Blue Hole, Dahab

You cannot visit Dahab without visiting the Blue Hole. It’s one of the touristic sites at Dahab that a traveler must see. The Blue Hole is said to be the 4th most beautiful diving spot in the world in terms of coral reefs and fish, where only qualified divers are allowed to dive around 80m deep. It’s also labeled as the World’s Most Dangerous Dive Site! Most people just go snorkeling there and enjoy the beautiful underwater sight where no danger exists, and that’s exactly what I did.

The view of The Blue Hole from above, where the green parts are all coral reef

Ever since I was 8 years old, I haven’t swum in the sea because my skin gets very sensitive to its saltiness. So as a consequence, as the years went by, my unfamiliarity with the sea has built in me some sort of fear of it. However, after 13 years, I decided to give the sea another shot because I couldn’t just miss out on the Blue Hole without even trying. To be honest, my mum had a major influence on this; she pushed me to challenge myself. And so I did, and it was one of my best life experiences that I’ll never forget so thank you, mum.

The Blue Hole consists of three things: The Saddle, The Arch, and The Hole itself where the snorkeling happens. There is a spot a few meters away from The Hole called The Bells where you can start snorkeling and then swim to the Blue Hole while endless colorful coral reefs guide you there. The Bells is a narrow spot to start at but you’ll definitely enjoy the underwater journey from The Bells and into The Blue Hole.

The Bells

The swim from The Bells to The Blue Hole

Back to the shore of The Blue Hole

Although we had a guide in the water with us and the wave current was smooth, everything seemed so intense to me. It was my first time ever to go snorkeling in a 120m deep spot in the sea which I haven’t even dipped a foot in for 13 years. Also, I was holding on tight to my brother who got scared every time a fish came near us, which I didn’t like too but I had to act cool about it so that he could become cool about it too. So I didn’t get to completely enjoy my first snorkeling experience because of the adrenaline rush but I did go snorkeling two times after it in a totally different place called Ras Abu Galoum. But The Blue Hole holds a special place in my heart for that is where I did my first snorkeling ever!

Because The Blue Hole is considered the world’s most dangerous dive spot, it’s called The Diver’s Cemetery. There is an actual spot on the mountains there where the names of deceased divers are hung in frames. I was really fascinated by it that I might have spent too much time reading and taking photos of them. There was this one which I especially loved that had a quote on it: “Don’t let Fear stand in the way of your Dreams”.

My family and I were planning on spending only an hour at The Blue Hole but we ended up staying for 8 hours instead; 4 of them at Abo Galloum which is near The Blue Hole. Because of mainly these two places, I have completely fallen in love with Dahab that I’d move there if I could have a life there. Let me know in the comments below if there’s any place in the world that has won your heart just like Dahab has won mine. #OMNonfoot