blue hole ambergis caye

[samnewsom]

this will be mine and my fiance(wife then) first open water dive since we finished our class we will do five in class though and sugggestions or precautions that the more expieriened divers an suggest we want to make our dive expierience the best they can be so we can enjoy the sport and equipment we have purchased

 

[peterbj7]

The Blue Hole dive is to max 150' in a "bottomless" hole with visibility of maybe 25'. The walls are grey limestone, and though you may see some sharks you won't see any colored fishes or coral. You'll start your ascent after maybe 10-12 mins, and your total dive time will be 25-30mins. You'll be marshalled into one large dive group. In short, I wouldn't recommend it so soon in your diving career. There's lots of diving available at more sensible depths where you'll see a great deal and enjoy yourselves more.

Incidentally, the BH is in Lighthouse Atoll, 50-odd miles from Ambergris Caye.

 

[Damselfish]

You definitely do not want to be doing the blue hole for your first dive, or anytime soon. You will probably find someone that will take you, but that doesn't mean its a good idea.

I'm sure you've heard a zillion times that this is a great must-do dive, but that's mostly marketing hype. Don't feel you "have" to do it or that you are really missing out on something. It's unique, sure, and some people think it's a cool dive. But I'd guess about the same number of people think it's a waste of time.

 

[PaulChristenson]

this will be mine and my fiance(wife then) first open water dive since we finished our class we will do five in class though and sugggestions or precautions that the more expieriened divers an suggest we want to make our dive expierience the best they can be so we can enjoy the sport and equipment we have purchased

They sum it up pretty well...

http://www.fishpie.com/q/diving-with-idiots/

You want to get a few more dives under your belt...

 

[rakay]

A friend of mine said it really was not worth the time to get to it. Not many fish and not much to see. I think I will pass it up when I go.

 

[Ecologic Divers]

As all have said you should not dive the BH until you have more dives under your belt and also some deep diving experience. What you can do is tell the operator you want to snorkel the Blue Hole and then dive the 2nd and 3rd dives. these last two dives are great wall dives so the trip is still worth going.
Be safe, have fun

 

[Jeff88]

I think you would be much better off either doing local dives out of AC or going on the Turneffe Elbow trip. You can probably do 6-8 local dives on the reef near AC for what it costs to do the BH trip also.

 

[drbill]

Diving 46 years, spent two months in Belize, didn't dive the Blue Hole (or have much desire to) despite about 40 dives on Lighthouse itself.

NOT a dive for this early in your diving career. Plenty of great diving in Belize, especially on the outer atolls. Keep it shallow (within your certification) until you gain enough experience. Two of the best things to know about your diving, and only gained through experience, are (1) your sensitivity to nitrogen narcosis and the depths at which it becomes noticeable and (2) your response to emergency situations: do you panic or remain level headed in the face of a significant problem.

I rarely dove below 100 feet during my first 40 years of diving.

 

[battles2a5]

I would have to agree with the group here. Although I have gotten flamed for it, I dove the Blue Hole right after my OW certification. They will take you, they say it's fine. They do it all the time. It was a very professional operation and you can tell the guys have done this over and over again. BUT, as the doctor mentioned you don't have enough experience to know how you will act at 135'. You have nitrogen narcosis to contend with and more importantly (IMO) is your air consumption. As a brand new diver your air consumption is probably on the high side and the anxiety you will feel at that depth in an overhead environment (you do a little swim through the stalagtites and such) will probably make it even worse. I was pushing it on air on the way up and there was little room for contingency.

I will say I thought the day was very rewarding. The other two dives you do out there are amazing and the Blue Hole is pretty neat also, especially the sharks at the top. In retrospect, however, I probably should not have done it so soon. I think my skills as a diver are much more developed now and I would put a lot more planning into that dive now than I knew to do at the time. Just my $.02 from someone who did it in your situation. There are dozens of good dive sites much closer to shore (5 mins vs. 2.5 hours) and will offer just as much to see. Good luck with your trip!

 

[jarhed]

I think the Blue Hole is not to be missed, I certantly reccomend some local diving first, 2-3 days, but don't leave Belize without seeing the blue hole. Most of the dive operators there are competent and if you get your bouyancy right, you shouldn't have any trouble. Just tell the DM so he pays special attention to you.

I dive all over the world and have seen many awesome undersea wonders and the blue hole is in my top 3 or so.

It's not overly dangerous with a good DM and well worth the trip.

Good luck and have fun,
John