I'm an avid diver; got certified as soon as I turned 12 years old and have had some great adventures and life lessons diving and continuing my training and education. After many many conversations and encounters on dive boats with others (some seasoned, most tourist / rec divers) - I believe that 90% of the industry sees diving akin to a roller coaster ride instead of Skydiving. The risks with scuba are there for you to see and the situation can get deadly very quickly, but most people don't see the inherit risk or shrug it off. I've watched countless divers who are renting their bc/reg/tank/computer not even go through the most basic safety checks prior to diving. They simply trust the operator and jump in. This is not a "batteries included" sport. It is that lack of preparedness that leads to fatal accidents, people who don't respect the sport for what it is and the dangers that come with it. If you don't plan your dives, understand the dive profile, then you are going to panic of make a stupid decision when you shouldn't. When I was younger, technical dives; cave and deep, where my two favorite things to do, the amount of planning it took to pull off the dives was enjoyable and I enjoyed pushing myself in to those situations and the focus it required. Now that I have kids, I won't do those dives anymore b/c I understand that when you plan them, there is a greater than 0 chance that you don't come back and its not worth it to me to take that chance.
I'm an experienced diver (PADI dive-master, ACUC instructor, IANTD gas-blender and normoxic trimix diver, TDI hypoxic trimix diver and dive-master) with several thousands of dives of which many at 100m+ (330 feet) depths. I lived in Dahab where for 16 months I assisted training technical diving instructors in the blue hole and at other less touristy dive sites around there. The blue hole is in not a particularly dangerous dive site, but its popularity attracts the most cocksure types trying to prove something. The main attraction at the blue hole is the arch. It's a 40 meter archway who's apex is at 56 meters and leads from the cylindrical blue hole out into "the blue", where depths are insane and theres nothing but water anywhere you look. It's very beautiful, especially while the sun is rising, as it faces East. 56 meters is not particularly deep, but it's deep enough for any beginner and even most advanced divers to get seriously narced (drunk on nitrogen). It's also _just about_ deep enough for the partial pressure of oxygen to reach a critical point where oxygen becomes toxic. When it does, your muscles try to burn off the excess oxygen and you temporarily lose control of them, they shake, so your chin and cheeks start to twitch and you can easily drop your regulator. When the twitching is over, you involuntarily take a deep breath...<p>If you're an experienced diver, know your narcosis limits, know your oxygen toxicity limits, know your air consumption, havn't had a drink the night before, and are physically fit, maybe you can pull it off without trimix. Otherwise, it's an absolute beginner's dive with the right gas blend.
Diving seems like one of the recreational activities where it is easy to end up doing something much riskier than you intended (another I'd say is alpine hiking):<p>1. Being able to easily sign up for a dive at an all-inclusive resort makes it seem more 'fine', you get a false sense of security that you will be taken care of.<p>2. Dive shops tend to be fairly relaxed with checking if someone is properly qualified to go on a particular dive. They barely check your papers or equipment, if at all.<p>3. You often don't really know what exactly you are getting into until you are in the middle of it. And then it can be too late to bail. Is it safer to abandon a group and attempt to go back and potentially get lost, or go into an environment that looks more dangerous than you expected?<p>I am a PADI open water diver, but only dive a few times a year, so not too experienced. One time I signed up for a shipwreck dive at an all-inclusive resort. I am usually quite careful, and naively thought it would be fine - we just dive down, go around the wreck and come back up. I rented all equipment, and had to pay extra for a wetsuit - the 'default' was to just go in my swimming trunks. Turned out, on the dive we ended up going inside the wreck through a very narrow passage under it, going through narrow dark corridors surrounded by rusted metal. Touch anything and you get scratched (which I did). Your cables or tank can easily get caught (which it briefly did for me - and since I was the last one in the group it was quite scary seeing the group getting away from me as I tried to catch up). The current around the wreck was quite strong.<p>Somehow the dive was planned such that there was very little allowance for extra air. I ended up using more air than I suppose was normal, and there would not have been enough to make a normal ascent. I ended up having to use the dive instructor's alt supply for some of the return swim and switch to my own for the safety stop, otherwise I would've run out. It is one thing to practice it, and another to actually have to do it on what was supposed to be a relaxing 'touristy' dive.<p>On another occasion, a dive instructor took me and my partner (who was on an introductory dive - she doesn't have a license) into a cave, which is also more dangerous than I would've preferred.<p>These experiences - combined with the general experience of wasting the whole day on a rocky boat breathing diesel fumes for an hour or so of diving - make me reluctant to dive again, unless the sight is particularly picturesque.
