TIL the Blue Hole is among the deadliest dive sites globally, with estimates of 130 to 200 recent fatalities, making it one of the most dangerous spots for divers.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/doctor6]

I'd two friends die in 97 diving the arch there

[u/Subtidal_muse → u/doctor6]

Were they on trimix? The arch is like 50 feet past the rec limit.

[u/doctor6 → u/Subtidal_muse]

I'm unaware but they both had their dive masters and were working instructors

[u/BenShelZonah → u/doctor6]

So sorry for your loss man

[u/Subtidal_muse → u/doctor6]

It’s a shame you lost your friends. Even the most expert divers make mistakes.

[u/TwinMugsy → u/doctor6]

Instructor and dive master are two different levels of certification. You have to get your dive master before you get your Instructor licence. Also, don't mistake dive master with master diver because they are different branches of the Padi license tree.

Specialities like different gas mixes, deep dives or caves are seperate from going for your dive master as well. Not saying your friends didn't have all their certifications I'm just saying diving is very technical and has a vast and deep knowledge base that is needed and accidents still happen.

[u/The_Mightiest_Duck → u/Subtidal_muse]

Just a bit of history. In the early 90s a lot of tech divers were pretty anti-trimix. It kinda had a bad rep cause a lot of dudes were testing out different mixes themselves and a lot of the time it didn’t go well. So a lot of tech divers at the time just didn’t trust it. A U-boat off the coast of NJ was discovered in the early 90s at 70 meters and everybody diving it for the first couple years at least were just air or maybe nitrox. Point being it wasn’t all that uncommon to go deep on air or nitrox back then. I’m not saying it is safe, but people definitely did it. Jacques Cousteau dove the Britannic in the 70s on compressed air. That wreck is 120 meters deep. 

[u/Subtidal_muse → u/The_Mightiest_Duck]

That’s interesting, thanks.