BELIZE'S GREAT BLUE HOLE Is It Really Worth Diving Part 1

[Gaz]

Belize’s Great Blue Hole
Is it really worth Diving ?
By Gaz Cooper www.DiveBelize.com

This is a question that is repeatedly asked on the many dive message boards across the internet and the answers it receives is sometimes misleading depending on the experience of the diver whom answers.
This article is written to provide an unbiased factual information source based on the reaction of hundreds of divers that I have had the opportunity to speak to after diving the Blue Hole.

Since I am a dive operator here in Belize, there will be some readers that say, of course I will promote the Blue Hole in a positive manner since I make money from the sale of trips to the Blue Hole, but the truth of the matter is, while I do offer the Blue Hole trip to all my visiting divers I do not run trips myself to the Blue Hole, I use another operator and I actually make more money by not promoting the Blue Hole trip however I aggresivly promote it as I personally think for 90% of divers it’s a great experinece a great dive and a great addition to diving Belize.

The Blue Hole is 1000ft across and 460ft deep and forms an almost perfect circle. It has been a favorite fishing ground for belizean fishermen for hundreds of years and in 1970 it was introduced to the public by Jacque Cousteau whom on his boat the Calypso charted the Blue Hole for the first time and highlighted its wonders in a tv documentary.

The Blue Hole is unique in many ways, one being that it is the only Blue Hole in the world that can be seen with the naked eye from outer space.
It is a fact that thousands of years ago the Blue Hole was a cave that was above sea level, the reason we know this is because Stalagtites and stalamites cannot form underwater, and can only grow with the constant drip drip that can be seen happening to the stalagtites in many above ground caves systems today.
When you consider that it takes more than 100 years for a Stalagtite to grow just one inch, its a spectaqular sight to see a 40ft stalagtite that has taken literally thousands of years to reach that size.
The Stalagtites can be found in the Blue Hole starting at 100ft, hanging suspended from the ceiling some more than 40ft long.

The Blue Hole and the surrounding area has been designated a World Heritage site due to is uniqueness and is another one of Belize’s many protected areas. (did you know that almost one third of the country of Belize is designated as protected reserves)

Many people don’t realize it but there are only 2 diveable spots in the Blue Hole, The north side which is the more popular side for the larger boats, due to fairly easy access to that side, and then theres the south side which generally only the smaller boats can access due to wind direction and the fact that it has to be dove from within the circumferance of the hole itself.

Each has only about 300ft or so of Stalagtites hanging down after that is just a flat wall of basically nothing. On the North divesite you only have Stalagtites (those that hang down) with nothing but the abyss below you, on the South side it has both Stalagtites and Stalagmites which can be found at around 145ft where there is a small ledge that has some Stalagmites, this is the side you are more likeley to encounter the resident Shark population.

In many message board posts you will read that some divers see lots of sharks while other divers see none and there is a simple explanation for this.
I have been diving the Blue Hole for more than 12 years now and while today the Blue Hole has a large population of Caribbean Reef Sharks it will depend on how you dive the Blue hole and whom you dive it with whether you will see the resident sharks or not.
Many years ago before this large population became a daily occurance, we did on occasion see sharks in the Blue Hole but always on the South side, and almost NEVER when we dove the North side which was 99% of the time, because as mentioned the size of the boat we were using only allowed us to dive the south side when winds were favorable..

So why do some divers see sharks and other do not ? heres the scoop

Nearly all the boats that dive the Blue Hole from San Pedro see the sharks, and the reason for this is that they get to the Blue Hole FIRST before the Aggressors and other large boats, resorts etc that are located in the area. (make a mental note here that normally its the very experienced divers that usually book the liveaboards and stay at the remoteAtoll resorts because thats where the best diving in Belize can usually be found)

Being the first to dive the Blue Hole affords them better visability since the first group to dive the Blue Hole gets the best vis, the reason for this is, as you decend it causes the silt to dislodge as the bubbles rise and releases the silt causing visability to become reduced.
When you consider that San Pedro sends up to 5 boats a day to the Blue Hole you can understand why those that dive it later in the morning under the pretext (Lets wait till the san pedro boats leave so its less busy) dive a site that has had probably 50 divers through it already before they get the chance to dive it.
This puts them at a distinct disadvantage as to the quality of the dive especially in the area of visability since 40-50 divers and there bubbles will reduce visability by up to 50% in some cases, in addition there are the Sharks.

