Belize, aka “The Jewel of the Caribbean Basin”, had been on my bucket list for years. Everything I’d heard about it had me craving the underwater landscapes and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like the famous Blue Hole. There is certainly no shortage of brilliant destinations for the avid diver, and here’s hoping I can showcase a few of those for you here.

The country, like many others, had been completely closed to foreigners during the Covid pandemic, so my planned 2020 trip had to be put on hold. But everything worked out for the best as 2022 rolled around, and I was able to take advantage of the lighter tourist crowd with most people still hesitant about traveling.

I decided to stay on Ambergris Caye, which is about a 1 – 1.5 hourlong ferry ride from the mainland. From here, a diver has quick and easy access to the most sought-after sites in the area. I went all in and purchased a 5-day package with Amigos Del Mar Dive Shop. They proved to be an excellent outfit, conveniently able to pick me up on the dock right outside my hostel each morning. They also were kind enough to rinse and care for my equipment overnight after the day’s trip, which made the load much lighter on me.

And speaking of hostels, I stayed at the Sandbar during my week on Ambergris, and was very pleased with the whole experience. There are plenty of restaurants and convenience stores within a short walking distance, and they have an excellent happy hour!

Cypress Canyons

We spent the first couple days exploring an area called the Cypress Canyons, a fantastic site for both experienced and novice divers. Maximum depth here is around 70 ft/23 m, with about the same distance in visibility. Here the sharks were our constant companions, usually the black-tip reef variety as in the video above. We also saw plenty of nurse sharks, and they were never afraid to venture into our party, up close and personal.

Turneffe Atoll

Turneffe Atoll was our next destination, another caye, located southeast of Ambergris Caye and 20 miles off the coast of Belize City on the mainland. And for those who may not know, a caye, or cay, is an island formed on the surface of a coral reef by ongoing deposits of sediment by ocean currents. There are countless numbers of these in the Caribbean!

We spent the day swimming with turtles, chasing moray eels, and immersing ourselves in the schools of creole wrasse. The diversity of marine life here was surprisingly more noticeable than that of the canyons, and of course very welcome.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

The Hol Chan (Mayan for “little channel”) Marine Reserve is also worth a mention, another outstanding site located very close to Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. Since 1999, it’s been established as a well-regulated zoological preserve, divided into 4 zones, A-D, with certain parts charging an entrance fee, and limited fishing allowed with the proper license. It’s certainly a small price to pay however for the beauty found below.

The Great Blue Hole

As the name might imply, Belize’s legendary Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole about 43 mi/70 km off the mainland. It measures 1,043 ft/318 m across and 407 ft/124 m deep. Most people I’d spoken with about the diving experience said it was a “one-and-done” kind of deal; do it once, and you can check it off the list and move on. I was surprised and a bit disappointed to hear it described this way, but was nonetheless still excited to see it for myself.

Our boat ride was a good 2-3 hours to the famous site, and we wasted no time gearing up and plunging in once we finally arrived. Our guides took us (there were about 16 in our group) down 140 ft/42 m, which they’d been very strict about holding to during our briefing. We saw another landing point another 20 ft deeper, but we were told not to leave the group for a closer look. There was however enough to keep our interest as we scaled along the edge of the cavern, in and around the stalactites hanging above us.

The dive was on the shorter side due to the greater depth and required safety stop, but as others had testified, I think we saw all we needed to see in the 20 or so minutes we explored the cave-like terrain. Aside from a distant reef shark (which we were all well familiar with), there was no other marine life around. Our second dive site of the day however would prove to not disappoint in that area.

After the Blue Hole, we stopped at a picturesque little island laced with palm trees for a quick lunch, then rallied back up for our next stop at Lighthouse Reef.

Lighthouse Reef

Said to be one of the “best developed and healthiest reefs in the Caribbean”, Lighthouse is about 50 miles southeast of Belize City. The colors here were bright and beautiful, and the marine life was rich and diverse. I personally enjoyed this dive much more than the Blue Hole, with it possibly even being my favorite of the entire trip.

These were just a handful of the sites I was fortunate enough to get to explore while on my trip, but there are so many more in the area. One could spend weeks enjoying the underwater scenery in Belize, and at a fair price, especially when compared to other parts of the Caribbean. The vast number of competent scuba companies and their willingness to accommodate traveling divers makes a trip out there an overall convenient and quite accessible venture; and let’s be real…how often can you say that about anything these days?

I hope you enjoyed the read, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any further thoughts or questions. Stay safe out there everyone!