I would add my voice to those who counsel you to not do the Blue Hole ... it always troubles me that they take new divers out there. New divers have no business going that deep ... you aren't comfortable enough with your skills yet to deal with the added stress of narcosis ... most (almost all) new divers tend to use their gas supply quickly, and have no idea (because they weren't trained for it) to ascend in an orderly fashion from that depth. If all goes well, you'll probably be OK ... but at those depths, you are trusting your life ... literally ... to the judgment of a stranger ... because you will be so impaired by narcosis that you will be incapable of remembering what you learned in OW class.
People die in the Blue Hole ... when I was there, a physician from Miami disappeared ... and his two sons, who he was diving with, didn't even notice he was missing till they got to 80 feet, because at depth they were so narc'ed they couldn't even think straight. Their father's body was never recovered, despite repeated searches ... even using a submersible ... because the bottom is at about 375 feet.
Do yourself a favor ... for the same amount of money, you can take two additional boat dives on the reef, a snorkeling trip to Shark/Ray Alley or the Hol Chan, and have enough left over for a nice dinner in town. Do that ... you'll have more fun, and be safer because you'll be doing dives you're actually qualified to do. There's some awesome dives within 10 - 15 minutes by boat from San Pedro.
NCSCUBADOOBA:
Hi everyone... I did my first OWTD at Fantasy Lake today. I managed to get one dive in. Water temp 57 degrees. I got to the platform to do my skills, and did the regulator skills fine, assisted breathing ascent fine, filled mask and cleared fine, but freaked when it came to removing the mask. I was shocked at how cold the water against my face was and also just got so panicky about removing the mask and not getting a good seal on that I couldn't do it. Anyone have any suggestions on how to overcome this mask fear? I did it great in the pool, a dozen or more times!!!!!!
Angela
Yes ... the water here is about 46 degrees right now, and many of my students are affected just the same way you were. What I have them do is start out by standing in chest deep water, removing their mask, and with regulator in mouth close your eyes and put your face in the water. Just stand there and breathe for a little while ... you get used to it.
The reason you panicked is because, by nature, we are nose breathers. The cold water messes with your brain when it hits your nose, because even though you are breathing through your mouth, your brain is trying to tell you that you're breathing water. It's an illusion, and one you can quickly condition yourself out of. By practicing in shallow water, it's a simple matter to lift your face out of the water if you feel you have to.
Once you get comfortable with breathing in this manner, kneel down in shallow water (where you can stand up if the "panic" sets in) and practice mask removal. Once you succeed at doing that, you'll be ready to try it out on the line with the rest of the class.
Best of luck to you ... what you're experiencing is fairly common among cold-water divers, and I have confidence that you will be able to work it through ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
