Mustache sacrifice in The Great Blue Hole
It was 5:00 am, and there were only a few souls roaming the sandy paths of Caye Caulker island… those boarding the Reef Shark III. We were heading to dive the infamous Great Blue Hole - a massive sink-hole off the coast of Belize, and we wanted to be the first and only boat there - hence, dragging our lazy butts out of bed at 5am. The ship was commandeered by our fearless captain, Big Sexy - a large black male whose name says it all.
This was my first dive in 2 years, and a very deep dive for someone out of practice— but I knew it would be a safe dive… the night before I was loading my gear onto the boat, and a bird shat on me — which is good luck, and the best thing that can happen before a dive.
This was my first dive in 2 years, and a very deep dive for someone out of practice— but I knew it would be a safe dive… the night before I was loading my gear onto the boat, and a bird shat on me — which is good luck, and the best thing that can happen before a dive.
We arrived at the Great Hole and our dive instructor gave us a prep speech… “this is a deep dive, 150 feet —so you may feel narced (nitrogen narcoses = an altered state of consciousness that occurs while diving at extreme depths) — do not take your breather out and try to give it to a shark or a turtle - stay calm, ascend slowly a few feet - and ‘the high’ should fade away”. Gulp.
We sank into the dark hole — immediately my mask was leaking. It was difficult to see, and I had too much weight on my belt and was sinking quickly… 60 ft… 90 ft… 110 ft…. it got darker and colder as I sank. With one hand I tried to adjust my leaking mask, with the other hand I watched my depth gauge…. 130 ft… 155 ft. I stabilized - and could feel 160 ft of water above squeezing my chest, my head, and I started to feel high. Time seemed to slow down… or speed up? and I could feel my heart occasionally skip a tick. The dive instructors speech replayed in my head “at this depth, you may feel drunk… do not panic — keep breathing, ascend slowly, and the high should fade away”.
I pulled up a few feet, and the high started fading. I regained my orientation, and my breathing slowed back to normal. I looked up and saw giant pinnacles of coral hanging like icicles from above.
We sank into the dark hole — immediately my mask was leaking. It was difficult to see, and I had too much weight on my belt and was sinking quickly… 60 ft… 90 ft… 110 ft…. it got darker and colder as I sank. With one hand I tried to adjust my leaking mask, with the other hand I watched my depth gauge…. 130 ft… 155 ft. I stabilized - and could feel 160 ft of water above squeezing my chest, my head, and I started to feel high. Time seemed to slow down… or speed up? and I could feel my heart occasionally skip a tick. The dive instructors speech replayed in my head “at this depth, you may feel drunk… do not panic — keep breathing, ascend slowly, and the high should fade away”.
I pulled up a few feet, and the high started fading. I regained my orientation, and my breathing slowed back to normal. I looked up and saw giant pinnacles of coral hanging like icicles from above.
After 20 minutes of utter wonderment - I ascended to the surface. The dive was amazing, however, nearly ruined by the leaking mask. With 2 more dives remaining for the day, there was only one thing to do... I climbed back onto the boat, ditched my dive gear, and grabbed my Mach 3 Gillette razor. I rubbed some soap on my face, jumped back in water, and clean shaved my mustache while swimming in the Great Blue Hole! Fellow divers surfaced next to me - and were surprised to see me shaving next to them.
Bucket list... TICK !!!
More Duff Tales:
Related Links:
- Cool video of divers sky-diving into the Great Blue Hole before their dive
Also check out the lovely Suzanne's photo blog:
