been mentioned above, it was more interesting each time. One of my happy places is Half-moon Caye, so for me having lunch there is wonderful. I don't bother to take the walk to see the boobie birds anymore. I have wandered to other areas on the island too but the last few times, I just go and hangout by the tide pools on the backside of the island.

I've snorkeled portions of the rim. At the time, found it very "meh".

If I were on a liveaboard and was asked about diving it, potentially I'd vote no because of not wanting that dive to affect the dives for the balance of the day.

 

[Downing]

Years ago whenever "Should I dive the Blue Hole?" popped up here, the thread would inevitably devolve into a lot of name calling and hurt feelings.

I don't miss those days.

For those hoping to go to the Blue Hole soon, the Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) requires a safety screening form signed off by both the diver and the dive operator. You can find a copy of it attached to the Belize National Code Of Practice For Recreational Scuba Diving Services, Appendix E on page 27.

Here's a screen shot:

If the dive operator doesn't provide it, I'd think seriously about choosing a different operator as that would not be a good sign. The BBS put in a lot of time and effort to publish the standards, and there were a number of dive operators on the High Risk Technical Sub-Committee involved in the drafting of the document. Obviously, there are other considerations to discuss, like the guide to diver ratio, safety protocol, etc., but following the BBS rules is a good start.

Have fun! I love the Blue Hole and the dives that follow and of course Half Moon Caye, one of the coolest places on our planet.

 

[Ayisha]

Years ago whenever "Should I dive the Blue Hole?" popped up here, the thread would inevitably devolve into a lot of name calling and hurt feelings.

I don't miss those days.

For those hoping to go to the Blue Hole soon, the Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) requires a safety screening form signed off by both the diver and the dive operator. You can find a copy of it attached to the Belize National Code Of Practice For Recreational Scuba Diving Services, Appendix E on page 27.

Here's a screen shot:

View attachment 639069

If the dive operator doesn't provide it, I'd think seriously about choosing a different operator as that would not be a good sign. The BBS put in a lot of time and effort to publish the standards, and there were a number of dive operators on the High Risk Technical Sub-Committee involved in the drafting of the document. Obviously, there are other considerations to discuss, like the guide to diver ratio, safety protocol, etc., but following the BBS rules is a good start.

Have fun! I love the Blue Hole and the dives that follow and of course Half Moon Caye, one of the coolest places on our planet.

Is this safety screening form new? I didn't see it or complete it in 2019 (Belize Aggressor III) or 2006 (Aqua Dives), the 2 times I did the Blue Hole.

 

[lowflyer]

Is this safety screening form new? I didn't see it or complete it in 2019 (Belize Aggressor III) or 2006 (Aqua Dives), the 2 times I did the Blue Hole.

I remember filling out this form the three times I did the Blue Hole starting in 2016.

 

[MichaelMc]

Nothing about that form seems to require that they have any specific qualification. The safety standards talk nicely about it being a site for advanced divers. But the form does not require that. Merely that they document and the op sign off on it, from my reading of the standards when I went there.

When I dove the local reefs, the folks signing up for the Blue Hole did not give me warm fuzzies about being with them at 130+ feet over a 400' bottom hours from shore. A girl who had just finished her advanced class that day was going out the next. She had not impressed me underwater. The site might be neat, but I'd be going fully self-sufficient and equipped for a deep dive, or with a similar deep trained and equipped buddy I knew. And 130+ feet is way past my narcosis comfort limit on air/nitrox.

The blue hole boat may be the more frequently available way to get to the other sites out there though, which I realized too late.

YMMV

 

[Downing]

I believe the Code was published in 2016.

And Michael, you're correct that specific qualifications aren't required by the Code. That was left up to the individual operators. I know Splash in Placencia requires an AOW or Deep Dive Card as well as sufficient experience/skill.

I view the form more as an indicator that the operator takes the dive seriously.

 

[Ayisha]

...I view the form more as an indicator that the operator takes the dive seriously.

Ok. I wouldn't say Aqua Dives took the dive seriously as I wrote on SB back in 2006 with a client who just completed o/w the day before with atrocious buoyancy. They just held his BCD and controlled his buoyancy the whole dive. Another who ran out of gas even with his 104 cf tank and they just continued the dive with a DG's octopus. But that form didn't exist back then.

I do consider that the Belize Aggressor III op takes the dive seriously, but I wasn't given any form to sign for the Blue Hole in 2019.

Good to know though that there is one.