mala
Contributor
they might decide if you can go to a site.
its up to you to decide how deep.
its up to you to decide how deep.
Serious concerns in Belize
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Ralph - every dive operation in San Pedro that takes divers to the Blue Hole goes below 130ft, even when they emphatically declare publicly that they don't. I have been with all of them (bar one newcomer) many times. That's not to say that divers are required to go below 130ft to stay with the group - after all, at that depth another 10/15 feet isn't much. I have also been the only diver on the boat (not excepting the staff) to be wearing a dive computer, and on almost every occasion most if not all divers have gone beyond recreational limts as per my computer.
That said, it's up to the dive center to ensure that only people with appropriate qualifications and experience are taken to the Blue Hole, and it's also up to the dive center to provide sufficient properly experienced in-water staff to marshall the divers and look after their safety. It's up to each individual diver to look after themselves within those constraints.
Of course, what is "appropriate qualification and experience"? Given that the dive is at least one to the very limits of recreational diving, only divers (in PADI terms) with at least a Deep Diver qualification and recent relevant experience should be allowed to go, and there aren't many of those around. Given that a dive operation has to succeed commercially, it's perhaps unrealistic to follow "the book" strictly. So what should actually be required of a diver before he's taken there? Certainly more than the experience of a single DSD that one guests had on a trip some time ago. Is OW sufficient? Should AOW be required? AOW plus experience? When I was running Protech I offered "experience" dives over several days, taking the diver to progressively greater depths on our barrier reef. I couldn't require that people did that training, because there was nothing to stop them booking themselves on a BH trip without reference to me, and at that time I believe there were no controls practiced by the big boat operators - witness the diver whose sole diving experience was a single DSD the day before.
The other thing is that everyone, staff included, does this dive on a single tank. That is wholly inappropriate. I try always when I do that dive to carry a second tank with me, sideslung so I can unclip it and clip it to someone who has run out of air. I usually use not much more than a third of a tank on that dive, but on occasions when I have had a nervous diver on my octopus I've been seriously concerned whether we'd get up to the hanging tanks at 15ft. Since I have never seen anyone else with a spare tank that is a real concern. I once reached the hanging tank (just one of them) with around 100psi left in my tank, and I had breathed very little of that air.
We are very lucky that there have been so few fatalities on that dive.
That said, it's up to the dive center to ensure that only people with appropriate qualifications and experience are taken to the Blue Hole, and it's also up to the dive center to provide sufficient properly experienced in-water staff to marshall the divers and look after their safety. It's up to each individual diver to look after themselves within those constraints.
Of course, what is "appropriate qualification and experience"? Given that the dive is at least one to the very limits of recreational diving, only divers (in PADI terms) with at least a Deep Diver qualification and recent relevant experience should be allowed to go, and there aren't many of those around. Given that a dive operation has to succeed commercially, it's perhaps unrealistic to follow "the book" strictly. So what should actually be required of a diver before he's taken there? Certainly more than the experience of a single DSD that one guests had on a trip some time ago. Is OW sufficient? Should AOW be required? AOW plus experience? When I was running Protech I offered "experience" dives over several days, taking the diver to progressively greater depths on our barrier reef. I couldn't require that people did that training, because there was nothing to stop them booking themselves on a BH trip without reference to me, and at that time I believe there were no controls practiced by the big boat operators - witness the diver whose sole diving experience was a single DSD the day before.
The other thing is that everyone, staff included, does this dive on a single tank. That is wholly inappropriate. I try always when I do that dive to carry a second tank with me, sideslung so I can unclip it and clip it to someone who has run out of air. I usually use not much more than a third of a tank on that dive, but on occasions when I have had a nervous diver on my octopus I've been seriously concerned whether we'd get up to the hanging tanks at 15ft. Since I have never seen anyone else with a spare tank that is a real concern. I once reached the hanging tank (just one of them) with around 100psi left in my tank, and I had breathed very little of that air.
We are very lucky that there have been so few fatalities on that dive.
ktkt
Contributor
yakivet
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Here's a picture of my wife at 140ft, just above the floor of the alcove.
140 Ft at the Blue Hole - - ScubaBoard Gallery
We were diving with a reputable San Pedro dive operation and were most certainly below 130ft. That being said, I'd never consider taking my daughter to that depth. I'd let her snorkel the BH and dive the next 2 dives with lunch on Halfmoon Caye.
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Most any other dive site in the Belizian Cayes is more interesting than the vaunted Blue Hole.
•It is a long boat ride there.
•It is deeper and thus presents more advanced issues than most visitors have ever encountered.
•It is a very long way back to medical if you get an "undeserved hit".
•The most exciting thing is the cable tied, plastic laminated litter at 130'
•The majority of photos taken there are of depth gauges.
It is, unfortunately, the most photogenic dive site Belize (or any dive destination) has- at least for the poster advertisements.
That's because the photographs of the Blue Hole are taken from airplanes at 20,000 feet. It isn't all that much to see once you hit the water.
It is more of a "get your ticket punched" kind of dive.
