The Blue Hole of Santa Rosa, or simply the Blue Hole, is a circular, bell-shaped pool or small lake located along Route 66 east of Santa Rosa, New Mexico that is a tourist attraction and swimming venue, and one of the most popular dive destinations in the US[1] for scuba diving and training.

[4] The Blue Hole is an example of a natural artesian well, a type of well or spring fed by water under high pressure, and of a cenote, a collapsed cavern exposing groundwater beneath.

[5] At the bottom are large boulders, rubble, bones, masks, a crucifix, and other objects, and the entrance to a labyrinth of cave passages and rooms.

[6] Since 1976, the cave passages have been sealed off to the public by a metal grate installed by the city to prevent access by inexperienced divers.

The Blue Hole was used by nomadic tribes as a reliable water source in the arid plains that surround the area.

Moreover, the Army Corps of Engineers dumped two truckloads of rock and debris into the grate, apparently without the knowledge of city officials.

Although the team were able to remove tons of rock and debris from the cavern floor significantly increasing the water discharge rate, they ultimately "were thwarted by one lone boulder choking the entrance to the second room".

[5] Over the next three years, the team worked with state police and APD divers to dredge and remove the remaining debris and open up the passages.

The team explored down to a depth of 194 feet (59 m), where the water was found filtering up through tons of rock debris covering the cavern floor.

After the expedition, the team announced that all accessible areas of the system have been explored and mapped, and recommended to the city that the entrance remain closed to the public.

State Police rescue divers began a search of the unexplored caves and on the first day, they found David's body in the first chamber.

After taking a wrong turn in low visibility, Thompson became trapped in a dead end passage 160 feet (49 m) below the surface.