I've dived the Sinai's Blue Hole, so it's wild to see this on HN.<p>It was an intense experience. Our dive instructors warned us of how deadly the site was, and the various hazards. But the dive itself was unique compared to other deep dives I've done.<p>I would describe it like parachuting, slow motion, into the bluest blue. By the second, the sunlight got dimmer and the blue got bluer. It was disorienting if you looked in any direction besides the crater wall. At about 25m down, I looked <i>up</i> and realized we were too deep to reach the surface quickly.<p>That triggered my panic reaction. I started hyperventilating into my regulator, and had the urge to spit it out. But knowing that would be literal suicide, I managed to override it.<p>I felt like given a few minutes, there was a strong chance of getting my panic under control, but I thought, "why take the chance?" Also, the dive plan was to continue to go deeper, and if part of my panic was due to nitrogen narcosis, it was only going to get worse. It wasn't worth it for a recreational dive.<p>So I gestured the "up" signal to one of the instructors, and she immediately worked with me to do a controlled ascent. I spent the rest of the time doing a shallow dive along the crater wall, which was much more relaxing.
"A notable death was that of Yuri Lipski, a 22-year-old Russian-Israeli diving instructor on 28 April 2000 at a depth of 115 metres after an uncontrolled descent.<p>Lipski's body was recovered the following day by Tarek Omar, one of the world's foremost deep-water divers, at the request of Lipski's mother.<p>Omar says:
Two days after we recovered his remains and gave [his mother] his belongings and equipment, she came to me asking that I help her disassemble them so she can pack them. The camera should have been damaged or even broken altogether because I had found it at a depth of 115 metres, and it is only designed to sustain 75 metres; but, to my surprise, the camera was still working. We played it and his mother was there. I regret that his mother will have this forever... If I had known the footage existed I’d have flooded it. I think the thing that really upset and saddened me about it was that his mom has it now – she has the footage of her own son drowning."<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Hole_(Red_Sea)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Hole_(Red_Sea)</a>
Summary: The Blue hole is a natural sinkhole off the coast of Egypt. It is very accessible, there are many beginners, and there are many unscrupulous dive guides which lead to diver depths.<p>Some basic diving rules which when broken lead to deaths:<p>- Not diving with a partner<p>- Diving below the depth you should be<p>- Diving after partying the night before<p>- Rising back up too quickly
We have something like that, off the coast of Long Island. It’s the wreck of the <i>San Diego</i>; a WWI battleship that sank at the close of the war.<p>It’s upside-down, with a hole in the hull, and rests in about 40 meters of water (120 feet or so).<p>What makes it dangerous, is that it’s filled with silt, and it only takes an errant kick of the flipper to fill a room with zero-visibility mud.<p>People panic, and panic at 120 feet means the oxygen goes fast.<p>They nickname it “The wreck that eats divers.”<p><a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology/sites-and-projects/ship-wrecksites/san-diego-cruiser-6.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology...</a>
Narcosis is nothing to trifle with. After a particularly bad experience at 150ft on air, I understand why some agencies advocate for a maximum equivalent narcotic depth* of 100ft.<p>*For the non-divers out there, it’s possible substitute a less narcotic gas - typically helium but not always - for a portion of the narcotic gas in a mixture. Equivalent narcotic depth (END) is a way to equate a mixture’s narcotic effect to that of air at a given depth.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuMN206Jzo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuMN206Jzo</a><p>Interview with Tarek Omar (the diver rescuer in the article) and location shot. Much better than reading the article.
