Blue hole..why so many tragedies??

[DIVE BUDDHA]

Originally Posted by IanDennis

Wonder if Tanya could do it??

she definatley does it for me ian !mmmmm sorry i will pick my mind out of the gutter lol

[drysuit repair dave]

-

[drysuit repair dave]

Freediving the Arch, no fins no suit;




cheers
dave
drysuitrepair.co.uk

[DIVE BUDDHA]

that video was totaly awesome!
that man must be very fit indeed!

[e14724]

Originally Posted by IanDennis

Just watched the Utube of the freedive through the arch- almost made me want to take up freediving- one very well trained and fit freediver

Wonder if Tanya could do it??

Question is, could her head fit through

[steve2056]

The problems with diving the arch are not immediately apparant when you are standing on the edge of the Blue Hole.

The entrance may be at around 55m and many may see that for what it seems. However, it is not just an arch, it's a tunnel 26m long and sloping downwards on the seaward side of the tunnel. So you have to go much deeper than 55m. At that depth narcosis would be severe and air dropping rapidly. Then you would have to negotiate the tunnel, going deeper and in limited light and likely swimming into a current. So you would be finning hard in poor viz, probably stressed, maybe cold at this time, highly narked and hence not fully aware of the dangers. Euphoria may have set in due to the narcosis making you feel you could tackle anything.

Should you get through the tunnel and ascend the other side you will be into deco time and certainly no air for stops.

Maybe it's a macho thing that draws people into having a go, something to tell their mates "down the pub". I heard that one person did this to commit suicide.

There is another similar dive that, apparantly, people regularly dive without mishap and that is to the sarcophagus at Elphinstone. A similar depth 55m or so, a similar tunnel, and I would expect that there would be currents through it. If you have a copy of SportDIVER's Red Sea Odyssey from John McIntyre there is footage of several divers making this dive on single cylinders. You even get a close up of someone's computer showing 52m. To do this on air, a single tank and no redundancy gives me the willies.

I don't know what the differences are between the two locations, but they initially appear similar and yet one has taken over 100 lives and yet the other doesn't seem to make the news. I would be interested in knowing what the fatality figures are for Elphinstone.

Steve

[e14724]

Originally Posted by IanDennis

Just watched the Utube of the freedive through the arch- almost made me want to take up freediving- one very well trained and fit freediver

Wonder if Tanya could do it??

Question is, could her head fit through

[SCILLY DIVER]

One Hundred dead........ on a shore dive ,makes Stoney and Dotty quite tame.

[Red Sea Shadow]

Originally Posted by David D

As I understand it, the 'classical' method of diving the Blue Hole is enter at the Bells, drift along the reef wall, dip down to 60m and enter through the arch into the Blue Hole itself.

Diving the arch is not done this way. Divers enter the water from the Blue Hole itself, go down to 60 meters, cross the arch into the blue, then re-enter the Blue Hole through the saddle.

Here's more info about the arch dive in PDF format: http://www.red-sea-shadow.com/downlo...ueHoleArch.pdf

[misterfrogfish]

I did the Arch at the Blue Hole about 10 times last month on air (tec) and trimix.

The first time I did it, I stayed in the Arch for 25 minutes so I could try and work out why so many had died.

There is a Russian made documentary that was made on the deaths. The death rate was put at 100 -150.
When I was there last month there were 4 deaths between the Blue Hole and the Canyon. I have not seen any comments on these deaths on any forum. That is why the death toll goes uncounted.
There are still bodies at the bottom of the Arch @ 120msw, from 10 years ago. If the family don't pay for the recovery then Egyptian law says they stay there.

There is a guy who took a camera down with him. He died and the camera kept running. It shows his death. It can be found on-line if you look.

I think the freedive video shows clearly what the problems are. Funny, I shared a room with the freediver about 5 years ago in Honduras.

1. The Arch is not where people would naturally think it would be. There is a saddle at 6msw straight out from the beach. Everyone thinks it is below this, so they descend there. At 55m they look for the Arch but can't find it.

2. The Arch is about 30-40m to the left of the saddle, it is tucked away in a dark spooky corner. The last place you would look for it.

3. Everyone says, and the books, that it is at 55msw. The start is, but it gets deeper as you go through. To safely pass through, you go to 57msw. The extra 2msw at that depth with narcosis is huge.

4. The video show how jagged the roof is. It is almost like stalactites hanging down. Very rough with toxic lion fish.

5. It is not a 'down and through' arch. You have to swim, I think 22m, through it, descending at the same time.

6. This bit is interesting. The blueness. When you descend, it is in a dark corner, you then pass through the dark arch. But when you exit, it suddenly becomes bright blue, the other side. As you are facing out to sea, there is no reference to where you are or depth. This bright blueness and no references is a bit scary. It makes you panic.

7. The accent, on the seaward side, is not straight up, there are overhangs.

So - you descend, you look for the arch, it is not there, you get worried, breathing increases, you search for it, you find it, it is in a dark spooky corner, your breathing increase, it is a scary place, it is 55msw, you swim through but it is a long way, you start going deeper to clear the roof, if you hit the roof you will get hurt, you come out the other side, suddenly it is bright blue, the change is not beautiful but freaky after being in the dark for so long, you lose all reference, you shoot for the surface, it is not a direct path because of the overhangs.
Each line introduces panic.

Most deaths, I have been told, are Dive Guides, solo on one tank. The rest being tec divers.

MFF.