Big Adventure In Belize

As I climb onboard the Dorado, I hear excited yells coming from nearby dive boats. "There's a whale shark on the surface! Get your snorkel gear!" our dive guide shouts. Within seconds, I shed my tank and BC, grab my fins and sprint off the boat in hopes of an encounter with Rhincodon typus, the largest fish in the sea. We've made four dives searching for whale sharks in the Gladden Spit and Silk Caye Marine Reserve, but have come up empty. Like most other dive boats in the reserve, we've made the two-hour trip from Placencia, a village on the southern Belizean coast, and we've endured long waits onboard, as the Belizean government strictly regulates the number of divers permitted in the water at one time. But the long trip and adherence to the rules pay off when we encounter one.

After we jump in, we come face-to-face with an 18-foot, battleship-gray juvenile whale shark, with white spots and stripes that look like they were applied by Pablo Picasso. For 15 minutes, time stops as he hovers high above a spawning snapper school. Then, when he decides it's time, he descends into the blue.

This chance encounter only hints at the richness of diving in Belize. The country boasts the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef--second in size only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef--a generous helping of dreamy atolls, cayes and marine reserves, with walls, an enormous blue hole and a galaxy of coral species and marine life. So how do you fit in all that diving? By going top to bottom, from Ambergris Caye in the north, to Sapodilla Cayes in the south, with Lighthouse Reef, the Turneffe Islands, the Southern Barrier Reef and Gladden Spit sandwiched in between. You'll discover what savvy divers have long known: For such a small country, Belize bursts at the seams with big adventure.

Ambergris Caye

Off the mainland's northeastern shore, Ambergris is closer to the barrier reef than any other spot in Belize. A15-minute flight from Belize City gets you to easygoing San Pedro, the focal point of diving on Ambergris, with a plethora of dive operators. If you want to do a checkout dive before your hotel check-in, you can. The closest dive shop is literally a minute's walk across the street from the tarmac.

Hol Chan Cut, in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, is an easy spur-and-groove dive in 30 feet of water and an excellent introduction to Belize diving. Swim with the current out to the rock ledges, then hang out near the sandy bottom and watch the procession of spotted eagle rays sailing overhead and curious tarpon schools swimming by. Nurse sharks, porkfish and snappers are also on the roll call. Afterward, a snorkel at nearby Shark-Ray Alley is a treat. There, more southern stingrays, nurse sharks and blue tangs than you can count wait for the sardine snacks the dive crew brings for them. Judging by their girth, these fish haven't missed many meals.

While Hol Chan is the best known site in Ambergris, Esmerelda is the show-stopper, like a bunch of great sites rolled into one. A moray eel that shares the site's name resides under one of the many ledges here, as does a bevy of nurse sharks. Swim-through tunnels dramatically open into an azure expanse.

You'll need buoyancy skills and patience at Cypress Tunnel, where divers squeeze through a 30-foot-long passage just six feet wide. The dimensions mean that only one diver at a time can pass through. Beyond the tunnel's end, nurse sharks and turtles hang out in a sandy patch.

You can also sign up for a trip to Lighthouse Reef Atoll, about a two-hour ride east, and its most famous dive, the Blue Hole. In fact, trips there are run by dive operators in many parts of the country.

Spanish Lookout Caye

This is the privately owned, 186-acre playground of Hugh Parkey's Belize Adventure Lodge. Located just 25 minutes from Belize City, dive sites are still being discovered here. Gallows Point features several new sites, including Rays Alley. Passing spotted eagle rays inspired the naming of the site, a multilevel wall dive. Slide down a sloping wall, and then drift along, keeping an eye out for rays. At the top of the reef, you'll likely find schools of Spanish mackerel.

Though it's quite a haul from here, it's possible to make a trip to Turneffe Islands Atoll.

