Dean's Blue Hole II

We watched as five deviously laughing young men surprised someone, picked him up by his arms and legs, ran him over to the water and tossed him in. The man they threw in the water was William Trubridge, who earlier that day, set the new world record of free immersion diving to 124 meters (407 feet). Good grief! The idea of diving with weights and a scuba tank past 90 feet scares me…. I can’t imagine swimming freely for another 327 feet. We wandered the premise enjoying the sights and watching this close-knit world of free divers around us. We eventually strapped on our own dinky snorkel fins and mask and swam around the blue hole. The diving competition took place within a square, marked off by 4 floating pcv tubes. Friends and spectators could hang off them and watch. As curious spectators, we floated in the warm clear water with the pros. We asked questions as to how athletes started and met their depth. We learned the long wire that hung straight down had flags at predetermined depths for each diver to reach and retrieve their own flag. Upon their ascent two aiding free divers swam down 100 feet only to assist if something was awry. When the athlete surfaced they were required to perform basic functions to show they were stable. It’s not completely uncommon to witness a diver black out or show problems breathing. Not to fear, there are completely qualified and trained medics standing on the raft and in the water to help should any serious problem arise.

We stayed and watched several divers. They were beautiful, elegant swimmers. They disappeared into the abyss with purpose and rose back to the surface like slow rising smoke or an unearthly ghost – it was fascinating. I watched one woman ascend from afar by diving down a few feet. Through my own mask I could see her face. Her nose pinched off by a plug, and her eyes closed. She was completely zen and relaxed. If it wasn’t for her feet effortlessly moving I would have thought she was asleep.

We made our way back by hitchhiking again. A diving competitor from Germany, generously stopped for us and gave us a ride back to the marina. She kindly listened to our elementary questions on the sport and we hung on to every word she had to say on what it was like to dive down that deep.

Seeing Dean’s Blue Hole was beautiful and unique and a great start to visiting Long Island…Read more