New Mexico

Guadalupe County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States

I am a dive instructor and the Blue Hole is an excellent place for new as well as advanced divers to work on their skills. The visibility makes the trip well worth taking. The access to the water is very easy with stairs and a nice platform for waiting to get into the water. There are two dive platforms at 20 and 25 feet in depth that are awesome to use for training purposes.

http://www.pages-yourfavorite.com/d-kasper/scuba/ow-loc-bluehole.html http://www.santarosanm.org/  Santa Rosa Name/Location:  Blue Hole  City/State:  Santa Rosa, New Mexico Description: Spring fed lake Max. Depth: 85 feet Visibility:  50' - 100'  Water Temperature: ~ 61F (year round)  Access:  Stairs or a concrete platform over the water allowing giant stride entry Facilities: Restrooms and changing rooms on-site. Dive Shop(s): Santa Rosa Dive Center Fee(s): $10 permit required to dive (good for one full year).  Go to Police Station to purchase the permit.  Note: if diving with an instructor, student(s) do not need a permit. Night Diving: Yes Altitude: 4,615' Comments:   Blue Hole is the preferred open water training area for dive shops in Central/Southern Colorado and Albuquerque, NM.  Very popular site for divers from New Mexico and West Texas. There are two platforms at 30' down for students and training.    Due to the cooler water temperatures, Blue Hole is not that popular with swimmers. Directions: Santa Rosa is 116 miles east of Albuquerque on I-40.  For city-to-city directions, check CyberRouter. Weather/Forecast: Santa Rosa, NM (Weather Underground) Contributor(s):  Special thanks to Steven Stewart and Sharon McCarty for their contributions to this site review.