Blue Hole - Amigos Del Mar - Very Poor

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Amigos always hangs tanks at the safety stop and I also suspect the "buddy" sharing his air with the supposedly OOA diver was another dm. There's always a minimum of 2 guides, one in front and one in back watching the divers. Often there's yet another swimming a bit outside the stalactites in the water column, also keeping an eye out.

Still sounds like it wasn't a great day.
 
We dove the Blue Hole with ADM back in 2015. The dive was well planned and executed. We had 3 dive masters with about 10 divers as I recall. They did hang tanks at 15 feet and the safety stop was a mandatory 7 minutes. They did allow several divers that were....well green, to make the dive. I thought the were very friendly especially on the return trip to the dock. We had a huge (150+) pod of dolphins travel with us for a good distance on the way back. Very memorable day.

One of those rookies did have an OOA situation on one of the other two dives of the day and actually shared air with a DM to complete that dive.
 
Amigos always hangs tanks at the safety stop and I also suspect the "buddy" sharing his air with the supposedly OOA diver was another dm. There's always a minimum of 2 guides, one in front and one in back watching the divers. Often there's yet another swimming a bit outside the stalactites in the water column, also keeping an eye out.

Still sounds like it wasn't a great day.

I can assure you it wasn't the DM who shared his air - it was the guy's wife! There were 10 divers following George the DM and he was at the front trying to get the dive over with. No other DMs on that dive.

The BH dive did have another DM riding 'shotgun' but he had his work cut out trying to pull back at least half the group who were close to 50m, George was oblivious.
 
George must have been narc'd. It's a good thing,:D you weren't.
 
Wonder if Eddie still works there? He was a fun guy to drink with :)
 
Maybe this will help you understand :wink:





10-4, understand. When I dove with them for BH they were almost too safety conscious.
Clearly something has changed, because this is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. One of my good friends and a competent dive instructor here in the Channel Islands just came back from Diving the Blue Hole a couple of months ago with ADM and told me of an identical experience. In fact, one step further, she was monitoring her own computer and NDL's and began to ascend a bit in the water column, only to have the DM grab her by the fin and yank her back down to 130ft. By the way, she ended up with Skin Bends after that dive..
 
she was monitoring her own computer and NDL's and began to ascend a bit in the water column, only to have the DM grab her by the fin and yank her back down to 130ft. By the way, she ended up with Skin Bends after that dive..

That's CRAZY. I think I would have fought him back in self defense.
 
Just got back last week and dove BH with Ramon's. Tried to get on the ADM boat but it was being serviced on Thursday and that was the only day I could go. Our "regular" diving was with Ambergris Divers and they could not get enough divers to justify a BH trip. I am grateful to Ramon's for getting me on a boat, but I was not sure why the dive briefing included discussing how to work your BCD. Turns out we had 4 or 5 divers that had just been certified. The dives resembled a swimming cat fight in Alka Seltzer.

Apparently is is common to take new divers to BH. I just did my own thing away from the chaos. I got a little narced at 138 feet and one of the new divers passed me like an anchor. The DM placed the new divers on the mooring line for a 5 minutes safety stop. They did hang a tank, but no one needed it.

I thought that there were divers that did not belong on the dive, several damaged coral on the dives, but that appears to be how the BH trips are done. On the upside, the Ramon's crew were friendly, competent, and the boat had cushions on the dive benches so I actually caught about an hour nap on the way out and back. Awesome naps at that...

I would do the BH trip again. It was a long day but 3 great dives. I can't even say that the BH was overrated...it's just different. Food was good. Service was fine. I just wish the visability would have been better for the week, i can't really complain about the new divers...because it appears that is just how the shops are run. For $331, I'd do it again. They even threw in free Nitrox for me on dives 2 and 3.

Safe travels,
Jay
 
Turns out we had 4 or 5 divers that had just been certified.

Apparently is is common to take new divers to BH.

I got a little narced at 138 feet and one of the new divers passed me like an anchor.

The DM placed the new divers on the mooring line for a 5 minutes safety stop.

I thought that there were divers that did not belong on the dive...

I can't really complain about the new divers...because it appears that is just how the shops are run.

That was really, really painful to read.

A few years ago, complaints about the safety practices at the Blue Hole reached a boiling point. In response, the Belize Bureau of Standards adopted the Belize National Code Of Practice For Recreational Scuba Diving Services. The scope of the code is pretty broad and covers environmental impact, minimum requirements for conducting recreational scuba operations, guidelines for scuba gear rentals and sale of dive packages and the safe operation of recreational scuba tours, including the safety, health, emergency equipment and procedures and competence of the dive staff.

I think I mentioned this already, but the code is available online at http://belizetourismboard.org/wp-co...2016_Recreational-Scuba-Diving-Services-1.pdf

Beginning on page nine is a Requirements list. This list is compulsory so violations can lead to the dive op having its license revoked. One of the requirements addresses new divers at dive sites in general and then at the Blue Hole in particular. In fact, the Blue Hole is the only site specifically mentioned in the code.

It reads as follows:

[the dive operator] may not conduct recreational scuba diving tours at dive sites that may be deemed unreasonably safe for the level of certification of the diver;

NOTE 1: Recreational scuba diving tours to the "Blue Hole" require special skill sets because of its unique environment; therefore, divers are required to be screened as per Annex E by scuba diving tour operator for eligibility to perform the dive.


Annex E is a form (that may or may not be mandatory, I can't tell) for the diver to sign off on that lists his/her name, address, level of certification which includes OW, AOW or specified Other, number of logged dives, date of last dive and deepest dive completed. Underneath that, the dive operator is supposed to check off that based on the diver's info the dive leader either proceeded with the dive, required a refresher course or required additional training. The dive leader for the tour then signs off. At the top of the form is a statement that says based on the diver's information it is left up to the discretion of the dive operator to proceed with the dive.

Obviously, ADM is abusing its discretion if it's taking out new divers. Probably the best way to fix this is to require the divers to have at a minimum an AOW or Deep Dive certification or a minimum number of dives. Even so, I would hope that a shop would still use its discretion but at least there would be a mandatory minimum black line standard. New divers should not be allowed to make that dive.
 
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If you are serious about a quality dive experience at the Blue Hole, book a few days at Huracan diving. They're a 15 minute hop from the Hole, so the dive is wrapping up before the cattle boats arrive. Typically, they have 4 or 6 divers and 2 DMs on the dive. The dive is relaxed and safe as can be.

Incidentally, I rig a second 80 as a "pony". I have discussed with several DMs that I think this should be standard procedure for them. I once ran the numbers with an air hog running out of gas at the 130'+ mark and well into the dive. The odds of the DM sharing his remaining air with a (now-spooked) air hog and having a leisurely trip to the surface are about zero in my opinion.

And ya, about 75% of the people diving that site shouldn't be.

This is Mrs. Stoo doing her thang...

Kelly Blue Hole Light © DSC_7379.jpg
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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