I've waited to wade in here. I had written a post about newbies diving the Blue Hole and it was one that was edited out. Now I feel compelled to speak up.
Cozumel, like Belize, attracts a lot of new divers. I had less than 50 dives when I went there the first time and it was my first warm water experience. I made some mistakes and paid for them. Fortunately the diving was not deep. I didn't blame the operators or my dive buddies. However, even then there were dive sites where they would take only advanced divers. It had nothing to do with the card you were carrying. It had to do with them watching you for a few days and knowing your skill level.
There are a lot of things you will never learn in a course, but only by continued education and experience.
I devoured Dive Training Magazines for about 3 years. It is directed towards the new diver and covers all those situations that an instructor just does not have time to do. I don't know if they still do but they used to have a crossword puzzle in the back and the answers all came directly out of articles in that issue. What a great way to learn.

Cozumel used to be as lax about diving guidelines as Belize is now -- and that is NOT slamming Belize -- it simply is a fact. Then something happened. I don't think any of us will ever know but the difference between one year and the next was amazing. There were lots of people complaining "We never had to do that before," but it was clear that something BIG had come down and all the operators were following very stringent rules of safety. Maybe Belize will learn for this unfortunate incident.

As I've said before, I WILL NOT go to the Blue Hole for a number of reasons.
#1 EVERYONE takes new divers. I do not want to be on a boat when someone gets hurt.
#2 There is really nothing worth seeing except the Bull Sharks which are the most aggressive sharks in the world. If you want to see stalagmites go to the caves.
#3 I will not, nor do I expect anyone else to risk their life to save mine. Underwater photographers are notorious for not paying attention to their gauges. I left my best friend to die at 90' on a wreck in Palau.

We had been deeper and there are not many minutes of air in a tank below 100' (remember it is compress and becomes more compress the deeper you go). When I looked at my computer I had 7 minutes. I tapped her and she shrugged me off. At 6 minutes I took hold of her elbow and she got really mad. At 5 minutes I pulled hard on her fin and she kicked me. You see, she is a macro photographer and was waiting for some little thing to get in just the right position for her picture.

So, I started a very slow ascent, which bought me more air time. At 70' I hung for 3 minutes to get my computer back into the green. Most of the other divers were ascending way above me. Then I again started up slowly. All this time I am watching her. When she pulled back and looked at her gauge I could feel the terror go through her whole body and she started up, not as slowly as she should have. She caught up with me at about 50' and we very slowly progressed up to the 15' safety stop zone. Since this was a wreck we had a line tied off where we could hang relaxed without bouncing up and down.
Fortunately for her she is a skinny little thing and doesn't use as much air as I do. Another diver who had been too deep too long came up and they did a 15 minute decompression stop together.
Yes, she is alive and still one of my best friends. No, she didn't get bent or an air embolism as she had about 15 years experience. No, she did not get mad at me, she said she would have done the same thing.

Unfortunately the whole country of Belize promotes the Blue Hole as the #1 attraction. I wish there was a way that people would have to pass a deep diving test where there is a bottom at 135' so when they get narced there is no place deeper for them to go. That is one of the requirements for an Advanced Open Water Certification.

Yes, safety needs to be talked about. And when things are not right something needs to be done to correct them.

Harriette Fisher
BELIZE ME!

Good for you, Harriette and well said. Your story was very illustrative of the point of being responsible for yourself. You do the best you can for another but ultimately . . .

I must admit, I had wondered why you hadn't spoken up before. Perhaps when you are living in SP, you can help to make a difference.

Regards.

scubaldy,

Thanks for a great insight. It isn't always black and white, is it?