Blue Hole on Stocking Island (aka "Mystery Cave")
Updated: Jul 15, 2020
A great side excursion is to ask the water taxi to swing by The Blue Hole on the way to or from Stocking Island and Chat and Chill (usually at the cost of a good tip). Blue holes are scientific curiosities...caves formed by water erosion when sea levels were lower and the area was on dry ground. In the 1970s, the marine biologist and tv personality Jacques Cousteau filmed a dive into the hole traveling inside for about 1,700 feet. In fact, he released red vegetable dye during an outgoing tide to look for an exit point. Apparently the cave drops down about 70 feet from the surface and then runs under Stocking Island and out to the ocean more than a mile away! Experienced divers dive the blue hole, but tidal currents can be dangerous inside the cave. If you bring along breadcrumbs there is an aggressive school of colourful fish that seem happy to create a memorable photo op from the comfort of your water taxi. It is also a great snorkelling site. There is often a large Barracuda in the area which also makes for some fun photos.
