To Blue Hole or not Blue Hole...

[krunchy]

Hi all,

I am traveling to Belize in a few weeks and am undecided about diving the Blue Hole. Its a pretty deep dive and I'll be traveling solo. I often get paired with the DC in these cases. But I've had some insta-buddies that I would NOT feel comfortable diving the hole with, so I'm a bit torn over whether or not I should take the trip.

 

[DCBC]

As a relatively new diver, don't be lulled into going past the recomended maximum set by your training agency. Quite a few new divers from Canada go south to dive and are surprised that they're feeling giddy and find themselves at 100' before they realize it. The water's clear, you see something and swim over to it and its happened. Watch your depth and have fun!

 

[krunchy]

As a relatively new diver, don't be lulled into going past the recomended maximum set by your training agency. Quite a few new divers from Canada go south to dive and are surprised that they're feeling giddy and find themselves at 100' before they realize it. The water's clear, you see something and swim over to it and its happened. Watch your depth and have fun!

Thanks for the advice although I forgot to mention that I am PADI AOW certified and current deepest dive is about 110'. All my dives have been in tropical salt water so that part of the equation I feel pretty comfortable with.

 

[njcfm]

it boils down to it being a big hole in the ground but, it is very cool and i'm very happy i did it.

it just reminds you how miniscule we as humans really are on this earth.

aside from that the 2nd and 3rd dive on the trip are AWESOME, well worth it if you ask me.

 

[DCBC]

Thanks for the advice although I forgot to mention that I am PADI AOW certified and current deepest dive is about 110'. All my dives have been in tropical salt water so that part of the equation I feel pretty comfortable with.

Why are you hesitant about the dive then? Because you're in 400+ feet of water doesn't mean you have to dive to the bottom.

 

[PhilC]

We just got back from Belize and my opinion is similar to njcfm's. The Blue Hole dive itself was a bit of a disappointment. Vis stunk, like 20-30 feet feel like you are in a quarry in Ohio stinking. Yeah we saw some sharks and some very large black groupers but they were all so far off in the distance you couldn't get a good view. I'm glad I can say I have done it but honestly might just join the snorkelers if we were to go back out. That said the dives around Half Moon Caye and at the Aquarium are both incredible and worth the trip out.

 

[Downing]

You would most likely dive the BH as a group so your insta-buddy isn't really as important as it would be on a more typical dive.

If you've been to 110 feet, you'll have no trouble descending another 20.

To me, the far more important considerations would be:

1. The ride - how long and how comfortable;
2. Multiple dives - are the other area dives included; and
3. Itinerary - what dives or activities do you give up to do the BH trip.

Imho, the BH is a unique dive and well worth doing at least once. After that, not so much. Having said that, I've done it twice and will do it again this summer. From where we stay, the boat ride is a little over an hour, we spend the day diving the area and there's no other diving that day back at the resort.

 

[peterbj7]

Viz in the BH varies a lot day-to-day. It's usually 15-20ft, but can be as much as 100ft. Similarly light levels can vary from bright and cheerful to dark and sombre. My general feeling is that it's not a dive for an inexperienced diver, but so many of those have dived it and proved me wrong.

Don't worry about being with an insta-buddy. The dive is conducted as a group dive, and you'll be surrounded by divemasters. After one or two incidents in the (distant) past, these days these guys are very attentive indeed.

The dive is to the best part of 150ft (don't believe people who say it's 130ft, although you can of course stop at that depth). What makes it different is that the BH is slightly conical, widening as you go down, so you really are hovering over absolutely nothing. The bottom where you'll be is at around 425ft, which for most people might just as well be infinity.

If you'd like to do the dive but don't want all that in one go, why not go to a small dive centre that will train you to dive that deep? I've often taken people down over several dives to those depths, but on our local barrier reef where for the whole dive you're just above a gently sloping bottom. That removes most of the "terror" factor on the BH dive, as you know you've already been to those depths perfectly safely, and I hope enjoyably.

I've dived it probably 100 times, including going to the bottom three times.

If you want that sort of progressive introduction then just PM me.

 

[ibj40]

it boils down to it being a big hole in the ground but, it is very cool and i'm very happy i did it.

it just reminds you how miniscule we as humans really are on this earth.

aside from that the 2nd and 3rd dive on the trip are AWESOME, well worth it if you ask me.

I agree, to some extent. We did it a little over a year ago, and I think our initial perceptions may have spoiled the dive for us. We went in thinking it would be dark (and I mentally connected dark with low visibility). I focused on the blackness of the depth, and failed to recognize that the water was nearly perfect in terms of visibility (we were the first boat on station that day). At depth, when I finally looked across to the stalactites and stalagmites (did I get that right?), it was amazing, and I even followed the dive guide behind them while my wife hung outside, waiting for us. Now, in retrospect, I would do the dive again, in a heartbeat, with my eyes (and mind) wide open.

Sharks out in the middle of the hole made it even better, and the safety stop swimming around the rim in 15-20 feet of nice warm water, with the larger fish that hang around the mooring point, brought us back up safely.

I say do it.

 

[TSandM]

You would most likely dive the BH as a group so your insta-buddy isn't really as important as it would be on a more typical dive.

Oh, man, I have a problem with this.

You're going to 150 feet on a single tank, diving as a group, with nobody in that group tasked with staying close to you and being available if you need help? Does anybody in the group carry enough gas to get two stressed divers to the surface from 150 feet? Are you depending on the DM, who is helping the lady who is hopelessly narced, to donate gas to you if you need it?

I would not ever do such a dive as an ill-defined group, and I wouldn't do it with an instabuddy, either, and I wouldn't go to 150 feet on a single tank, even in the tropics.