AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Diving the Blue Hole

One of the reasons for "fair" diving during our 10 day stay at Ramon's was the horrible conditions due to very heavy wind. Many dive operators were not going out at all. Our DM explained that a hurricane a couple of years ago(I don't recall which one) had destroyed the reef. I expected diving in Belize (off of San Pedro) to be like the conditions on the outer dives the day we dove the Bluehole. Maybe my big expectations led to the "fair" description. Anyway I even braved some dives on days when most boats didn't go out. The backwards roll into the huge swells was pretty gutsy and getting out was insane! Those DMs are so talented the way they can hall you out in such huge swells with only a few bruises the next day!
Anyway, a "fair" diving day is alright with me b/c we love to dive! The rays, nurse sharks, turtles were fun to see. Have fun! Kathy

Chattykathy, yeah, I've been diving there in those conditions a few times too. Kinda thrilling but the viz can be bad too, that takes more away from the diving than most anything else to my mind. The other thing that happens is you learn how to time yourself, getting back on the boat. Even so, like you I've had bruises as badges to prove it.

Now then, as for the hurricane that chewed up the reef . . I'm a bit confused. Hurricane Mitch, I believe it was did do some damage many years ago and there are a couple of sites, particularly those that were mostly staghorn coral, that still show the marks of Mitch's passing, but even those sites are recovering nicely now.

As for Hurricane Keith, it did some real damage out at the Atolls, not so much the local sites.

I didn't notice any serious damage after Iris.

I stand corrected. And I'm glad I spoke up. Now I have 2 months to psyche myself up for a 140 foot dive (instead of a 45 minute boat trip to freak out on it). Question: Bring a flashlight?

SlimJim, I dunno how to break this to ya . . .but if you are staying in San Pedro, you'll have a lot longer than 45 minutes to spend thinking about the dive on your trip out.

As for bringing a flashlight, how much experience do you have? If you've lots of deep darkish experience then yeah, bring a flashlight. But if you've not that much experience, you won't need it and it won't benefit you in any real way. It will just be one more thing to deal with, that may have a negative impact on your first-time enjoyment of this very cool dive.

Oh yeah, and try psyching yourself out for a 130' dive instead of a 140' dive. That way, you might find you control your buoyancy better at depth.

Got to put my 2 cents BZ in on this. Just because someone wants to dive the Blue Hole should not be the only reason they do. This is a serious dive that should only be done by people with the proper training and experience. Too many people have been taken on the Blue Hole dive that should never have gone. That is why people have died doing it. Too many people have died. Diving can and should be a safe experience. The dive operators that take divers with less than the proper training and experience are doing it out of greed and are a disgrace to the sport.
chattykathy's story is the perfect example. It is fortunate that the dive master only had to rescue one diver who allowed themselves to get narcosis. How many divers going the wrong direction can a dive master save? The idea is not to have to save people who are trying to kill themselves, it is to not allow them to get into a situation where they might kill themselves.

PS: I will put just as much blaim on the divers themselves that go on these dives. I am assuming they have gotten certified and should know their limitations and the limitations their training taught them.

right on, By

As you know I agree bywarren, but I get tired of saying it every time a discussion on the Blue Hole comes up.

Again, for newer divers, before deciding whether or not they will dive the Hole at all, they should dive all the week doing local dives. Get lots more comfortable with their skills on deeper dives prior to making any decisions with regard to the Blue Hole.

In principle, I don't see any reason why a diver with approximately 50 dives shouldn't be able to dive the Blue Hole (as long as the 50 were fairly recent), especially when they've had the further practice in the days leading up to the BH dive. And this is particularly true for divers that took their original training in inland waters, that were dark and murky and cold. Not that the Blue Hole is cold, it's just that the divers that were trained in those conditions are better prepared from the get go for this kind of dive.

And I will also fully support bywarren's comments regarding personal responsibility. A diver should never dive beyond their own abilities or skill levels.

This is not to say that a diver that has only been to 60' should never dive to 80', it merely means that a diver should not make any dives that they are not yet prepared to take. And a diver can call a dive at any time for any reason. So even if a diver started out planning to do a dive, if they change their mind at the site . . .that is OK and is the right decision for them.

Even very, very skilled divers have called off a dive they'd had planned for a long time. Sometimes that decision was based on nothing more than a feeling.

Right on seashell: "Sometimes that decision was based on nothing more than a feeling."

When a peson starts to feel narcosis, it should not be viewed as a "high" that will increase the enjoyment of the dive. It should be viewed as a warning sign that you might be going to kill yourself and you should get your ass out of there. :rolleyes:

Well, actually bywarren, I meant that sometimes the decision to abort the dive is made at the surface prior to actually making the dive.

With regard to narcosis, I agree, it should be considered a warning that you need to ascend a couple of feet, or maybe a couple more, until the feeling dissipates. I think your position on that particular matter is just a little bit over the top.

There can be many warning signs that a dive should be aborted, both before and during the dive. I personally know a former dive master who has permanent neurological damage from having to chase a diver who got nacrosis and went the "wrong way". Any diver who allows themselves to experience narcosis is putting both themselves and others in danger. The Blue Hole dive is not a dive where the dive masters should have to watch 20 divers at 20 different depths trying to avoid narcosis. It is just my opinion that if a diver gets narcosis on a group dive when the profile is to dive to depths of 130ft or greater, they should abort their dive for both their own safety and the safety of the others. There is no reason to hang out at 80ft in the Blue Hole where there is nothing to see and have the dive master not be able to devote all of his attention to the divers that are diving the planed dive.

Just one opinion.