The Sharks will sometimes follow you throughout the dive but are mainly ultilized at the end of the dive since you have an extended safety stop of 10 minutes or so and while waiting out that time on the sandy ledge located at 15ft you are buzzed and entertained by up to 30 Caribbean Reef Sharks.
The sharks are enduced to come to the surface by baiting the water with sardines this will bring them to the surface from the depths of the Blue Hole and give the diver the opportunity to view these magnificent creatures during the safety stop.

The liveaboards do not bait the water nor the local resorts and if this is not done the likelyhood of seeing any sharks is reduced by 90% so you can clearly see that most divers that dive the Blue Hole from a liveabord or an Atoll resort will have a far inferior dive due to these reasons.
In addition it is normally the very experienced divers that are ususally the ones that are on the liveaboards because this normally affords them the best diving opportunities in Belize and that is absolutely correct with the EXCEPTION of the Blue Hole dive based on how they are currently running that dive.

Over the years a repeated question is posted on the various diver message boards Is the Blue Hole Worth diving ? and you will see the same answers time and time again from don’t bother it’s a waste of time” to “A great dive well worth it and everthing in between.

Why is there such a vast difference in peoples opinions, my answer is that most regulars on message boards, that is those that post at least once a week etc are normally very active divers and have lots of experince and have had the opportunity to dive multiple places around the world and give there advice freely to others.
This however can do an injustice to a fairly new diver that happens upon a message board and asks the question is the Blue Hole worth diving ??
Most of the answers I have seen on message boards are negative when asking this question, mainly I believe because it’s a very experienced diver that maybe has 1000’s of dives under his belt and when he dove the Blue Hole it was probably from a liveaboard after a bunch of other divers had dove it and because of his worldly experience he was less than impressed with the Blue Hole, so he makes his experience heard to this fairly new diver that has only dove cozumel since certification and has 20 dives under his belt, he of course thinks this expert diver knows exactly what he is talking about so decided NOT to dive the Blue Hole because of what he has been told.

part 2 to follow

 

[Gaz]

Part 2


When this fairly new diver gets to Belize and is asked do you want to dive the Blue Hole I receive the answer OHH no I have heard its not that good” then I ask who told you that, and I receive an answer of I read it on a message board, or my friend came to Belize and he told me, so I ask did he dive the Blue Hole while he was here then ?? and I receive an answer Oh no but he had heard it was not worth it either so did not dive it when he was in Belize. I hear this time after time after time.

I then explain the Blue Hole trip and hopefully I have some guests inhouse that have just come back and then I don’t have to say a thing they will sell them a trip for me but if I do not have divers inhouse then I will tell them about the trip and encourage them to go and I usually add that if they don’t think it was worth it I will refund there money, needless to say to this date I have never refunded anyones money normally they are extremly appreciative that I talked them into it and let them make there own mind up and I am happy to break the cycle of the OH No I heard it was not worth it mode”.

Why do I do this if I make more money keeping them inhouse ? the reason is that I am the first to say that Belize has many different areas to dive and each unique in what it has to offer, based on what a specific diver is looking for in a vacation (that’s another Belize article to follow soon) I want the visiting diver to go back with a positive impression of diving Belize and anything I can do to increase there enjoyment of diving Belize then I will do that. The Blue Hole is a unique dive that if dove correctly can be an excellent addition to any divers logbook it will be less impressive to those divers with thousands of dives under there belt but the other 95% of divers will really enjoy the dive and view it as a positive enjoyable dive.

