Belize Scuba Diving Resorts
Where can you hover above coral gardens, drift along the
Caribbean's longest barrier reef, explore three immense coral atolls and descend
into the world's largest blue hole? The answer is Belize. While Belize is a
unique underwater destination, visitors to this tiny Central American nation
will find two countries in one.
Coastal and offshore Belize is distinctly Caribbean, while the interior of the
country is more typically Latin American.
Offshore
is a world of blue water, golden coral reefs and hundreds of islands and islets,
some smothered in a froth of mangroves, others mere slivers of bleached white
sand.
The interior is a varied wilderness of mountains, rivers and marshes, savannas,
low jungles and highland rain and pine forests. Bone-white pyramids rise above
the forest, vestiges of the great Mayan cities that flourished here until about
900 A.D.
Though only about the size of Massachusetts, Belize features a smorgasbord of
eco-adventures, including the big three: reefs, ruins and rain forests.
Belize's underwater credentials are impeccable: There are 170 miles of nearly
continuous barrier reef, the second-greatest stretch of reef in the world,
eclipsed only by Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Farther offshore are three of
only four true coral atolls found in the Caribbean. Fringing reefs wrap around
hundreds of islands interspersed between the shore and the outer atolls. While
thousands of divers now visit Belize each year, considering the reef area
available, that number of visitors is just a drop in the ocean.
Belize
City is an excellent choice for those who are looking for access to the two
worlds of Belize. Two large, modern hotels and several quaint guesthouses offer
daily dive trips to the barrier reef and atolls. Also docked in Belize City are
several live-aboard dive vessels that serve as one of the best ways to
experience underwater Belize.
Ambergris Caye, the country's largest island, is the most popular offshore
destination. Resort hotels, dive operators, restaurants, shops and bars are
conveniently located along the beach in and near San Pedro town. A section of
the barrier reef, a shark dive site and a marine park are found just offshore.
Dive boats make trips to the atolls on most days. Other vacation-oriented
islands, such as Caye Caulker and St. George's Caye, are close by.
Several dive resorts are located on Turneffe Island's atoll -- the largest and
closest atoll to shore. Nearly 70 dive sites circle Turneffe, which is famous
for its prolific marine life.
Lighthouse
Reef Atoll and Glovers Atoll have one dive resort each. Lighthouse features many
renowned wall-dive sites, the bird sanctuary at Half Moon Caye and the famous
Great Blue Hole of Belize. The Great Blue Hole, a geological relic from the last
Ice Age, is a nearly perfect circle -- 1,000 feet in diameter and 440 feet deep.
Below is a cavern decorated with huge stalactites, some 35-feet long.
Glover's Reef, the southernmost atoll, offers pleasant isolation and one of the
least-dived undersea environments in Belize. Many miles of pristine pinnacle and
wall diving surround the atoll, and there are hundreds of patch reefs inside its
lagoon.
The frontier of diving in Belize is the southern peninsula of Placencia, reached
from Belize City by air or road. Uncrowded and sparsely developed, the
peninsula's casual accommodations and two villages are arranged along the best
stretch of beach in Belize. Offshore are delicate coral gardens, precipitous
walls and, if you are lucky, migrating pilot whales and whale sharks.
Belize
is the heartland of the ancient Mayan civilization and it boasts more than 15
major sites now operating as archaeological parks. The largest is the city of
Caracol in western Belize. Its main pyramid, Caa-na, is the country's tallest
man-made structure. At one time, more than 200,000 Mayans populated Caracol,
more people than live in all of Belize today.
