Tom prepares for the Blue Hole

New Years Day in Belize

What will forever stick out in my mind is our diving in Belize. As an apprentice spear fisherman to Phill I was always on the prowl for the tasty fish that would soon be our lunch. While fining my way through the depths, I experienced some of the most amazing sights the underwater world can offer. On one particular dive I remember looking back behind me to see Phill doing long, slow back flips in unison with a manta ray with a wingspan no less then eight feet. The fluid nature of the movements and the utter ease in which such a magnificent creature flew through the water literally took my breath away. A short minute with us and the manta flew away into the depths. It is these dives that make me stop and think about the connections that are made between people and the natural environment- a connection that so many people have removed themselves from. To witness the pure, simple beauty of the marine life at depth is an event the novelty of which will never cease to inspire.

Tom returns from the Blue Hole

In the dives I have experienced in my six years of diving, none will remain more clearly in my memory more then our descent into the Blue Hole. An underground cave system collapsed leaving a sink hold, almost perfectly round, and over 600 feet deep. When viewed from the air it looks like a crater in the earth. Beautiful turquoise tropical water borders the hole which is a deep blue due to the depth: an amazing sight. Our day started bright and early, or should I say dark and early, at 4:30am . We loaded into the boats and started our sun rise cruise of about three hours to our first dive of the day. Once we were all warmed up and ready for something a little more on the edge of comfort, we made our way to the rim of the hole. Our dive master, Rat Man, gives a quick intro to the geology of the hole and expresses the importance that at such depths it is important for everyone to be at their utmost level of alert. A small problem can become a major disaster very quickly in such a situation.

In our small dive groups we make our way down to the forty foot sand bottom before we swim over to the edge of the cliff that descends the hole. As we approach the cliff’s edge you sort of forget you are in water for a split second. As we swam over the edge and began to let air out of our BCD's we began to fall. I went in the X position that sky divers do and rotated inverted as we descended. Imagine the feeling of a free fall in extreme slow motion. This is a feeling I cannot give justice to with words. All I can say is that everyone must feel this at some point in their life. The ability to let your muscles fully relax and just let go of any thought of the outside world, and just fall. We fell for 100 feet straight down. Light and life slowly became less frequent as we went down until there was nothing but darkness, silence and us. I felt like I was in the Abyss. Large stalactites of the underwater cave system flanked us as we swam at on our plain of 140 feet. The only sounds that were heard were the dry inhale and bubbling exhales of my fellow explorers. There was nothing but another 500 feet of water and darkness under us.

Occasionally on our short time at that depth I would look down at the darkness and it would appear to move. Something below us that I could only half see, something big. As if the darkness would ripple. As we made our ascent I looked up to see the light of the sun in a beautiful blue circle outlined by the side of the hole, as well as the outlines of about a dozen sharks circling above us. That is what was moving in the darkness. Quickly following was another shot of adrenalin to my system. So as it stood the only thing that was lying between us and the safety of the surface was a fifteen to twenty minute safety stop right in the middle of a school of black tip reef sharks, all of which were a lot bigger then all of us. As we sat on the sand bottom outside the hold we observed these amazing creatures feed on the local fish. Never before have I seen an animal so perfectly evolved to its environment. I gained a phenomenal respect for the pure hunting power of a fellow predator. At no time did I ever feel in any real danger from them, I was able to just sit back at watch the beauty of their movements. Once my air gauge was informing it was time to leave I felt a strong pull to stay as long as I could and soak up all that I had seen and felt through the duration of the dive.

Egress from the Water

I pursue each trip with Phill not with the motivation to subside the thirst for adventure, but to foster such feelings and motivate myself to pursue such feelings in all aspects of life. Whether it is long drives down the Baja, silent meditation in the hills of Sonoma or long views off the bow of Phill's boats. It is in these times that I find myself. Confusion and clutter make a silent exit from my mind as I become high on fresh air, sunsets and endless deserts. Nothing compares. And because of that I will always seek those feelings. Only in the sanctity of true friends, family and pure wild do we allow ourselves to see our true nature. Through these self discoveries, the fear of life held by so many dissolves. It is then when we can really start exploring.