The second deepest Blue Hole in the World, Dean’s Blue Hole in Long Island, Bahama’s is easily one of the most popular free diving sites in the World.
The underwater sinkhole is located just off the coast, 1km from Clarence town, on the north (Atlantic) side of Long Island and can be seen in all it’s splendor from the cliffs above. It’s vibrant deep blue color in stark contrast to the shallow turquoise lagoon and white sand beach it’s set in makes it all the more picturesque. The Dean’s Blue Hole starts at a depth of 6 (18´) meters and plunges down 202 meters (663 ft) to the ocean floor with walls dropping vertically all-around. Roughly circular at the surface, with a diameter ranging from 25 to 35 meters (82–110 ft), after descending 20 meters (66 ft) or so, the hole widens considerably into a cavern with a diameter of 100 meters (330 ft).
Not as popular for Scuba Diving as other Blue Holes such as the Belize Blue Hole or Dahab Blue Hole, this site is best known for Free Diving. In fact, some even claim that it’s “The Best” spot for free diving and has been the spot for numerous competitions as well as World and National free-diving records in the last few years.
In April 2007, William Trubridge broke a free-diving world record in the blue hole reaching a depth of 84 meters (276 ft) without the use of fins and later beat his own record by reaching 86 meters (282 ft). In April 2008, during the Vertical Blue 2008 free-diving competition, a total of 25 national records and 5 world records were broken. Herbert Nitsch set a new Free Immersion (FIM) record with a depth of 120 meters (394 ft) in a dive time of 4min 28s, on April 25, 2010 at the Dean’s Blue Hole.
There isn’t any coral or much marine life inside the hole itself apart from the occasional stray shark, but the noon day sun that shines straight down into the hole, make a setting at this site something you just have to dive and see for yourself!
Top 5 Blue Holes:
1. Tamaulipas, Mexico’s Zacatón – 335 meters (1,100 ft).
2. Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island Bahamas – 202 meters (663 ft).
3. Dahab Blue Hole, Egypt- 130 meters (426 ft).
4. Great Blue Hole, Belize – 123 meters (400 ft).
5. The Blue Hole, Gozo – 60 meters (200 ft).
* Image sources: hebforum.apnea.co.il, verticalblue.net Wikipedia commons (Frederic Buyle).
