Diving

Hol Chan Marine Reserve is Belize’s first marine protected area and is located in the south of Ambergris Caye. Hol Chan in Mayan is translated to “Little Channel” and was named such for the break in the reef at this point. The protection of this area means it has lots of vibrant, healthy coral with loads of life living on it. Diving these sites is usually teamed with the site “Shark Ray Alley” which is well known for its abundance of sharks, rays and turtles! This shallow area is great for divers or snorkelers to experience the thrill of getting within touching distance of Rays and Nurse Sharks, this is the best area in the Caribbean for an encounter with these placid bottom dwellers

The outer reef is home to three coral atolls; Lighthouse Reef, Glover’s Reef and Turneffe Reef. These are three of only four of these remarkable atolls in the whole western hemisphere. There are frequent diving day trips from most Ambergris Caye dive centres to all of these atolls to undertake the spectacular diving in these locations.

Lighthouse Reef Atoll is home to the most famous dive site of Belize, the Blue Hole! This natural phenomenon was one of the many sites to be made famous by Jacques Cousteau’s documentaries and is now a very hyped up dive site which divers across the world will travel to dive. The 150m deep hole is thought to be a cave that collapsed in the Ice Age and still has some very old 25m stalactites. Not a particularly interesting dive for marine life, although sometimes you might see some Reef Sharks, Bull Sharks or a dolphin in the blue, the Blue Hole is more an experience deep dive that you do to say you have dived the famous Great Blue Hole!

Glover’s and Turneffe Reef Atolls have many less known but spectacular dive sites with a diverse marine life. The Elbow on Turneffe is the areas ultimate wall dive, it often has strong currents, but it is these currents that bring the huge amount of marine life to the area with the chance to spot a large ray or Hammerhead shark out in the blue depths. There is a huge amount of other marine life on this atoll including turtles, nurse sharks, seahorses and the rare white spotted toadfish. The shallows and flats are also home to the manatee.

How to get there

Ambergris Caye is close to Belize so can be reached easily from the US and Mexico with many flights into Belize’s International airport just north of Belize City. Other International visitors will usually have to get flights changing in one of the main US of Mexico airports such as Cancun or LA. Another option is to catch a bus from Cancun down into Belize.

All the cays including Ambergris Caye can then be reached by a short small propeller flight from Belize City or by boat. If possible then the plane journey is recommended for the fun ride and also the spectacular views of the reef and cays from above.

Other activities

There is much more to Belize than its diving. It’s a destination that hasn’t yet become over touristy and still has many unspoilt areas of beauty. There are exciting caves to explore and many Mayan temples and pyramid structures which you have to trek through the jungle to see.

Belize is a country that many people don’t consider for a diving holiday as there are so many other more popular destinations, but the easy diving conditions, great marine life teamed with jungle wildlife, caves and the Mayan history, makes it a great varied holiday destination with someone for everyone!