The blue hole in the South China Sea is officially recognized as the deepest in the world. 

The nearly vertical blue hole Sansha Yongle is located in the Paracel Islands area. Information on its depth has been verified and confirmed by the National Marine Ecological Forecasting Center of China (NMEFC) .

According to experts, the depth of Sansha Yongle is 300.89 meters, the diameter of its upper part is 130 meters, and at the base is about 36 meters. At least 20 species of marine life can be found in the upper part of the hole. For comparison: the depth of the Big Blue Hole in Belize is 124 meters (with a diameter of 300 meters), and the depth of the Dean blue hole on the Bahamian island of Long Island is 202 meters. The latter, by the way, has long been considered the deepest formation of its kind.Anna Khoteeva January 24, 2019