A natural diving spot located along Route 66 at an elevation of 4,600 ft.
It is filled with blue water at 62 degrees F throughout the year.
Caution
There is information that diving is currently not possible. Please consider visiting based on the latest local information.
Cadillac Ranch
Amarillo is the city on the panhandle that sticks out to the north when you think of Texas as a frying pan.
Route 66 runs through it, and it is the assembly site for the V-22 Osprey and is also famous for the Cadillac Ranch.
Cadillac Ranch is, as you know, an installation artwork consisting of 10 Cadillacs buried on private property along Interstate 40.
Unauthorized trespassing on private property and graffiti on Cadillacs and spray cans are rather encouraged here.
Mystery-filled Hole
Two and a half hours drive west on Route 66 from Amarillo is the town of Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
Located roughly halfway between Albuquerque and Amarillo, it is an area with little to see, but don't pass the Blue Hole.
Early Route 66 appears to have just crossed the Blue Hole property.
The area around Blue Hall, now located just south of the Interstate 40 exit, is a park.
It was integrated with a water park and a fishing pond.
Parking is $10.00 per car, but should be free for a quick look.
There is an additional fee for scuba diving, please check the official website.
There are no lifeguards, so you are responsible for your own safety.
The circular hole on the surface is 80 feet in diameter, but inside it is 130 feet in diameter and has been found to be 200 feet deep.
It comes from the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest underground water layers, which is distributed beneath the Great Plains, and the water temp at the point of emergence is 62 degrees F throughout the year.
The water surface was 55 degrees F in winter.
The amount of water gushing out was abundant, and a river was flowing out from the edge of the hole.
It is said that the entire water is replaced in 6 hours.
The Blue Hole was once used as a fish farm.
Goldfish and carp still live there today.
In 1976, two divers went down to check out the deepest part of the cave, but they drowned inside.
For a long time, the deepest part of the cave was off-limits to the public, but exploration resumed in 2013.
The cave was closed permanently after a professional diver drowned there again in 2016.
It is said to be connected to the Carlsbad Caverns, a World Heritage Site located over 200 miles to the south, but the truth is a mystery.
The Blue Hole, which is both terrifying and beautiful, is certainly a spot that deserves to be better known.
Summary
The Blue Hole, Santa Rosa, New Mexico, U.S.
My rating
Type: Walk-in
Rule: Clothing required
Chemical use: No
Water temp: Up to 62 degrees F
