Hello. I am new to this forum—if this topic belongs under another forum topic please let me know. I signed-up here to specifically inquire about Blue Hole at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, USA.
I am a novice diver: PADI Open Water certified, 25 dives at Thailand (Koh Lanta/Phi Phi), Grenada (spice island), and Belize (Caye Caulker/San Pedro). I am planning a brief holiday in May through New Mexico and Colorado. A friend showed me the New Mexico Blue Hole at Santa Rosa and I would like to spend a couple of days there practicing buoyancy and enjoying the meditative qualities of controlled breathing SCUBA can provide. I have some questions I hope someone here can answer.
1. Are there equipment rental options on-site? I will need to rent everything and want to make sure good equipment will be available.
2. Having only dived in tropical salt waters at sea level, I am wondering if I will need to (re)certify for diving in fresh water at altitude and in a dry vs wet suit. If extra certification is required, can someone direct me to resources to help me do that?
3. I mostly understand how to calculate dive times and correct safety stops etc but am wondering if there will be people on site that I can confer with who will make sure I am doing everything correctly. One goal is to become more familiar with some of these technical aspects that have been glossed-over during my ocean training and dives.
4. Since it will be an altitude dive, I am cognizant of the importance of hanging out in the area for 24+ hours after diving to make sure everything internally stabilizes. Are there any other things I need to pay attention to so I don’t get the "decompressions"? 4a: how does altitude influence the possibility of experiencing nitrogen narcosis, if at all?
5. I will not be traveling with a dive buddy. My hunch is that I will be able to meet someone on-site who will be my buddy. Is this hunch valid — and if not, is there anyone here who will be in that area the last two weeks of May that might want to meet and dive with me?
Thanks in advance for your time and input. My name is Mark. Nice to meet you. |