The Atolls

Three of the four true atolls in the hemisphere--Turneffe Islands, Lighthouse Reef and Glover's Reef--lie between 30 and 60 miles off the mainland and beyond the barrier reef. If you want to dive day and night at one or more of the atolls, a land-based or live-aboard experience is perfect for you (see "The Live-aboard Experience," p. 47). The Elbow at Turneffe's southern tip is ranked among Belize's best wall dives and is also a busy intersection of currents and big fish; you'll see schools of jacks, permit and barrel sponges. Jo Jo's Split gets its name from three splits in a wall, which you glide over upon entry. Hawksbill turtles occasionally cruise by.

The walls at Lighthouse Reef's Half Moon Caye are shot through with innumerable tunnels and swim-throughs, and packed with huge barrel and tube sponges, yellowtail snappers, eagle rays and garden eels. From the moment you splash in at The Aquarium you'll swear the dive guide slipped some squid or sardines inside one of your BC pockets. That's because on this shallow dive, all kinds of fish, from yellowtail snappers to Bermuda chubs, swim so close to your mask they may block your view.

Double your pleasure with a two-wall system starting in just 45 feet at Southwest Caye in Glover's Reef. You'll see abundant gorgonians, sponges and wire coral, and going deeper, you'll find heavy coral plating. A network of swim-throughs is the featured attraction at Long Caye, also at Glover's, at the southeastern edge of an area consisting of hundreds of patch reefs.

Dangriga & Hopkins

This is the fastest-growing part of Belize, with luxury eco-resorts popping up along the coast in places that just a decade ago were outside the tourist mainstream.

Dive operators from both Dangriga and Hopkins visit the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, one of Belize's newest underwater reserves, which stretches from north of Tobacco Caye to Carrie Bow Caye. At The Abyss, there are two walls, plus lots of swim-throughs. One wall begins in 35 feet and has a visible bottom, and the other starts at 55 feet and plummets beyond sight. That wall is studded with rigid tube sponges that point toward the blue like a scarecrow's arms. South Water Caye Wall, meanwhile, boasts mellow drift diving in and around a labyrinth of plate corals, majestic sea fans and tube sponges. There's also plenty of fish traffic, including schools of blue chromis, creole wrasse, turtles and spotted eagle rays. The wall at Long Reef has its own dramatic drop-off, starting at 35 to 40 feet. From the sizes of the tropical fish here, it's obvious that this is where they spend their juvenile years. Black and Nassau groupers also seem to like it here, as do moray eels. Curlew Wall, however, where dives start between two walls and continue along the reef system, should be renamed. With the shelves and ledges chock full of lobsters, the name "Lobster Heaven" seems more appropriate. Above the wall, gray and purple are the dominant colors of the netted barrel sponges and branching vase sponges.

Gladden Spit & Silk Caye Marine Reserve

Whale shark diving is a cottage industry in the economically modest fishing town of Placencia, located on the southern tip of Placencia Peninsula. Peak season for seeing the world's largest fish is from March through May (see "Have a Whale Shark of a Time").

Operators also take divers to sites on the barrier reef and Laughing Bird Caye, about 11 miles from Placencia. Laughing Bird Caye is a pristine shelf atoll with deep channels on either side.

Whether you've come for whale sharks or to dive the reefs, don't miss visiting Placencia's waterfront area. You can shop for native crafts and clothing and eat, drink and swap dive stories at thatched-roof bars and restaurants with campy names like the Pickled Parrot, the Tipsy Tuna and the Purple Space Monkey.

Sapodilla Cayes

Dive operator Dennis Garbutt helped establish a marine reserve at these cayes about 90 minutes by boat from Punta Gorda, a small fishing village in southern Belize. The payoff is fishier reefs at Lime Caye and the surrounding Sapodilla Cayes that could pave the way for increased diving.

One satisfying dive is at Seal Caye Wall, an almost perfectly vertical drop-off. There are mutton snappers, spotted drums and grouper among the alluring, maze-like terraced star corals, brain corals and tube sponges.

Lime Caye Wall might be Belize's best kept dive secret. Only a few minutes after traversing down the rod- and whip-covered wall, there are layers upon layers of ledges, packed with small life. Schoolmaster snappers are everywhere, as are king mackerels. You'll likely also see a silvery veil shimmering and shifting shapes--thousands of anchovies moving in unison.

Have a Whale (Shark) of a Time

Planning a whale shark encounter in Belize's Gladden Spit & Silk Caye Marine Reserve? Here are some tips for whale shark diving, Belize-style:

Before you book a trip, check your calendar for the full moon forecast during the March through May peak season. Schools of cubera and mutton snappers show up to spawn from five days before until five days after the full moon. The spawn attracts whale sharks (mostly male juveniles) looking for a meal.

Book at least two or three days worth of dives. Whale sharks don't make appointments, so you'll need some luck to see one.

Prepare for a long ride. It's a couple of hours each way to and from the Spit, so on the way there and back, plan on sleeping, reading or getting friendly with your fellow divers. A full meal and drinks are provided.

Know the drill. Your boat will be one of a maximum of six that rangers allow into the 1.5-square-mile designated "whale shark zone." Each boat is assigned a 90-minute time slot and must clear out by 5 p.m. Whale sharks generally feed closer to that time, so check to see if your boat can get a late afternoon slot. After checking in with rangers, boat captains use an electronic fish finder to locate snapper schools.

Dive the plan. Max depth is 80 feet on the first dive and 60 on the second as you shadow the snapper schools, waiting for the big daddy to show. If there are no snapper schools, your dive guide may huddle you and your buddies together so you can all send bubbles toward the surface. A whale shark may mistake them for snappers' spawn. If you see a whale shark, swim parallel to it. Otherwise, it may turn its tail toward you to keep you away.

Know the rules. Yes, you want to photograph a whale shark, but rangers won't allow you to use strobes. Use the available ambient light. For the whale shark's safety and yours, you're required to stay at least 15 feet away. And unless you've got US$5,000 burning a hole in your pocket, never touch a whale shark. That's how much the Belizean government will fine you for the offense.

The Live-aboard Experience

If you have your heart set on visiting the atolls and diving your heart out day and night, a live-aboard is a good option. The Belize Aggressor III and Peter Hughes's recently renovated Sun Dancer II set sail from Belize City and visit the southern tip of Turneffe Islands including The Elbow, Jo Jo's Split and The Notch, and Lighthouse Reef, including the Blue Hole, Long Caye and Half Moon Caye. Between Lighthouse Reef and Half Moon Caye, tons of great shallow dives start between 20 and 25 feet--and if you're bringing the kids, are also excellent for snorkeling.

If you want to visit Belize's rainforest, its Maya temples and other attractions, like cave tubing, river rafting or zip-lining, live-aboard companies can help you book those activities before or after your trip. Ancient Maya sites like Xunantunich, Altun Ha and Lamanai are all reachable from Belize City.

For more, visit peterhughes.com or aggressor.com.

Into the Blue

Mention diving this immense oceanic sinkhole, Belize's most famous dive, and you're likely to hear mixed opinions.

Some will tell you that you shouldn't pass up what could be one of the most thrilling dives of your life--you'll confront the unknown and see big and small creatures. Others will rip the site as overrated, telling you that what you'll see is worth neither the crack-of-dawn departure time nor the long ride to see mostly blackness.

So who's right? Only you can decide.

If you've never done the Blue Hole, it's a unique experience you shouldn't pass up. If you've already done it, once may be enough.

At a max depth in the neighborhood of 120 feet, a Blue Hole dive may be one of the deepest you'll ever log, with a total dive time of about 35 minutes. Go horizontal on your descent, so when you look straight down into the void, you get the sensation of free-falling into a black hole. It's not uncommon here for your depth display to read 30 feet and seconds later, you discover you're at 90 and dropping.

Impressively thick stalactites hang from the ceiling of a cavern at about 120 feet. You can do a circuit around a couple of them before your ascent.

Before going up, look down--you may be overflying a squadron of black-tip or bull sharks. Your ascent up a white sand bank will look impossibly steep, as if you're scaling Mount Everest. Then, as the boat comes into view, you'll likely be greeted by reef sharks, black and Nassau groupers and schools of ballyhoo, snappers and mackerels. You'll have enough time on your safety stop to admire the swirling traffic.

