A guide to Dahab’s Blue Hole
The Blue Hole is, quite rightly, one of the most famous dive sites in Dahab. It’s one of just a handful of blue holes in the world and it does look impressive when you look down from the top of one of the nearby hills and see a deep blue hole carved out of the reef table.
It’s essentially a sinkhole, which is why it has such a round shape and shear edges. The bottom is at approximately 120m, although its most famous feature is the Arch.
The Arch is an opening through the outer reef wall into the open sea. It starts at a depth of 56m and drops all the way to the seabed. This is a popular dive for technical divers, but should only be attempted with the right training and equipment.
Another of its features, and one that recreational divers can explore, is the saddle. This is a point on the outer edge of the reef where the coral dips to a depth of around 6m. It allows divers to enter or exit the Blue Hole and the corals here are beautiful.
Who can dive the Blue Hole?
Any qualified diver can dive the Blue Hole, although the route you take and the depth you go to will depend on your experience.
The most common route to take on a dive is to enter further along the coast, at a crack in the reef known as the Bells. Divers descend in the Bells, coming out on the reef wall at a depth of 28m. From here, you simply follow the reef to the south, until you reach the saddle and can enter the Blue Hole.
Because it’s a sheltered area of very deep water, the Blue Hole is very popular with free divers. On most days, you can watch them going up and down their lines in the centre of the Blue Hole as you swim across it to the exit.
What can you see there?
Aside from the interesting reef structure, there’s a lot to see around the Blue Hole and the reef wall. The reef itself has vibrant soft corals that take advantage of the current that runs along this stretch of coast. There’s also a patch of Pachyseris coral (also known as elephant skin coral) at a depth of 30m just past the exit from the Bells.
You’ll find all the usual small critters you’d expect to find on reefs in the Red Sea if you look closely. Boxer shrimp, nudibranchs, and octopus are among the creatures you might find. There is a variety of fish on this dive too, from the clouds of orange and purple anthias to schools of unicorn fish.
There’s also always a chance that you might see something larger out in the blue. Whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, eagle rays and sailfish have all been seen on the outer reef, so you never know your luck!
Technical diving at the Blue Hole
The depth of the Blue Hole makes it a popular site with technical divers, and rightly so. The Arch is truly spectacular and with the proper planning is a very enjoyable dive. But it’s not something to be taken lightly and should certainly never be attempted on a single tank.
It’s also a good place for technical divers to carry out depth progression work, because it’s a sheltered environment that doesn’t experience much in the way of currents.
The ‘Curse’ Of The Blue Hole
Dahab’s Blue Hole most often appears in the media when it’s associated with a tragedy, such as a scuba diving or freediving fatality. Sadly, there have been many of these over the years. Some have even claimed the Blue Hole is cursed.
There’s a local Bedouin legend that the Blue Hole was cursed by the ghost of a girl who drowned herself there to escape from an arranged marriage. But while the Blue Hole has its dangers, we don’t believe it’s cursed.
It’s a beautiful dive site and one that’s safe when it’s dived responsibly and within your training. Many of the deaths that have occurred among scuba divers over the years have been as a result of people taking silly risks, such as by attempting to cross the Arch with only a single cylinder, or diving too deep with incorrect gas mixes.
We think we’re lucky to have such a fascinating geological feature on our doorstep, and one that offers so many outstanding diving opportunities.