Post by L Roebuck on Mar 30, 2006 11:29:39 GMT -5
The Blue Hole of Andros Island
By Mona Birch
Andros Island : Languidly it floats, east of Bimini and the Cay Sal Banks, west of New Providence and the Exuma Cays. Captains setting sail from Florida often view this island as a wet blanket that sits between where they are and where they want to go.
Historically, boats and yachts have given Andros wide berth, avoiding the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank on the west, and staying clear of the shoals of the Andros Barrier Reef on the east. In a country like the Bahamas that depends on good harbor, Andros remains an outback.
The island shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, though. It has its superlatives, including one of the largest concentrations of blue holes found anywhere on Earth.
The name for these underwater cave systems is derived from the dark blue color that distinguishes them in the ocean when viewed from the air. Andros has hundreds of them, both ocean and inland. The island, the fifth largest land mass in the Caribbean , is virtually honeycombed with tunnels, chambers and caverns that run horizontally between the land and the sea.
For the most part, blue hole diving is the domain of the very experienced thrill seeker. Cave diving, as you might imagine, brings an extra dimension of risk to the relatively benign sport of scuba diving: A ceiling. Once you penetrate a cave, you can't just go up.
And underwater caves are dark; dive torches are a must. Furthermore, some blue holes – especially ocean blue holes – are tidal. When the tide is rising, the waters plow into the ocean entrances, sucking debris and divers with them. A receding tide, on the other hand, can blow out so hard it can render entry impossible. Needless to say, they are tricky to dive, even for experienced cave divers.
There exists, however, off the east coast of Andros , a blue hole most benign. Positioned nicely between Andros and Nassau , it is known by Androsians as simply The Blue Hole and more imaginatively by divers around Nassau as King Kong's Caverns. Others call it The Crater. This multi-monikered blue hole is essentially a sinkhole in the reef. The top of the cave has fallen in, reduced to boulders that are scattered and wedged between the existing cave walls. Geologists call this formation Aston Collapse.
The beauty of The Blue Hole is that any reasonably experienced diver (translation: good buoyancy control) can dive it – anytime – without a flashlight. And since the cave roof is collapsed, you can come straight up any time.
The western rim of the cave is relatively shallow in about 40 feet of water. You slip over the edge and drop down into a passage, like an alleyway, that appears to be bottomless. (Hold maximum depth at 90-100 feet for this dive.) Head south along the rim of the cave and explore the chambers of this fabulous formation. Swim past tumbles of boulders and deep snaking crevices. Peer into giant openings that go somewhere beyond the dark.
At first glance, this aquamarine landscape seems positively lunar, void of even invertebrate life. Then you might spot a few midnight parrot fish and some sluggish crab. Sometimes a sea turtle. If you look up, though, you'll see the silhouette of hundreds of fish and even shark cruising the rim.
www.the-triton.com/archives/stories/apr2006_00019.cfm
Walls and blue holes
By Mona Birch
Andros Island : Languidly it floats, east of Bimini and the Cay Sal Banks, west of New Providence and the Exuma Cays. Captains setting sail from Florida often view this island as a wet blanket that sits between where they are and where they want to go.
Historically, boats and yachts have given Andros wide berth, avoiding the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank on the west, and staying clear of the shoals of the Andros Barrier Reef on the east. In a country like the Bahamas that depends on good harbor, Andros remains an outback.
The island shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, though. It has its superlatives, including one of the largest concentrations of blue holes found anywhere on Earth.
The name for these underwater cave systems is derived from the dark blue color that distinguishes them in the ocean when viewed from the air. Andros has hundreds of them, both ocean and inland. The island, the fifth largest land mass in the Caribbean , is virtually honeycombed with tunnels, chambers and caverns that run horizontally between the land and the sea.
For the most part, blue hole diving is the domain of the very experienced thrill seeker. Cave diving, as you might imagine, brings an extra dimension of risk to the relatively benign sport of scuba diving: A ceiling. Once you penetrate a cave, you can't just go up.
And underwater caves are dark; dive torches are a must. Furthermore, some blue holes – especially ocean blue holes – are tidal. When the tide is rising, the waters plow into the ocean entrances, sucking debris and divers with them. A receding tide, on the other hand, can blow out so hard it can render entry impossible. Needless to say, they are tricky to dive, even for experienced cave divers.
There exists, however, off the east coast of Andros , a blue hole most benign. Positioned nicely between Andros and Nassau , it is known by Androsians as simply The Blue Hole and more imaginatively by divers around Nassau as King Kong's Caverns. Others call it The Crater. This multi-monikered blue hole is essentially a sinkhole in the reef. The top of the cave has fallen in, reduced to boulders that are scattered and wedged between the existing cave walls. Geologists call this formation Aston Collapse.
The beauty of The Blue Hole is that any reasonably experienced diver (translation: good buoyancy control) can dive it – anytime – without a flashlight. And since the cave roof is collapsed, you can come straight up any time.
The western rim of the cave is relatively shallow in about 40 feet of water. You slip over the edge and drop down into a passage, like an alleyway, that appears to be bottomless. (Hold maximum depth at 90-100 feet for this dive.) Head south along the rim of the cave and explore the chambers of this fabulous formation. Swim past tumbles of boulders and deep snaking crevices. Peer into giant openings that go somewhere beyond the dark.
At first glance, this aquamarine landscape seems positively lunar, void of even invertebrate life. Then you might spot a few midnight parrot fish and some sluggish crab. Sometimes a sea turtle. If you look up, though, you'll see the silhouette of hundreds of fish and even shark cruising the rim.
www.the-triton.com/archives/stories/apr2006_00019.cfm
Walls and blue holes