Snorkelers lost/dead at Hol Chan in Belize

[AWMIII]

Hol Chan is not that dangerous to snorkel if a decent pre-dive briefing is given and followed. The root of the danger is that the waves crash over the reef for many miles with limited places for the water to get back out. It creates rip tides in the channels. Hol Chan does not have any other openings close by, so it does get a hefty rip tide. In the briefing, the snorkellers need to be told to stay away from the opening. The guides (all of the trips are guided) need to keep their tourists away from the opening if the conditions are bad. In addition, the snorkellers should be warned about not trying to fight the rip tide. In otherwords, they need to be told that if they are headed out, they should allow themselves to be taken out and focus on staying on the surface until a boat can come get them. I discussed this issue on Sunday with a local operator who had had snorkellers get sucked out there. His snorkellers we badly hurt because they attempted to get back over the top of the reef and were smashed into the coral. There is also a real risk of not being able to get a boat out of the hole when it is rough. Most of the boats that are out there can only make it out safely in the best conditions. The small sailboats probably could never make it out safely (IE Ragga Girl, ect...)

I have about 10 dives at Hol Chan and have snorkelled there also. I had no trouble with my wife and 8 year old daughter snorkeling there on Friday. It is probably the best place for check out dives off San Pedro, but the current is definately an issue. We were always warned not to go too far down the channel or else we would not be able to get back in. We were also briefed that we could duck into the coves in the channel to get out of the current if we wanted.

I really think the the whole Tourism License is a sham and is a contributing factor. Belize requires DMs, Instructors, and Snorkeling guides to have a Belize Tour Guide License. In order to get one now, you need to be native born. I realize that this is not the place for this discussion, so I will post my whole feeling on the Tour Guide License in the belize forum at length. but, the short version is this: All Dms Instructors, and Snorkel guides are native born. ALL of the dive ops that I have used or watched in AC have a total disregard for the certification agency guidelines (PADI SDI, NAUI, ect). This situation is allowed by a protectivist law that only allows their natives to work in the industry. In most other dive destinations, there is an assortment of dive professionals from around the world who have various diving experience. If the German divemaster from Under Seas in Big Pine Key sees something that does not fit with the agency guidelines, I am positive that he speaks up. He has likely dove all over the world and has seen lot of variation of how the rules are applied, but knows what is acceptable. If a DM from Belize sees that another shop is doing something risky, he may not realize that it is unusual or inappropriate. If he does realize it, there is a "What happens in Belize stays in Belize attitude." Examples of this are planned deco dives for inexperienced divers, planned deco dives with a single Al80 and no back up, chumming, handling wildlife (and encouraging the clients to do the same) and spending most of a whole 40 minute dive spearing lion fish at 110ft while guiding newly certified open water divers. The agencies already have a vetting process to establish minimum standards for dive professionals. All the tour guide license does is add a birthplace requirement and keep outsiders from being involved. How does that make for safer tour guides? The dive professionals in Belize move from operation to operation spreading the same bad habbits. No DMs from other countries are allowed to work there (there are a very few who seem to be grandfathered or who paid off an official) The clients usually keep their mouths shut, and shabby safety standards seem perpetual.

 

[PeterLester]

There is a blurred line here between snorkelling and diving. The tour operator took us to Hol Chin for SCUBA Diving in the funnel followed by snorkelling at Shark Ray alley which was only about 150 away from the "funnel".
On a calm day you can spot a diver/snorkeler at a considerable distance and approach by motor boat cautiously with reduced risk of cutting up divers. On a windy day with many waves you cannot spot someone floating on the surface beyond 50 feet in many cases. Also the risk of mowing down a diver or snorkeler vastly increases.

The ebb tide tables for that day clearly indicate a significant outgoing current when the snorkellers were in the water, excerbated by the wind which piles heavier volumes of water toward the shore side which then rushes to get back out.
Snorkellers/divers should be equipped with strobes under such severe conditions and a interceptor boat should be anchored down current to spot/capture drifting divers/snorkellers. Even a BCD is of no value if cut up on a reef.

 

[peterbj7]

That day was rough and IMO no-one should have been snorkelling or diving in Hol Chan. There were severe errors of judgement getting into the disaster, to say nothing of how it was then handled.

