What’s it like to dive the Belize Blue Hole?
The Belize Blue Hole is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Lighthouse Atoll Belize. It is visited by countless tourists every year who scuba dive it to enjoy the breathtaking reef and the marine delights it has to offer. What’s in there? What do divers see when they descend into the hole?
The good folks of Belize Diving Services in Caye Caulker, Belize have put together an incredible video tour of this Belizean national treasure. Grab some popcorn, grab a seat, and come along for the ride!
The day starts early
A round trip boat ride to the Belize Blue Hole is about 50 miles each way from Caye Caulker, Belize and takes about two hours each way depending on the weather conditions. To get to the Blue Hole the boat will have to pass four reef walls. The first of these walls is just offshore Caye Caulker where the reef breaks and creates a natural channel (1). The dive boat will then travel on the open sea for about an hour until it gets to Turneffe Atoll, cross a reef to get inside the atoll (2), meander through Turneffe Atoll a bit, exit it (3), cross open seas again, and then enter the Lighthouse Reef atoll (4) where the Belize Blue Hole is located.
Whew!
Good!
As you can tell that’s a lot of reef walls to cross. Some of them can be quite shallow. The slightest miscalculation could mean disaster, hence the reason the boats leave early in the morning. Don’t forget they must cross all the reefs a second time as they return home, and the best and safest way to do that is before sunset.
BUT, the ride is absolutely breathtaking. You cross over a dozen amazing shades of blue, get entertained by friendly marine life, and whizz off to the great beyond really proud of yourself for doing what only a few people in this world will get the chance to do — visit the Great Belize Blue Hole!
Now we’re at the Blue Hole, what next?
Once the boat is safely at the Blue Hole, usually a first of several dive stops for the day, the divers will suit up, the dive master will give a dive briefing, and the dive will begin.
Divers descending into the Belize Blue Hole – vimeo.com/112135116
The Belize Blue Hole is about 480 feet deep. That’s about 50 stories high. The Belize Blue Hole once sat above sea level. The giant stalagmites and stalactites inside the hole give evidence of their former dry life.
A cave lined with stalagmites and stalagtites appears at about 90 feet below sea level. -vimeo.com/112135116
A cave appears in the side wall at around 90 feet below sea level. Sometimes you can see sharks circling around.
The rim of the Belize Blue Hole is lined with colorful corals populated with every imaginable color of marine life. Click to watch the full video below and check it out for yourself.
Source
AmbergrisCaye.com 
