Lighthouse Atoll is the northernmost of the three atolls in Belize. This marine reserve contains two of the four Belize Natural Monuments and is located about 50 miles from Belize. The atoll is about 22 miles long and 5 miles wide with 6 cayes with small diving resorts. The 3-1/2 to 4 hour boat ride north Is inside the barrier reef to Turneffe Atoll and then crosses over to Lighthouse Atoll and The Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is a famous bucket list dive but the Half Moon Caye Wall and Long Caye Aquarium get rave reviews that make the long boat ride worthwhile.

The pristine waters with unique coral formations and prolific marine life makes Lighthouse Atoll a popular spot for divers wanting to see the best Belize has to offer. Glovers is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites and a marine reserve with designated no-take and conservation zones.

The Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye are designated as Belize National Monuments.

We require a minimum of 10 divers and/or snorkelers for The Blue Hole trip to be viable.

The iconic Blue Hole dive is to the limit of the recreational dive table and the nearest medical facility is at least 2 hours away by boat. Accordingly, we only take advanced or experienced (30+ dives) to dive the Blue Hole and only after they have done at least one dive trip with us before we take them to dive the Blue Hole (check out dive). Less experienced divers can come a couple of days early and do the advanced open water course with us or can snorkel the Blue Hole and dive the next two destinations at Lighthouse Atoll. Half Moon Caye Wall and the Aquarium are among the best dive sites in Belize.

Trip Plan

This is a three-tank boat dive trip with an authentic Belize style picnic lunch on Half Moon Caye Natural Monument during the surface interval after the second dive. Divers need to arrive at our dive center by 05:30 for a 05:30 am departure. Due to the early start, a complimentary continental breakfast is served at our dive center. An authentic Belizean style picnic lunch is served during the surface interval after the second dive. The boat ride takes about 3-1/2 to 4 hours. The trip gets back at around 5:00 pm.

Overnight Option

Groups of 10 or more can book the Lighthouse Atoll and Blue Hole trip as a 6-tank overnight trip. The Elbow at the south end of Turneffe Atoll can be incorporated into the trip plan.

Dive Sites

The Blue Hole

The Blue Hole is one of Belize’s best-known dive sites. It was made famous by Jacques Cousteau who visited the Blue Hole aboard Calypso in 1972 to determine its depth.

It is actually a sinkhole that was created after the collapse of an underground cavern and cave system. Almost perfectly circular, the Blue Hole is about 1000 feet/300 meters in diameter and over 400 feet/130 meters deep. Huge stalactites can be found at depths starting around 100 feet/30 meters hanging from the ceiling of caves. The formation of these stalactites and the sheer-sided wall is the most interesting feature of this dive. Giant groupers, nurse sharks, reef sharks, and blacktip sharks may be encountered.

The top of the hole starts at around 35 feet/10 meters and is sheer rock until you reach the stalactite formations at about 110 feet/33 meters. The circular reef area which surrounds the Blue Hole provides an attractive opportunity for snorkelers to enjoy the Blue Hole. The coral breaks the surface in some areas at low tide. Since this dive is made to over 100ft/30mt, only certified advanced and experienced divers should attempt this dive under the close supervision of experienced dive masters. Due to the depth of this dive, bottom time is limited to about 8 minutes and good buoyancy skills are required to do the mandatory safety stop.

Half Moon Wall

Half Moon Wall is one of the most famous dive sites in Belize! The wall starts at 20 to 30 feet/6 to 9 meters and is spectacular with deep gullies, swim-throughs, overhangs, and an amazing profusion of gorgonians, sponges, and hard corals. Visibility can be amazing. Look for mantas, eagle rays, sharks, and a variety of pelagics along the wall. Swim up to the top of the wall where there is a profusion of reef fish and then continue onto the sandy area above the reef to find southern rays along with hogfish and other species mining the sand for their daily bread. A little further on you can find the colony of garden eels gently waving in the like sea grass until you draw close and they retract below the sand.

Nearby Half Moon Caye Natural Monument is where the lighthouse that gave the atoll its name and where you can view the red-footed boobies rookery from a tree-top level observation platform. There is a nature trail that will appeal to bird watchers and where you may find hermit crabs and monitor lizards.

Long Caye

There are a dozen or more excellent dive sites at Long Caye. The one we select to dive on any given day depends primarily on currents and weather conditions. Visibility can be brilliant as is expected on the reefs in Belize! Critters are abundant and depending on the particular dive site can include the whole range of reef fish in profuse numbers including angelfish, trumpet fish, filefish, chub, grunts, snappers, wrasses, butterfly fish, pufferfish, etc. You can also expect to find barracudas, turtles, jacks, sharks, rays, groupers, lobster, eels, squid, and the smaller guys like nudibranchs, various species of shrimp along with cleaner stations. With the combination of visibility and critters plus a plethora of hard and soft corals, colorful gorgonians, and sponges of every shape and color, make sure you bring your camera!

The Elbow at Turneffe Atoll

We do not schedule trips to Turneffe Atoll as our guests prefer either Lighthouse Atoll or Glover’s Reef for the more distant dive destinations and most divers who wish to dive Turneffe stay on the Atoll or make day trips from Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker. However, when we do overnight trips to Lighthouse Atoll, we can include The Elbow at the south end of Turneffe on the way.

This can be one of the very best dive sites in Belize! The top of the wall starts at about 60 feet/18 meters to 100 feet/30 meters and, depending on the tide, there can be very strong currents from the north. The current flows down both sides of Turneffe Atoll and converges at the dive site attracting large schools of jacks, snappers, sharks, eagle rays and larger fish than you are likely to see elsewhere on the Belize reefs. You may even encounter dolphins. Expect to find a beautiful wall with huge gorgonians and sponges. This is a drift dive and due to the strong currents, you can get separated from your group so you should carry a marker tube and a good whistle or air horn.