So next time you see a question posted on a message board asking about the Blue Hole be sensitive to the experince of the diver asking when you answer it. Divers whom have been lucky enough to travel all over the world with thousands of dives under there belt will find it less of a thrill however the average diver will enjoy diving the Great Blue Hole of Belize the abundant sharks the errie feeling and sheer difference,it will be a memorable diving experience for them, give them the chance to make there own judgements.

Dive Safe

Gaz Cooper
www.DiveBelize.com

 

[lawofgravity]

Gaz, I was in Belize last year diving out of a resort in Dangriga. Before the trip, my mind was made up to dive the Blue Hole. It was the signature dive in Belize and I just had to do it. However, at the resort, the instructor had a video of his dive in the Blue Hole. After watching it, I changed my mind and decided not to do it for a couple of reasons. One, the cattle boats filled with 20-30 divers all herded over the side of the boat. Two, there were a few sharks, but other than that, not much else to see. Three, I was told the depth to the swimthrough is actually 145 ft not 130 ft as in the travel brochures. As I was fresh out of ow, I wasn't ready for such a dive. I've been told that several operators turn a blind eye to the diver's experience level and take inexperienced divers to the Blue Hole anyway. Very dangerous imo, especially with the depth and the swimthrough. Since I had the choice to go or not, I asked the instructor if it's worth it and he said matter of factly, "no, there are better dives". He was right. I had such a good time diving the atolls and on the dive that we were suppose to dive the BH, we got to swim with two turtles off Glovers. Not to belittle it, but it seems every travel brochure out of Belize has a picture of the Blue Hole on it. There is a false belief that this is the signature dive in Belize and diving it would be the experience of a lifetime. Well, if dropping to 145 ft for a few minutes, going through a swimthrough and then surfacing again is the experience of a lifetime, I'll pass. I'd rather do a long, slow, 50ft, 60 minute dive off Glovers instead.

 

[Gaz]

Hi

this is the exact reason i chose to write this article because of the misinformation that is posted by people such as yourself who have not dove the Blue Hole and then go on to post misinformation or mixed up informtion that people take as the truth.

How can you make such a bold statement without having dove it and again listening to third party information and then passing it onto people as an excuse as to why you did not dive it.

I am not jumping on your case but just trying to show that your post is exactly why I chose to write the article in the first place.

i suspect the reason the DM talked you out of it is that resorts that far south normally do not want to travel the LONG distance to the Blue Hole when its more profitable for them to sell you a dive closer by. for them to run a Blue Hole trip form there it would be very expensive and nine times out of ten they do not have enough demand to run at trip so in the world of resorts we make excuses to suit us at times.

Your post does make some valid points though that being that boats can be busy during high season and a valid comment was also made about the experience required however I GUARANTEE based on your experience you would love the BLUE HOLE if you did not you would be 1 in a million based on the number of dives you have done.
while you may not have seen the sharks in the video if you read my article it would clearly state that the sharks are seen with certain operators and not all.
i very rarely have divers return whom have not had up close and personal encounters with the sharks of the Blue Hole.

Heres an example of a piece of false information in your post

I was told the depth to the swimthrough is actually 145 ft not 130 ft as in the travel brochures

There is NO SWIM THRU at the Blue Hole you are diving into a collapsed ceiling of what used to be a cave at no time are you entering a swim thru.

If i had not answered additional people would now think the Blue Hole has a swim thry when in reality it does not and thats the reason I wrote the article in the first place to counter act posts such as yours from people that have not dove the Blue Hole but freely comment on it when given the chance when in reality they dont really know anything about it.

Again not meaning to get on your case just making a point.

there will be people that have dove it and think the same as you but they are speaking from first hand experience.

