Santa Rosa Blue Hole — Attraction in Santa Rosa

"If Beauty is Skin Deep...Does Ugly Really Go All the Way To The Bone?"

The old saying is, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". I can relate to that most of the time. Another is "don't judge a book by it's cover". As I drove into Santa Rosa, New Mexico I actually said out loud, "who would want to live here?" Santa Rosa is located 118 miles East of Albuquerque, New Mexico on I-40. The town is actually part of the Historic Route 66 Byway. But with the interstate skirting the town as it does, it just became like most other towns that interstates bypass. It just kind of withered on the vine, so to speak. It has, what most other little community's have. A school, a city hall, a post office, a few stores and a few gas stations that dot the interstate itself. The population in 2010 was 2,828. But Santa Rosa shouldn't be judged by it's location, population or dilapidated old structures. Almost all of the aging towns along the old original Historic Route 66 have literally and figuratively "gone by the wayside ". But Santa Rosa has a hidden jewel! It's called the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is an artesian well that flows at a rate of 3000 gallons per minute of refreshing 61 degree water from a depth of 81 feet. The opening is 61 foot in diameter and is lined with natural rock formations. As you can imagine it's extremely popular with the locals. It is a literal "Oasis in the Desert". Scuba divers come from all over the world to dive at the Blue Hole. I really enjoyed my brief visit to this Oasis. You know, we really shouldn't just judge someone, something or some place merely by appearance only. We should look beyond the obvious in life, to the not so obvious. Look for more "silver linings" than the "apparent flaws" in life and in our surroundings. It might take a dispirited day or situation and lift our spirits and brighten disposition. Santa Rosa, at first glimpse, seemed like a terrible place to have live. But with just a little exploration I discovered that "you can't judge a book by it's cover " and that "beauty, actually goes all the way...

The town hates divers. "The scuba diving Capitol of the west" as I laugh writing this. They sure dont treat it as such. There definitely biased. There rude and condescending when we come to bring $. I will not ever support a local company here besides blue hole. I'll try and get my gas before I come. I'll pack my own foods ( the restaurants are few and suck and are rude to divers) the town is so crazy rundown, it looks like I'm going to be attacked by hillbillies and dragged into the desert never to be seen again.

Don't wear anything that shows you dive. Dress like a hillbilly and dress down. And maybe people will be kind or even just human.

This town has 2k locals with 40.8 million visitors annually. 3 thousand diving students annually, they sell 8- 10k dive permits a year. So Thousands of rec Divers annually and they don't cater to tourists or divers AT ALL if anything they hate you. And let you know.

For having money enough to come dive when they can... get this.... easily take a cheap course and rent their gear for cheap! The suit rental was 10$ a day. If any local cant go dive, it's because of their work ethic.

Blue hole itself is worth it, just come prepared like you'll be in the middle of nowhere with no accommodations besides your hotel. Otherwise blue hole,...

Water was gorgeous, though cold. Overall, it's a very pretty spot.

However, no one gave us any directions. One (1) sign at the entrance directed us to pay at the Blue Hole Convention Center. There were two workers at the entrance. When we asked if we needed to go to the convention center, they nodded. The worker inside the Convention Center, when asked if there was anything we needed to know, replied that the water was cold. There was a spot on the parking pass (that you paid $10 to get) for a license plate number, but no one asked for it.

We drove down the road to the gate to the parking lot, only to find that it was closed and have to turn around. We ended up having to go back through the entrance to get to the gravel lot (at least five other cars did the same thing, and had to turn around as well).

Overall, the parking lot was incredibly poorly organized, and there was a significant lack of information– but hey, at least the...