audission:
I'm off there next week. After watching the "Holy *****!" thread closely in the accidents forum, I was wondering if anyone can tell me more about the Blue Hole, in Dahab?
I understand it's massively deep - are there any surprise currents or pitfalls to watch out for? I'm only planning to do rec diving (<30m) so if the Blue Hole is massively dangerous I'll be sure to dive elsewhere..
What everyone said. You'll love it there.
Since you asked for more details on the Blue Hole, I might add this:
The Blue Hole is a safe diving spot, usually packed with divers - both rec and tec divers, but also with freedivers and snorkelers! You needn't worry about currents, just be careful not to touch or to step on a lionfish or a stingray, but that is a general advice for the whole Red Sea.
If you enter the Blue Hole, you'll probably take a tour of the site, then dive to the saddle and back. Some say there's not much to see in the Blue Hole itself, but I loved diving there and having freedivers go down their ropes right next to me and tec divers disappearing in the depth or going for the arch etc. It's a fun place.
Just don't use those ropes yourself. You never know if a freediver might emerge from the deep right under you or if another is getting ready to use that very rope for his dive. Also, some freedivers might wave to you, but only wave back, don't initiate the communication yourself. It's their training ground and they go for results there.
As others said, the best way to dive the Blue Hole is by starting at the Bells and then following the reef to the saddle of the Blue Hole, entering it then going out. I'm sure it's what you'll do.
Bells is very near (off the bottom side from the BH on the above pic), so you'll gear up at the Blue Hole and walk your way to the Bells entry point. As you walk there you'll pass the rock with the plaques with names of the divers who lost their lives at the Blue Hole.
You can see what entrance to the Bells looks like in Asser's avatar pic (and Jai Bar's is a standard diving sign seen at many divespots in the area, Blue Hole included). Might be a tricky entry for a beginner, but it's well worth it. Once you jump in, you'll dive down the chimney - again, nothing to worry about and very beautiful. From there you'll follow the reef wall to the Blue Hole as I already described. If you're lucky, you may see some huge turtles or rays swimming there, and of course lots of corals.
As others have noted, Blue Hole can be dangerous only to those who are diving outside their limits or pushing their luck. Dive conservatively and it's as safe place as any. I'm sure you'll love it. Blue Hole is a remarkable site, however, some other sites offer much more to be seen. You won't be disappointed in Dahab!
Hope we helped and that we'll read your report soon on ScubaBoard.