The Blue Hole is one of Belizes signature dives and rightly so dive it and you will see

dive safe

Gaz

Gaz, I was in Belize last year diving out of a resort in Dangriga. Before the trip, my mind was made up to dive the Blue Hole. It was the signature dive in Belize and I just had to do it. However, at the resort, the instructor had a video of his dive in the Blue Hole. After watching it, I changed my mind and decided not to do it for a couple of reasons. One, the cattle boats filled with 20-30 divers all herded over the side of the boat. Two, there were a few sharks, but other than that, not much else to see. Three, I was told the depth to the swimthrough is actually 145 ft not 130 ft as in the travel brochures. As I was fresh out of ow, I wasn't ready for such a dive. I've been told that several operators turn a blind eye to the diver's experience level and take inexperienced divers to the Blue Hole anyway. Very dangerous imo, especially with the depth and the swimthrough. Since I had the choice to go or not, I asked the instructor if it's worth it and he said matter of factly, "no, there are better dives". He was right. I had such a good time diving the atolls and on the dive that we were suppose to dive the BH, we got to swim with two turtles off Glovers. Not to belittle it, but it seems every travel brochure out of Belize has a picture of the Blue Hole on it. There is a false belief that this is the signature dive in Belize and diving it would be the experience of a lifetime. Well, if dropping to 145 ft for a few minutes, going through a swimthrough and then surfacing again is the experience of a lifetime, I'll pass. I'd rather do a long, slow, 50ft, 60 minute dive off Glovers instead.

 

[DandyDon]

I did the Blue Hole in June, and Id' do it again today if I had the chance. I'd just want a nicer boat for the crossing. :cowboy2:

Those stalegtites & columns must have formed during ice ages, when the ocean was much lower, water locked up in glaciers, Florida was much bigger, etc. I don't recall how long the last ice age was (I wasn't there :369: ), so they may have started forming in one dry period, then resumed in the next? It's a neat dive, though, for those with at least moderate experience. I know that some ops will take paper C-card newbies, but I guess the DMs watch them closely? Slow ascents, slow ascents, slow ascents - deep stops, then use the rest of your air on the white top at 20 feet. I did it on 28% Nx, but I guess it could be done on air?

I know what you mean about the viz. When I was doing a long stop on the white top, I saw air coming up from the sand, or whatever it was. Air works its way up from the cavern, probably from our own dives, thru the verticle channels once carved by the water that formed the stalegtites, and stirs the sand when it gets to the white top.

After the Blue Hole, though, there's the nearby atoll, the Booby Birds, lunch, and 2 more great dives on that reef - one before lunch, I think? Adn there's just nothing like the cameraderie of a dive trip. Sure, it's 2+ hours each way, but you've got each other, and on the way back - Belican beer! Gotta' love a town with sand streets, but uses little John Deere tractors to pull the bottled water and beer deliveries. It must go thru!

Yeah, do the Blue Hole, or you'll never know!

 

[Gaz]

There you go and thats fróm diver who has over 200 dives

On another note Don, when I dove the Blue Hole for the first time I went on an old wooden mahogany boat 26ft in lenth no bathroom and it was HELL so the boat you went on was luxurious compared to that bit as you say there are much better boats than the one you went on but I would of loved that boat all those years ago ;-)

I did the Blue Hole in June, and Id' do it again today if I had the chance. I'd just want a nicer boat for the crossing. :cowboy2:

 

[DandyDon]

There you go and thats fróm diver who has over 200 dives

On another note Don, when I dove the Blue Hole for the first time I went on an old wooden mahogany boat 26ft in lenth no bathroom and it was HELL so the boat you went on was luxurious compared to that bit as you say there are much better boats than the one you went on but I would of loved that boat all those years ago ;-)

I did the Blue Hole in June, and Id' do it again today if I had the chance. I'd just want a nicer boat for the crossing. :cowboy2:

Well, I'm a 200 dive newbie, not a vet, but - you're right. When anyone says "Don't do it. I didn't" you have a zero source.