Tide tables are notoriously unreliable for Hol Chan. No matter what they say, the situation on the spot needs to be assessed by someone experienced with the site. When there is a significant current flowing outwards no-one should get in the water, and people should be briefed thoroughly on how to handle any current they experience.

Mooring a boat down current in this situation would be of no value, even if it were possible. The only answer if people are caught in a current they can't escape is to pick them up outside the reef once they've been swept outside. I agree everyone should have some form of signalling device. The briefing must include instructions not to fight the current and not to attempt to return, as both will be impossible and will result in personal injury. People should swim out away from the reef into deep water which will also be calm, and then they can be picked up by boat. All of these injuries and the two deaths were because this wasn't done, and that is because people weren't told what to do there in those circumstances.

Were you a member of the group involved in this incident, when two members were lost?

 

[DandyDon]

Does anyone know if this op requires snorkels to wear flotation devices? I snorkeled at hol chan on a dive trip once and don't remember wearing one (had a sinus issue on the trip that cancelled my diving).

Not when I was there once about 6 years ago or something. I snorkeled a lot of places in the 1990s around the Caribbean and the only time I saw them required was in Florida. I used to think that saltwater was so buoyant that a reasonable swimmer didn't need one but I survived that phase and bought one before that trip, and wore it on the snorkel dive there. Got several now but still having problems getting my daughter's family to wear them playing in lakes or snorkeling Cozumel, or dive bud's on small moving boats - but mine is on before we leave the dock.

Pete was spot on man...did you misunderstand?

What? All sorts of dive accidents are discussed in this forum: Scuba, Rebreather, Hardhat, Free diver, Vacation snorkeler - the latter being the most at risk in some ways: little if any training, no safety gear, no dive insurance, etc.

As far as Belize being safe or not? I've been in some rough waters off of boat US coasts, but yeah - when you leave the US, you leave the US in so many ways. That jerk outfit my LDS booked us on in San Pedro was by far the worst I'd ever encountered. :shocked2:

Most of the Ops there will take anyone with a C-card down 150 ft in the Blue Hole tho, as long as they have some card and enough money. Gawd that boat was awful too. Not long after my visit, one of theirs broke in half coming back from the BH.

 

[Ayisha]

...Most of the Ops there will take anyone with a C-card down 150 ft in the Blue Hole tho, as long as they have some card and enough money. Gawd that boat was awful too. Not long after my visit, one of theirs broke in half coming back from the BH.

Yeah, I was on that boat a week or so before it broke in half. Had incredible dives all week, but on our last day to the Blue Hole, parts were falling off the boat here and there when we crashed with the massive waves in the open ocean and the crew was fixing them on the spot. Tanks were flying out of their holders. We wondered if it was actually seaworthy and didn't think it would last too long. We had bruises from being thrown up and crashing down onto our seat before sitting on life jackets. Then just about a week later, we heard the news. That boat broke in half. All souls saved. That company re-invented itself and apparently has better boats now...

The accident does sound like it should have been a non-starter and an experienced guide should have been able to assess that. So I wonder why that group snorkelled that site that day in those conditions. Could the conditions have changed drastically from when they started?

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, I was on that boat a week or so before it broke in half. Had incredible dives all week, but on our last day to the Blue Hole, parts were falling off the boat here and there when we crashed with the massive waves in the open ocean and the crew was fixing them on the spot. Tanks were flying out of their holders. We wondered if it was actually seaworthy and didn't think it would last too long. We had bruises from being thrown up and crashing down onto our seat before sitting on life jackets. Then just about a week later, we heard the news. That boat broke in half. All souls saved. That company re-invented itself and apparently has better boats now...

The accident does sound like it should have been a non-starter and an experienced guide should have been able to assess that. So I wonder why that group snorkelled that site that day in those conditions. Could the conditions have changed drastically from when they started?

I've heard from good sources that it's a much better company since, but gawd they were awful then. Some of it was the company, some of it the skipper - who didn't even bother buying fishheads for our Ray snorkeling as contract, told us to just follow the other divers who had food, but mostly it's a CYA destination.