I've dived the Blue Hole, recreational depths.
I felt an evil presence there and had nightmares about the Hole 2 nights after, with some kind of blue energy trying to consume me.<p>I am not a superstitious person, and have dived multiple deep technical dives with bad visibility, below 0 Celsius sea water (poor dive computer) on sites with munitions, chemical contamination and war graves with body remains. This is the only time I felt that there was a large predatory presence watching me and all around me. Was offered to do the Arch, have the needed experience and clearances. Did not do, will not do ever.<p>The memorials and history of the place did not affect me in any way, I've worked rescue, dealt with dead bodies and attended many a funeral. I've participated in autopsies as part of my training. The blue hole was a strange enough experience that it stands out of all of my <i>many</i> dives.
I did my first dives in Dahab, Egypt including at the Blue Hole. This location was my first experience with narcosis; but, it was planned. Myself, my father, and our instructor dove down to 45m and he handed me a whiteboard to write on. He asked me very basic questions like how to spell your name and I remember really having to think hard to answer.<p>In general, if you are diving to see fish, it's rare to go past 20-30m (the minimum depth to exp. narcosis). The visibility is worse the deeper you go and typically if there is a reef at 30m there is also one at 15m where your oxygen will last longer, less cold, etc...<p>I don't think diving needs to be dangerous to be enjoyed. It's about seeing an entirely new world and the moving in the medium of water. The people who've perished at the Blue Hole are taking an extraordinary amount of risk - diving solo, descending to 150m - for 'achievement' purposes and I understand Omar's frustration.
This site is notorious in the professional diving community.<p>There is nothing particularly dangerous about it except the huge numbers of greedy dive centers who take inexperienced divers there.<p>To all novice divers reading this, dive within your limits and you have nothing to worry about. Do not listen to dive guides/instructors who encourage you to dive deeper than you are certified or in wrecks / caves without the proper training.<p>Diving is a calculated risk like most extreme "sports", and when you ignore those risks you endanger yourself and anyone else diving with you.<p>Don't expect your guide to care more about your life than you do.
In truth, diving done right is procedures, procedures, procedures. That's why many novices <i>and</i> professionals suck at it. It needs boring personalities, or these that can handle boredom. I don't have to remember about the danger, I don't even have to respect the danger: if I actually go through all the steps and all the procedures, the risk is minimal.<p>"If there was zero adrenaline, it was a dive done properly."<p>I've once taken an intro flight on a light aircraft. After I observed my instructor doing all his pre-flight procedures, I reflected "umm, you know, it's actually much less than I do for a simple dive." He thought for a moment, but found an interesting reply: "I'm not an expert, but I think, if we take a number of dives or flights, we have more diving-related deaths than light-aircraft-related." (He was talking about Poland though - i.e. cold water dives.)
Here's a good look of the famous arch crossed by a freediver: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrXQbucZUDA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrXQbucZUDA</a><p>A real shame that this diving site is known for all of these avoidable deaths.
A dive instructor I meet in Thailand in told me about this location. According to him it was common to be too narced (nitrogen narcosis) to make rational decisions when going under the arch at 52m, leading to fatal mistakes (like going even deeper).
I have been to that site twice , first time about 20 years ago as part of the diving course. I remember one of the exercises was to go to higher depth and do math exercises to prove that our thinking was not impaired due to the depth.<p>For sure that site was not branded as deadliest in the world, but already back then dive masters told us about people who lost their lives there.
Idle speculation, perhaps a diver could answer - could it be that the reef forms a kind of natural solar pond, leading to an unusual osmotic (and therefore density) gradient? Thus resulting in divers suddenly dropping like a stone when they hit a certain depth? The Red Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world.
