Dean's Blue Hole

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Dean's Blue Hole
Dean's Blue Hole.jpg
Dean's Blue Hole
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Location Clarence Town, Long Island, Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas
Coordinates 23°6′23″N75°0′31″W / 23.10639°N 75.00861°W / 23.10639; -75.00861
Depth202 metres (663 ft) [1]
Geology Blue hole

Dean's Blue Hole is a blue hole located in Long Island, Bahamas in a bay located west of Clarence Town. [2]

Contents

With a depth of 202 metres (663 ft), [2] [3] it is world's third deepest blue hole after the Taam Ja' Blue Hole in the Chetumal Bay and Dragon Hole in the South China Sea. [1] The blue hole has a diameter of approximately 30 m but widens into a cavern with a diameter of 100 m. [3] [4]

Development

It is believed that the blue hole was caused by either a fault in the limestone that allowed a corrosive solution to rise or that a buried cavern collapsed creating a sinkhole. [3] [5]

Freediving

Due to its depth, Dean's Blue Hole is the site of a number of free diving world records. [2]

In April 2010, New Zealander William Trubridge broke the world record reaching a depth of 92 m without the use of fins. [4] Trubridge operates the Vertical Blue freediving school from September to May annually and the Vertical Blue annual freediving competition [6] at Dean's Blue Hole, teaching in Europe during the summer months.

In July 2025, Walid Boudhiaf, set a new Tunisian national record of 118 m at Vertical Blue 2025. [7] The 2025 competition featured 20-odd divers including Trubridge, Alenka Artnik, Alice Modolo, Arnaud Jerald, and Filippo Carletti. [7]

One free diver, Nicholas Mevoli, however, died at Dean's Blue Hole in November 2013 attempting to set a new American national record. [4] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Wilson, William L. (1994). "Morphometry and Hydrology of Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island". Bahamas Journal of Science. 2 (1): 10–14. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Orf, Darren (2024-07-09). "Scientists Are Planning on Plunging Into the World's 'Portal to Hell'". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2025-07-17. Called Dean's Blue Hole (named after a Bahamian fisherman), this impressive marine formation, located in a protected bay west of Clarence Town, is the third-deepest blue hole in the world, measuring at a staggering 663 feet deep.... Because of its immense stature, free divers have broken world records in its waters
  3. 1 2 3 Quinn, Joyce A.; Woodward, Susan L. (2015-02-03). Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 199. ISBN   978-1-61069-446-9.
  4. 1 2 3 Ella, Trevor (February 13, 2012). "Dean's Blue Hole". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Trevor A., ed. (2002). Caribbean Geology: Into the Third Millenium. University of the West Indies Press. p. 190. ISBN   978-976-640-100-9.
  6. ↑ Haith, Sara-Lise (19 February 2008). "Trubridge announces first ever competition in Bahamas". Deeper Blue. deeperblue.net limited. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Vertical Blue 2025 : Walid Boudhiaf hisse la Tunisie au sommet avec un record à 118 mètres". La Presse de Tunisie (in French). 2025-07-07. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  8. ↑ Skolnick, Adam (November 17, 2013). "A Deep-Water Diver From Brooklyn Dies After Trying for a Record". The New York Times . Retrieved November 18, 2013.


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