Lighthouse Atoll and The Great Blue Hole
Great Blue Hole Belize & Lighthouse Atoll Diving
The Great Blue Hole Belize sits at the center of Lighthouse Atoll, the northernmost of Belize’s three coral atolls. This world-famous sinkhole, made iconic by Jacques Cousteau, draws divers from every corner of the globe. Moreover, Lighthouse Atoll holds two of Belize’s four Natural Monuments, making it one of the richest marine zones in the Caribbean.
Located about 50 miles from Belize City, the atoll stretches 22 miles long and 5 miles wide. Additionally, six cayes dot the atoll, several with small dive resorts. The boat ride north takes 3½ to 4 hours — first inside the barrier reef to Turneffe Atoll, then across open water to Lighthouse Atoll and the Blue Hole.
While the Blue Hole is the bucket-list draw, Half Moon Caye Wall and Long Caye Aquarium often steal the show. In fact, many divers tell us these two sites make the long boat ride more than worthwhile.
Lighthouse Atoll’s pristine waters, unique coral formations, and prolific marine life attract divers who want to experience the very best of Belize. Additionally, the area falls within the UNESCO-protected Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, with designated no-take and conservation zones that keep the reef thriving. Specifically, the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye carry Belize National Monument status, which provides extra legal protection for these irreplaceable ecosystems. Please note: we require a minimum of 10 divers or snorkelers to run the Blue Hole trip.
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.