Every dive destination has a similar bit of foolishness. In Roatan, we have Mary's Place; in Tobago, there's the World's Largest Brain Coral; or maybe the Bianca C in Grenada. Taken by themselves, they are really no big deal. When useful as a marketing ploy, they become a holy grail.
The Blue Hole is a lot easier for 95% of the divers to see- versus the real treasures of the shallow Belize reef structures. The actual Belize barrier reef is inarguably the best such in the Caribbean.
The Blue Hole? It sells. The lure of Sea Horses and delightful little reef creatures? Harder to describe them in your log book, aren't they?
Can anyone post pictures of actually diving at the Blue Hole that will make everyone just have to get out there and dive it? Well- I haven't seen any just yet! (Try searching GOOGLE Images!)
This alone should tell you something:
Must remember: High heels- a bad idea. Flippers? On the feet. Snorkel on Left. Next time fer'sure.
After 40+ years of successfully avoiding revisiting it, I got dragged back on a forced dive from a liveabaord (either do this dive or sit on the boat). Shoulda' sat on the boat and smoked a cigar. Depth, grey walls, grey stalactites, business cards in plastic, ascend slowly, watch other divers screw the pooch.
And- imagine that.... They will bend the rules to sell $150 day-dive tickets to any and all. Imagine that.
What was the question?
•It is a long boat ride there.
•It is deeper and thus presents more advanced issues than most visitors have ever encountered.
•It is a very long way back to medical if you get an "undeserved hit".
•The most exciting thing is the cable tied, plastic laminated litter at 130'
•The majority of photos taken there are of depth gauges.
It is, unfortunately, the most photogenic dive site Belize (or any dive destination) has- at least for the poster advertisements.
That's because the photographs of the Blue Hole are taken from airplanes at 20,000 feet. It isn't all that much to see once you hit the water.
It is more of a "get your ticket punched" kind of dive.
Every dive destination has a similar bit of foolishness. In Roatan, we have Mary's Place; in Tobago, there's the World's Largest Brain Coral; or maybe the Bianca C in Grenada. Taken by themselves, they are really no big deal. When useful as a marketing ploy, they become a holy grail.
The Blue Hole is a lot easier for 95% of the divers to see- versus the real treasures of the shallow Belize reef structures. The actual Belize barrier reef is inarguably the best such in the Caribbean.
The Blue Hole? It sells. The lure of Sea Horses and delightful little reef creatures? Harder to describe them in your log book, aren't they?
Can anyone post pictures of actually diving at the Blue Hole that will make everyone just have to get out there and dive it? Well- I haven't seen any just yet! (Try searching GOOGLE Images!)
This alone should tell you something:
Must remember: High heels- a bad idea. Flippers? On the feet. Snorkel on Left. Next time fer'sure.
After 40+ years of successfully avoiding revisiting it, I got dragged back on a forced dive from a liveabaord (either do this dive or sit on the boat). Shoulda' sat on the boat and smoked a cigar. Depth, grey walls, grey stalactites, business cards in plastic, ascend slowly, watch other divers screw the pooch.
And- imagine that.... They will bend the rules to sell $150 day-dive tickets to any and all. Imagine that.
What was the question?
Last edited:
Scared Silly
Contributor
+1 for Doc's post. Save yer money and dive somewhere will you will see something cool.
Mike
Contributor
Thanks for spending the time to post the warning. Many of us who are familiar with Belize dive ops and the blue hole have long known of their lack of safety considerations on this dive. You can find report after report of under qualified divers diving beyond their abilities and training with dive operators at the blue hole. It's unfortunate to say it, but unfortunately your report is all too common.
I have no idea of the percentage, but your comment does hammer home the point that "qualified" is a loose term. My one experience diving the Blue Hole was a total letdown. We all descended to a max. of about 130 feet and leveled off for a few minutes, while the divemasters swam all over the place trying to herd/help people who seemed to be flailing around, straying off from the rest of us, etc., before getting us all to begin ascending. It seemed like a bit of a cluster**** to me and was anything but enjoyable. Yeah, we saw some sharks--whoopee. A more experienced friend of mine had chided me when I told her I was going to dive the Blue Hole, saying "It's absolutely not worth it and it's a must-do ... so that you can do it and then tell other people that it's absolutely not worth it and it's a must-do."
We dove with a San Pedro operator in January. It was a snoozer, but as everyone says you have to "check it off your list." At 140 feet deep, all you see is some gray stalactites. One person on our dive ran out of air, and had to use the hanging tank. Many people weren't qualified for that depth, in my opinion. The dives after that were better than Ambergris Caye, but not that good to pay for the added cost.
jeremyandelsa
Registered
We will be in Belize in 5 weeks, also to dive. I do so much research before booking. Trip Advisor is a great place to ask around about anything from hotels, dive ops, and things to do. There is nothing more trust worthy than looking up reviews people have written about the things you want to do and the places you want to go and which people to trust to take you there. We will be diving with Reef Adventures. I read pages and pages of great reviews from people who have gone diving with this operator. I have read that depth limitations are an issue with most dive ops regardless of the certification levels of the divers. It's a business to them. Read up on some reviews and that should guide you and your daughter in the right direction.
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