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Most people either drive to the blue hole, or they canoe upstream starting from the bridge. I wanted to kayak all the way up from the bay on a rising tide. On the day we went, low tide was at noon and high tide was after dark. We started up the river about an hour and a half after low tide. The lower river leads to a large pond just below the bridge. It is lined with mangroves from bridge to bay, and it is gorgeous. This is the section that most people miss. The current was still ripping through the bridge when we arrived. We were unable to paddle against the current, so we tied our kayaks to the side and went swimming. The scour hole below the bridge was about eight feet deep, crystal clear, and full of fish. Be careful of the current if you do this. I got banged up a bit on the rocks. After an hour or so, the tide had risen enough for us to paddle through, so we proceeded. The river is entirely different above the bridge than it is below. It is much narrower and lined with rain forest instead of mangroves. We found it full of trees that blew down in STC (Hurricane) Harold. We had no trouble threading our kayaks through, but outrigger canoes might have been difficult. We reached the blue hole while the tide was still rising more than half full on a full moon day. It was good timing to see high, clear water. You can tell where the deep water lies by the remarkable shade of blue. There are actually two blue holes for the price of one (500 vatu per adult, 250 vatu per child). The primary hole at the top of the river has the trunk of a very tall tree lying on the bottom. From above water, it appears to be level, but with mask and snorkel I could see that it was running straight down a near-vertical slope, and the bottom end was just as visible as the top. There is an old tire clearly visible on the bottom. The chief should send a scuba diver down to pull that thing up. It really detracts from the experience. The hole is full of fish, and the flagtails swam right up to us. Some of them would probably go 40-50 cm. The secondary hole is slightly downstream and off to one side. It is not as big as the other one, but it might be just as deep. I could not see the bottom because there was a cloudy layer way down there. It reminded me of the layer of sulphur gas that I have seen in cave diving videos. We paddled downstream as the sun was going down. The tidal current was actually flowing upstream through the bridge, but it was slow. We had an easy time of it going that way. We reached the mouth about sundown and began our paddle across the bay.…
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Date of experience: August 2020
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We went to the Riri Blue Hole after visiting Champagne Beach with a local driver as it was on the same road. By the time we got there it was packed with others from the cruise ship so the water wasn’t as clear as expected. The water was also very cold / refreshing depending on which person you asked. Locals collected $5 a person. Their was a rope to swing off if ups dared and some climbed up a high wall and jumped in - I enjoyed watching these activities.…
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Date of experience: January 2020
1 Helpful vote
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Very friendly locals, well kept with ladies raking leaves and sweeping the whole time we visited. Very nice that we had the pool to ourselves too, for at least some of our visit. However we felt that 1,000 each for a 15 minute paddle upstream was a bit much (then another 500 each to visit the Riri Blue Hole). Possibly this was due to our taxi driver wanting to pick us up at the top, so we never used the outrigger to go back to the bridge at the road. We thought half hour or 45 minutes was long enough to visit and swim, not the suggested two hours. And agree with some comments that repairs needed - no floating pontoon as advertised- and that the price is a bit steep. At higher tide the Ri Ri river and Blue Hole is somewhat murky, translucent rather then clear blue so this may have also added to our feeling of being let down by Santa’s Largest Blue Hole. …
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Date of experience: January 2020
1 Helpful vote
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500vt entry fee. Breathtaking view and what a wonder to visit. Only a few people were there so we had plenty opportunities to take good photos. Highly recommended
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Date of experience: December 2019
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We went by canoe to the Riri blue hole, it was so peaceful and beautiful gliding along the river and then arriving at the 'Blue Hole', its breathtaking! A little hard to get into if you don't have boat shoes on because of small rocks underfoot but it's worth it once you're in! There are swing ropes for the young at heart. We booked through Paradise Tours and they were very accommodating and well priced.…
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Date of experience: December 2019
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