Who Knew That New Mexico Was A Scuba Divers Paradise?
New Mexico is a land locked state, mostly desert and very, very dry.
Seriously, there's not much water in the lakes and rivers, let alone enough to foster an entire scuba diving industry.
Yet, the Land of Enchantment has plenty of divers and scuba related businesses.
The fact that this is not only possible but also keeps quite an industry humming is thanks, mostly, to a place called the Blue Hole.
I first heard about the Blue Hole when I was writing an article about really cool, natural swimmin' holes in the Southwest. There are more than I thought.
The Blue Hole is not only a great place to relax, cool off and have fun; it's perfect for scuba diving. Both actually diving and also for learning how to scuba dive.
The water is a brisk 62 degrees pretty much all the time, so it’s a great place for a swim on a hot summer day — and apparently, it’s an even better place to learn how to scuba dive.
“It’s really quite a beautiful spring, and it’s a lot of fun to dive,” said Scuba Co. instructor Rebecca Bulgrin. “It’s about 75, 80 feet deep, and there’s an outflow of about 3,000 gallons a minute, so it stays pretty clear.” - marketplace.org
Peeps come from all over the Southwest to train at Blue Hole and there are many businesses in nearby Albuquerque that support local and visiting divers.
There are several diving schools in Albuquerque alone including the Scuba Company and the New Mexico Scuba Center among others.
There are even more scattered throughout New Mexico. West Texas has some too like the El Paso Dive Group and 5 Star Divers for example.
West Texas divers prefer their own "blue hole" at Balmorhea State Park. Other Texas divers, who either live close enough or like to travel, prefer the actual ocean.