Advice Needed, Great Blue Hole

[gypsyjim]

It was my impression from discussions we had at the time, that the second and third dives were considdered superior to the Blue Hole 'been there..' first dive.

Guba, it's been a few years since we visited Belize, so memory'y a bit foggy. We chose Hamanasi which is further south than many of the resorts, precisely because my girl friend was not a diver, and we wanted better access to inland Belize. Mayan ruins, jungle reserves, mountains, etc.
There are many resorts further north that are more popular and closer to diving like the Blue Hole. Some are even on the islands, rather than the mainland. BUT, there wasn't going to be much there for a non diver for a week!
Hamanasi is a short plane ride south, and besides access to mainland it got me into an area that sees a lot fewer divers. The couple who ran Hamanasi were wonderful hosts, and we felt like we had stumbled into an old world style resort.

don't recall posting a trip report, but I did post a few pics. First UW pics I ever took with a real UW camera were that trip. A couple from My Photos in SB Gallery:

 

[DCBC]

Point taken - I have never even heard of them much less dived them. From what I read on Wikipedia they are essentially cave dives rather than the more sheltered open water dives of Belize great blue hole. So obviously, yes, those would be much more dangerous that conventional dives.

Yes, even if you're not in the cave itself, at tide change you could be history.

 

[sabbath999]

My experience with the blue hole

Dive 1 – Blue Hole

clipped

Be aware that your computer will go into deco on this dive but the dive masters managed the ascent so well that mine cleared the 4 minute stop at 10’ before we got to 20’

Were you diving this on an AL80?

Rock bottom pressure for me excludes going anywhere near 130 feet on an AL80, my max depth on one of those puppies is only 100 feet with my SAC and with a conservative buddy SAC figure.

 

[Hank49]

In my experience here, staying in the south makes for a smoother ride out to the Blue Hole...on stiff trade wind days, which predominate from Dec throught May or so. If you leave from Hamanasi or Thatch Caye, you can head north to Southern Long Caye before crossing the reef. At that point you're in the lee of Turneffe in only 1-3 foot seas. After passing the Elbow, or south tip of Turneffe, you're almost in the lee of Lighthouse.
When you go from San Pedro, you're exposed to open sea trade swells as you head for the north end of Turneffe and across to Lighthouse.
It's far. But if it's not bone jarring rough, it's not so bad.

 

[Seaduced]

What do you all think about a diver with over 40 dives in the Carribean and a Basic Cert about diving the Great Blue Hole? Should I go ahead and get my Advanced before attempting this dive? Is the Dive worth the "Hype"?

My wife and I did the Blue Hole dive last June. The dive operator required an AOW or better cert. They wanted to see a c-card and a log with deep dives, too. We didn't have our logs with us (no one mentioned the requirement), so one of the DMs sat down with us and we talked about our deep diving experience and our most recent dives. So the log isn't a hard rule.

We went out on a 50' boat, so the rougher water didn't bother us much. They tried to stay in the lee of the cayes on the way out.

The dive brief was very thorough and the DMs professional. They briefed 8 minutes at 130 fsw, which we did, we ascended and had a leisurely swim at 20 fsw to cover the safety stop on way back to the boat. Our computers didn't get into deco, but I've noticed ours are a little more liberal than our buddy's computers. We also did a Mayan ruins tour the day before, so our clocks were cleared.

There isn't much to see. It's very dark, take a light, but the stalactites and stalagmites are interesting. The two drift dives after the Blue Hole, make the trip worth it. I'd do it again for the drift dives.

Darell

 

[Wayfarer2]

Were you diving this on an AL80?

Rock bottom pressure for me excludes going anywhere near 130 feet on an AL80, my max depth on one of those puppies is only 100 feet with my SAC and with a conservative buddy SAC figure.

I was on an AL80 but I believe you can get 100’s for this dive, in fact the more I think about it I am almost positive you can get a 100 because I recall the one DM trying to convince me to take one. Looking back at my dive Profile I began with 3000 psi the group was at 131’ 6 min in to the dive. From the 9 to 12 min mark I was between 145’ and 150’ ( I was below the group) I started up at 12 min with right at 2000psi. 19 min in I was at 40’ which is the approximate depth of the edge of the drop off with about 1400psi. at 22 min I was at 20’ and started my 3 min timer for the safety stop. At this point we were all poking around the edge of the reef right next to the boat and I stayed in until almost all the other divers were out of the water so my dive ended at 31min with 1150psi. I have no idea what my SAC rate is but you can see that the deep part of the dive is short and that it is a realistic dive on a 100 or even an 80.

 

[keyshunter]

That's a pretty sweeping statement Rhone Man. Obviously you've never dove the Blue Holes of Andros...

I have done several of the Andros Blue Holes, and unlike the Blue Holes east of New Providence and most of the ones at Cay Sal, there can be severe tidal issues. IMO, because of these issues, Andros Blue Holes require careful planning, and are not for the recreational diver.

 

[ScubaSloan]

I did this dive a year ago with 30 something dives under my belt and I had posted similar questions. I was worried about deco and rock bottom but similar to what Wayfarer said, I came up with plenty of air. It is an easy dive as long as you are comfortable with your buoyancy. No current or anything else to think about other than watching your time and depth. A cool dive to do once, but I would also echo what people have said about that other dives being spectacular. I could dive the aquarium all day long.

 

[sawyersdad]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.