Originally Posted by
WORKSIMON
After seeing Mike's pictures of his watch at work in the deep sea I was doing a little bit of browsing about deep sea diving and came accross the Blu Hole in Dahab Egypt. It seems to be a very dangerous dive site which has an inordinately high death rate. From what I've read there are various factors such as diving too deep on normal air, panic, inexperience etc etc.
As a recreational diver I personally cannot see the attraction of diving somewhere where you need to go to 50m to see the spectacle, I would happily say too deep for me and I'm off, but it seems to have a strong pull even with all the fatalities that have happened so far. I guess the thrill of seeing such a magnificent sight must be an overiding factor in these deaths. What I cannot understand is that some very very experienced divers have died even though they had the right kit etc etc
There are some amazing and truly disturbing videos including one from a divers helmet camera that shows his fatal descent to the bottom and his apparent inability to correct the situation even at relatively shallow depths and this seems to be put down to nitrogen narcosis but people seem to have differing views. A lot of the bodies are still at the bottom and have not been recovered presumably because of the associated dangers.
Anyone got their own views/information ??
I’ve got my 2p and I'll give it in response to some of the comments/points raised here.
Attraction: it’s a combination of the experience and machismo IMO. The experience for me is the emergence from the Arch out into the blue: it’s hard to describe but I always have a feeling of awe of the structure plus the change from the dark to the light. Others have talked about the sense of being born when emerging; a bit too deep :lol: for me but then I’m pretty unimaginative! The macho angle is based on the reputation the place has and thus the ability to claim you’ve ‘done it’ – and I’ve heard that claim endless times by divers, typically those who’ve done, say 50 dives, and feel that they are now fully competent and the Blue Hole in the logboo gives them added credibility.
Deaths: There are a commensurately high number of fatalities at the Blue Hole and the primary cause of this is inexperience IMO. See above comment and factor in: lack of training at depth, disorientation, currents and panic and you’ve got a good recipe for things going wrong. Whilst the dive can be done on a single tank (down the Blue Hole, through the Arch and back up to the 'saddle') it relies on you not deviating from the dive plan, but I’ve experienced strong down-currents on the face of the reef at the point of exit of the Arch and this could prove the fatal factor in air consumption. As well as the fatalities there are also many accidents there that fortunately prove non-fatal; luckily there is now two hyperbaric chambers in Dahab (30 minutes fast drive away) one is government-owned and the other run entirely on voluntary donations. In addition to providing recompression they have wide experience of diving injuries, a big factor in some of those accidents proving non-fatal.
Bodies: The last time I was down there only one body was evident: I’d say a female but hard to tell. There are no multiple bodies despite the number of deaths: numbers do vary, but there at least 40 memorial plaques on the hillside adjacent to the entry to Bells (another dive site). There is no ‘bottom’ to this hole, rather a slope out to the outer reef. The slope stats at about 60m (opposite The Arch) and descends at about 45 towards the outside of the reef, passing the outer side of The Arch at about 120m and then straightening to the vertical again for a loooong way down. So if a body doesn’t come to rest on the slope – or subsequently dislodges off there – you aren’t going to see them again.
The video of the guy in trouble is that of a Russian diver, Yuri Lipsky. No drag down, attacks or shark involvement (I’ve heard the details of his recovery first-hand): just a classic case of inexperience: he was 23 years old, went down with a single cylinder of air and was alone. (BTW, the percentage of Russians involved in diving accidents is very high in proportion to their numbers).
Recovery of bodies: an understanding of Egyptian bureaucracy would help here, suffice to say that arriving at the surface with a recovered body is going to cause you serious problems without all the ‘permissions’ – and I cannot imagine just how many permissions you’d need to obtain, but I’d guess at dozens and dozens. So it should best be considered a burial at sea I’d say – and I know of some free-divers who’s expressed wish is to be left in the sea.
Done the correct way: experienced in diving, correct training, proper equipment and back-up it can be a rewarding dive. I was diving in the Blue Hole last week and will be back there again in a weeks time, but all around that area are (for me) equally enjoyable dives that don’t carry the risk factor of the Blue Hole.
R