While the Blue Hole is a live-aboard staple, land-based operators up and down Belize's coast also make the run here, sweetening trips with a picnic lunch on beautiful Half Moon Caye--where you can bask on the beach, visit a red-footed booby sanctuary or make additional dives at Half Moon Caye Wall and Aquarium. Because of distance and rising fuel costs, some land-based operators require a minimum number of divers to make the Blue Hole run.

Topside Treats: Punta Gorda

Belize's Toledo province, in the country's extreme south, usually isn't on divers' radar screens. The main town of Punta Gorda, a small seaside village, isn't exactly overflowing with tourists. But that may change in the near future, as word starts to filter out about protected sites in the Sapodilla Cayes and the Maya ruins of Lubaantun and Hokeb Ha, also known as the Blue Water Cave.

The Maya ruins of Lubaantun aren't as well visited as other Maya sites, such as Altun Ha, Xunantunich and Lamanai, but they're no less impressive and feature one of the only examples of a civilization that used rounded stones in its buildings and in ancient times engaged in "ballgames" between two participants, with the loser being sacrificed to the gods. The surrounding area offers glimpses into traditional Maya villages, at least one of which, Santa Cruz, functions without electricity and other forms of modernity.

The mysterious Hokeb Ha, a limestone cave, is a cool retreat where you can swim and hike a quarter mile into its interior, then switch off your headlamp for a feeling of complete darkness.

If bird watching and enjoying other wildlife is your idea of paradise at the end of a dive trip, the elegant Machaca Hills Lodge at Laughing Falcon Reserve, perched in the rainforest canopy outside Punta Gorda, provides a wonderful opportunity, with its assortment of howler monkeys, lizards and tropical birds on its property. Ecotourism, by sea and by land is taking off in Toledo. For more, log on to southernbelize.com.

Our Thanks to

Journey's End Resort
journeysendresort.com

Hugh Parkey's Belize Adventure Lodge and Belize Dive Connection
belizeadventurelodge.com

Hamanasi Adventure & Dive Resort and Dive Hamanasi
hamanasi.com

The Inn at Robert's Grove and Dive Robert's Grove
robertsgrove.com

Machaca Hill at Laughing Falcon Reserve
machacahill.com

Aqua Dives Belize
aquadives.com

Garbutt's Marine Enterprise
garbuttsfishinglodge.com

Resource List

Ramons Village, 800-MAGIC-15, ramons.com

Bay Adventures, 888-599-3483, bayadventures.com

Belize Tourism Board, 800-624-0686, travelbelize.org

Aggressor Fleet/Belize Aggressor III, 800-348-2628, aggressor.com

Peter Hughes/Sun Dancer II, 800-9-DANCER, peterhughes.com

Caradonna Dive Adventures, 800-328-2288, caradonna.com

InDepth

Water Conditions: Mid-70s in winter and low to mid-80s in summer. Off Ambergris Caye, water clarity is variable, though generally decent. Visibility off the atolls is rarely bad, but it's best from April to June.

Weather: Tropical, which means pretty warm year-round. The coast, cayes and atolls enjoy a brisk prevailing wind from the Caribbean, which moderates the heat.

Getting There: There are nonstop flights to Belize City (BZE) from Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Miami, Newark and Los Angeles. From Belize City, connections can be made to Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Dangriga, Placencia and Punta Gorda.

Documents: Passport and proof of return is required.

Money Matters: The Belize dollar (BZ$) trades at BZ$2 to US$1. Credit cards and traveler's checks are accepted throughout the country. There is a $35 departure tax, payable in U.S. dollars only.

Time: The same as Central Standard in the U.S. Daylight saving time is not observed.

Electricity: The same as in the U.S.--110 volts, 60 cycles--and the country uses the North American-style two-pin plug.

For More Info: scubadiving.com/travel/caribbeanatlantic/belize.