I like skydiving and scuba diving. And in both cases I always prepare like a madman. The activity itself comes with plenty of risks, and I'm just there to enjoy it by reducing the risks best I can.<p>That means the blue hole can go screw itself. I'll stick to a maximum depth of 25 meters or so and my goal is to see shipwrecks (from a distance) and pretty fishies.<p>As for skydiving, I want a good view, no wind, a maximum of one tiny cloud, and a dropzone with good packers and craft beer.<p>There are plenty of people out there BASE jumping or deep-sea diving. There are plenty of them recording their own deaths. I plan to not be part of those people.
It should be pointed out that the record depth in the area is not Tarek Omar's 203 meters as the article mentions, it's Nuno Gomes' 318 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuno_Gomes_(diver)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuno_Gomes_(diver)</a>). This, with all due respect to Omar who is indeed an incredible diver.<p>Also, the article speaks of mermaids so I'll just add on a lighter note that for a long while there was a toy mermaid tied to the over-hang mid way through the arch.
It turns out almost all the organizations follow the same training standards set out by the WRSTC (World Recreational Scuba Training Council). The big exception is CMAS which past level 2 no longer is comparable to the WRSTC program tracks since it allows for decompression diving on air down to 40m (level 2) and 56m (level 3).<p>This means even with an advanced or master diver certificate from PADI, (NAUI, SDI, SSI, etc...) the tables you learn to use do not go beyond decompression limits (requiring mandated decompression stops on your ascent) since they stop at 30m. It used to be 40m but I believe the standard has become more conservative since I was last teaching. NAUI does have supplemental training that goes beyond WRSTC standards but a lot of that has to do with the science and ecology of the underwater world more generally.<p>All open water level certs (usually the most basic level cert) expects students to be fully autonomous (with their buddies) by the end of the course. If you sign up for an open water dive in southern. California for example, it is rarely a guided experience and most people form groups of 2-3 on the boat and go and enjoy the water, coming back within an 1-1.5 hours. Almost everywhere else I have worked, it is expected (by the guests...) that all dives in open water are lead by a certified dive master and not self lead in small groups. I personally think this is a result of the way the standards and incentives work for dive operators to encourage that dependency on their outfit and keep the money flowing in.<p>Generally recreational diving is very safe but even working as an instructor for a few years at a few different outfits, there is always a handful of fatalities. I really like the comparison to Skydiving someone else made, except its a much more subtle danger since you dont actually need to be in top physical shape to do this activity (even though it is required by the certification agencies).<p>The only other thing I find interesting is all the certification agencies are for the INSTRUCTORS (hence the I in PADI, NAUI, SSI...). These orgs are outfits that enable recreational scuba operators to have a standardized set of empirically derived safety limits to protect the instructor and shop liability (not the student's). More often than not, especially in far flung, remote diving destinations, caution is thrown to the wind and people do not always follow the prescribed standards.<p>Source: OWSI (Open water scuba instructor) with multiple agencies as well as CMAS level 3 diver
Lots of things are dangerous. Motorcyclists I know each have a row of busted helmets in a closet. Ski long enough and you'll break something. Bicyclists die on the road every day (in America) and few give it a second thought.<p>I wonder how diving compares to other off-track sporting activities. Does it have a worse record?
What a noble soul..
"He brings up the bodies because he wants to help, says Omar. "It isn't about money for me. I don't ask for anything. I just charge the cost of the gas."
This documentary investigates specifically why the people are dying there. Very well made.<p><a href="https://youtu.be/hYuMN206Jzo" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/hYuMN206Jzo</a>
I remember several years ago I watched the video on YouTube where Yuri sank to the bottom of the Blue Hole and drowned in a drunken narcotic state. Pretty much confirmed I never want to bother with scuba diving. ROVs seem cooler anyway and can go way deeper.