Belize Barrier Reef

Seven Wonders of the Underwater World

The Belize Barrier Reef runs for roughly three hundred kilometres along the country’s Caribbean coast, part of the Mesoamerican Reef and one of the largest reef systems in the Western Hemisphere. UNESCO’s Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System includes seven protected sites: marine reserves, cayes, atolls and the Blue Hole Natural Monument. Between the reef and the coast lies a lagoon dotted with mangrove islands, seagrass meadows and sandy cayes, a nursery for fish, turtles and manatees. The Great Blue Hole, on Lighthouse Reef, is a nearly circular marine sinkhole about 300 metres across and over a hundred metres deep, a former cave that flooded as sea level rose. Jacques Cousteau explored it in 1971 and brought it to global attention. Divers descend along its edge to see giant stalactites at depth, a demanding dive suited to experienced, certified divers with a licensed operator. Others snorkel at Hol Chan Marine Reserve, swim with nurse sharks and rays near Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye, or travel to Glover’s Reef and Half Moon Caye, where seabirds nest. The reef system was placed on UNESCO’s danger list in 2009 and removed in 2018 after Belize introduced stronger protections, including a moratorium on offshore oil exploration. Reef health still faces pressures from warming seas and coastal development. Choose operators that follow mooring, no-touch and waste practices, and consider the many shallow and surface experiences that do not require deep diving.