Most Route 66 fans know of the fabled Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, as a popular tourist site, especially for a dip on hot summer days, and a spot for scuba-dive training.
What many don’t know, however, is the twin tragedies that occurred within the deep underwater caverns at the site — one in 1976 and the other in 2016.
In both cases, divers became hopelessly lost in the caverns or panicked, and they drowned.
Those deaths have prompted the city to install a metal grate over the entrance to the caverns.
The Scary Interesting channel on YouTube recently produced a video about the tragedies. It’s a good accounting of what happened, but it’s not for the claustrophobic.
More about the 2016 tragedy can be read here, from the Route 66 News archives.
The Blue Hole is a natural, 80-foot-deep sink that gushes 3,000 gallons of water a minute. It’s known for its clear waters and constant 62-degree temperature.
(Image of the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, by Jimmy Emerson via Flickr)