Dean’s Blue Hole
Dean’s Blue Hole is the deepest blue hole on the planet. The hole is located in the Bahamas, on the island of Long Island, in a bay west of Clarence Town. It is 202 meters or 663 feet deep. The name comes from the surname of the owner of the land near where it is located. Dean’s Blue Hole is world famous as an ideal free diving spot.
The mystery of blue holes
Blue holes are among the most mysterious places in the world’s oceans. Some of them formed tens of thousands of years ago. For diving enthusiasts, the holes are considered the most popular “attractions”, which is not surprising: the corridors of huge underwater caves go down so far that they can be explored endlessly. There are a colossal number of caves and blue holes off the shores of the numerous islands of the Bahamian archipelago. It is said that only half of them have been explored.
.The term blue hole is a generic name for water-filled sinkholes that are below sea level. Blue holes are thought to have been formed by various karst processes, such as cracks in limestone rocks being washed out by rainwater. Later, however, the sea level, which was much lower during the Ice Age (c. 15,000 B.C.), rose to its present level. Other known blue holes are not as deep. For example, the Great Blue Hole (Great Blue Hole) in Belize is 124 meters deep.
.The shape of Dean’s Blue Hole
Closer to the surface, Dean’s Blue Hole has a rounded shape, with a diameter of 25 to 35 meters. Starting at a depth of 20 meters, the hole greatly expands to 100 meters in diameter, forming a kind of dome.
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History
The maximum depth was first reached by Jim King in 1992, shortly before he committed suicide.
.In April 2010, professional diver William Trubridge broke the world record for free diving into a blue hole, reaching a depth of 92 meters without the use of fins in one breath. Then he decided not to stop there, and on December 14, 2010 he broke his own record by diving to a depth of 101 meters without any equipment. In doing so, he proved that the capacity of human lungs can be much wider than we imagine it.
.Dives
Dean’s Blue Hole is a training ground for the Vertical Blue freediving team. Each winter, from December through February, William Trubridge conducts lessons and workshops on Long Island for anyone interested in learning how to freedive.
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The deeper you dive into a hole, the richer the world of the underwater lagoon opens up before you. For example, in Diné Hole you can even meet several species of reef sharks: Caribbean reef shark and blacktip shark.
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