 

[Hank49]

There you go and thats fróm diver who has over 200 dives

On another note Don, when I dove the Blue Hole for the first time I went on an old wooden mahogany boat 26ft in lenth no bathroom and it was HELL so the boat you went on was luxurious compared to that bit as you say there are much better boats than the one you went on but I would of loved that boat all those years ago ;-)

I did the Blue Hole in June, and Id' do it again today if I had the chance. I'd just want a nicer boat for the crossing. :cowboy2:

Hi Gaz,
The Blue Hole is a fun dive for sure. I did it twice while living in San Pedro and my only complaint was the loooonnnnnng ride out and back after three dives, in fairly rough seas, all in the same day. It would be "all time" if you could go out on a boat in the afternoon, do one dive or so and get up fresh in the morning, do the Blue Hole then the other reef dives and go back. Hank

 

[Seadeuce]

I did three dives on the Blue Hole in '94. Back then I had just under 500 dives done. I passed on the fourth dive, we were diving from a very basic liveaboard.

From my logbook, and recollection, my opinion of the hole is that it is more black than blue! Nothing to do with the vis either.

The shelf with the stalactites/stalagmites/columns was at 143ft back then. The DM at the time led the group from the front, and was usually 30ft ahead of those at the end.

We had a married couple aboard. They were both OWDs, and on enquiring I was told the Blue Hole would be their fourth open water dive! I elected to remain with the couple, and ended up holding the guy's hand throughout the dive. He would not have completed it otherwise. His wife seemed way more competent and comfortable.

On the second dive of that day, I took this guy down to 30ft and spent time with him until he could safely achieve neutral buoyancy. He enjoyed the rest of the week.

I have been asked my opinion, and I gave my answer, not according to my experience, but according to that of the enquirer.
So it would range from bleak, but a must-do dive, to it's a challenging dive, wait until you have a couple of seasons under your belt first.

Back then, and I don't know if this is still the case, that site was marketed as a tourist spot among divers. Absolutely nothing negative was said about its environment with relation to a diver's experience, quite the opposite in fact.

The week after I dived there, while visiting Tikal/Flores etc., a girl lost her life in the Blue Hole due to pneumothorax. Her mask flooded at depth, and the DM lifted her all the way ...

While there are some points of your narrative I agree with, I feel I have to emphasise that the answer/advice given to an enquirer should be tailored towards his/her experience. It should not be always in the positive, as the site is definitely unsuited to beginners even though it seems that thousands of same have successfully survived. This is no doubt due to prioritising the dollar over safety concerns.

Belize is not the only place I've seen where diving is marketed to the masses in such a fashion. Other places market sites as, rightly, challenging and suited to the more experienced diver. Yet that same operator accepts OWDs/AOWDs with little experience. Their hypocrisy in advertising compromises the enjoyment of the more experienced diver who travels there and is restricted in his choice of dive sites.

The enquiring public have a right to know the conditions beforehand, based on their current experience - note, I do not say grade - so as to be able to make an informed decision. Safe and fun diving can then be guaranteed.


Seadeuce

 

[Gaz]

Hey Seadeuce

I agree with the basis of your comments on safety and I could probably write another article on that subject alone however heres a short verison of my opinion on that matter.

The Blue Hole is a deep dive to 130ft however on many occasions divers exceed that level so any diver diving the Blue Hole should have experience to that depth and feel comfortable diving to it.

You as a certified diver have to make those calls yourself as a trained certified diver, you have to decide if you feel comfortable and have enough experience to dive the Blue Hole or any other advanced dive for that matter.

As a dive operator i see allsorts of divers from a diver that has 40 dives who does not know one end of the tank from the other, to another diver with 20 dives whom dives as if he is a pro, it is up to the diver to determine his limits, i will say however if a diver is not capable of the Blue Hole we quickly advise him, as mentioned in my article money is not an issue for me sending my divers to the Blue Hole as i send them with another operator but i will certainly not sell a diver the trip if i feel they are not capable of that dive.

thanks for your comments which were valid and well received.

dive safe

gaz